Practical tile draining for farmers. A hand book of information on all subjects relating to tile draining

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LILE DRAINING

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A HAND BOOK OF INFORMATION ON ALL SUB-
JECTS RELATING TO TILE DRAINING,

EMBRACING IN ITS TREATISE NEW AND VALUABLE
FEATURES IN TILE DRAINING.

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D, FE. Wise, Publisher.

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: COPYRIGHTED 1891, BY —
a | -D. F. WISE.

PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

In placing this little volume before the public,
it is my object to not only set forth why we
should tile drain, but also the best means to em-
ploy to get perfect drainage of all lands needing
it.

BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINING.

In truth we may say that tiling is the leaven
that leaveneth the soil into which it is placed.
Tile draws the water from the soil much quicker
than if the same ditch in which the tile was placed
was left open. The water seems to draw towards
the tile, as if by suction. Not only is it
drawn to the tile, but its weight forces it down
to the tile, and the smoother the tile is, the bet-
ter will be the effect of the tile’s working. There-
fore you should, first of all, secure the best and
smoothest tile possible; and if your best tile
have rough spots in them, make a chisel out of
an old file and cut all the rough spots out of
them. Rough spots obstruct much of the flow
of water by causing the tile to fill up. Youmust
guard against this if you want a perfect drain.

Now, when tile work to their full effect they
lower the water level to the bottom of the tile,

4 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

and cause a basin for water that has a slope
from the bottom of the tile outward to the sur-
face of the soil from ten to one hundred feet from
the drain. Say your tile are three feet deep, then
the capacity of the basin would be about nine—
times as much as if thev were one foot deep; and
about two and a fourth times as much as if they
were two feet deep.

Now do not understand that this is a dug out
basin. It is a basin of soil which is drained and
loose and has all the unnecessary water remov-
ed from it by the tile.

Now look right here! When a heavy rain falls
that basin must first fill before the crop can be
flooded, while the tile is lowering the water much
faster than any open draining can do. The
benefits of tiling are here shown still greater. As
the water filters into the tile, it leaves all of its
fertility in the soil, instead of washing it away
on the surface, as there is no other way for sur-
face drains to act. Tile, by being an outlet or
a great filter, as we may term it, loosens the
soil so that a man accustomed to walking over
tiled land can tell the moment he comes upon it.
The loose, spongy condition of the soil is his
guide. It is like a living soil, in pure health,
with mighty vigor. The crops never fail to tell
thestory in large capitals, in the shape of mighty
erowths of grain and grasses. Let me say here
that your cattle will eat the grass closer right
over your tile drain than at any other place in

BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINING. 5

the same condition before tiling. If they do not,
it is simply because you don’t let them into the
field, or the tile is not put in properly, and they
may not find the location of the tiled land. If
your tiling is done properly and your cattle do
not find the locality of the tile after it has been
down a sufficient length of time to be in fair
working order, ani do not prefer the tiled pas-
ture to the untiled, I will refund you allthat you
have invested in this work. This fact has been
fully demonstrated on my own tile drains. So I
have nothing to fear in making you the offer.
Some people say only wet land is suited to
stock. Iknow of farms that would feed one-hali
more stock if they were tiled, only through the
swales and swamps, as they constitute about
one-fourth of such farms. Think of the gain. It
would increase the producing value of the farming
land of this country from one-third to one-hali
more than it already is. If you want to raise
wheat in many instances you get about ten bush-
els against three before it was tiled. You will
also be pleased if you plant corn, as it will make
the best crop that you are able to produce on
your farm, and potatoes grow luxuriantly. A
swamp that is loose and loamy will make you
the finest potatoes that you ever ate, of
the common variety that you have planted, and
the best varieties are simply most excellent in
- quality.
In 1889, I cleared up thelast swamp that [had

6 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

on my farm, and planted it in‘potatoes the 16th
day of June, as I could not get the brush out
and tiled sooner. After tiling I plowed it, but:
did not get a very good job done as there were
many alder roots to bother me. Hence I did
not get the potatoes in in good shape. But they
still yielded me one hundred bushels to the acre,
worth fifty dollars. They more than paid me
for clearing up that swamp and tiling, and the
next year that swamp was in better condition
for potatoes. I planted it in new Improved
Neshannock potatoes and it gave mea yield of
about three hundred bushels to the acre, for
which I realized one dollar and ten cents per
bushel, in the market, as they are of very superi-
or quality. Now take the one acre of potatoes
for the last two years, and compare with my
wheat from ten acres for the lasttwo years. The
yield was twenty-one bushels per acre. That
would make four hundred and twenty bushels in
two years, at seventy-five cents per bushel. We
have three hundred and fifteen dollars for wheat
on the ten acres for two years. For potatoes I
have three hundred and fifty dollars on one acre
in two years, and no threshers’ bill to deduct.
Now tell me! Would it not have been over five
hundred fold better to have that swamp tiled
than to let it remain with its brush to mar my
farm and let the fifty dollars that it cost me per
acre be taxed and bring me no interest? I am
fully convinced that it is five hundred fold better

BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINING. 7

than to let it lie worse than idle and still stands
out as a target for taxes. Iwas poor when I
commenced on this farm, and seeing the large
swamps in several fields I took them first and
have kept to the work as I best could, having had
typhoid fever along with the other things to con-
tend against. I am thankful to say that I have
at last mastered the last swamp, and did it in
the sixth year and am truthfully glad to say that
they all repaid me for the work done in the sec-
ond crop, reserving half of the crop for labor of
cultivating. The last swamp repaid me the first
year.

Tsay to you, donotletthoseswamps keep you
from farming the balance of your farm to the
best advantage, but tile your swamps and add
the best acres to your arable land. As long as
they produce weeds and brushes they are not
yours, but belong to thefrogs, lizards and toads,
and you are fool enough to pay tax on what be-
longs to them, besides, swamps are very detri-
mental to health and it don’t look as though
you eared if the world moved or not. All you
have to do is to wake up and tile it. Tiling is
not such hard work nor is it just so very un-
healthy either, as I am none of the healthiest
and I am more at ease inatile drain ditch
than I am at splitting wood. I can better regu-
late the work of spading than I-can at splitting
wood, as I sometimes get a very hard stick that
gives me some very hard mauling to do.

8 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

You should always see to laying: your tile so
that it is done right. There is no kid glovestyle
that is any good in tiling. You must take hold
if you want the best results, and itis a work that
will last a life time if done right. It will be a
pleasure to reflect upon. But if done half way,
why you curse your own work or allow your la-
borers to curse it for you. There is no work
that pays so well for well doing as tile draining
well done. Why it helps you every day in the
Spring. It has your soil warm and dry so you
can get to work early and get your crops out in
time to have the start of the season. We should
here remember the old saying, ‘‘That the early
hen catches the bug.” Your crops grow right
along in full vigor.

Tiling helps you to make your crops by cul-
ture, as you can cultivate at the right time, as I
said before, just as soon as you can after a rain.
Tiling helps to bring the soil into the right con-
dition to do the right kind of cultivation.

Last of all, tiling helps to make your soil
moist in a dry time. Thus it helps to ripen your
crop perfectly. It helps to mature you a perfect
crop and the best crop your land will produce,
as wet land if tiled, is in the best condition
for culture and is then the richest of your soils.
Why? Because you tiled it right. It will pro-
duce the best of corn, wheat, oats, grass and hay
that your farm will produce. Just think of it.
It will help your hay to dry as the soil under

BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINING. a

your mown grass is in the best condition for the
drying of your grass. You will need less fertiliz-
er as you have the best of your farm producing
crops to make manure to enrich the poorer parts
of your land. Remember right here to apply
your manure to higher lands of your farm and
the drainage will naturally carry it to the lower
parts of your farm, especially if it should over-
flow a little at times. Thus you can even the
soil condition of your farm.

Tiling will do your soul good, as it will bring
vou a luxuriant, golden harvest. Who can help
but rejoice at the golden harvest? As it is the
g@olden harvest we have in view, let it be in the
field, shop or within the office or college, store or
bank. Why have hard times on thefarm’? Why
grow poor crops every year on wet land? when
you can grow the best of crops on all of yourland
and rejoice at the golden harvest, instead of hav-
ing the blues, because you haye only been able to
farm half of your soil and that half not worked
half, because there was a bed of water in the field,
or in other words, a bed of mud that kept much
oi the field planted too wet to cultivate. Thus
the weeds get the start of you and take the fer-
tility of your soil and rob the crop. That fertili-
ty will not be of any use tothat crop though you
are able to kill all the weeds. And you cannot
make manure of them in time for the crop they
have robbed.

_ Thus if you neglect to tile your land you will

10 . PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

have hard times at first, because you can get
more irom such land well tiled; yes, enough
more, often, to pay for your tile drain, and have
as much left as your crop amounted to. You
can do more to remove hard times than if you
sit on the fence and talk tariff reform or plead
for reduction of taxes, or if you get into a politi-
cal quarrel about something that you know
practically nothing about. Or if you did, you
might be on the other side. Sometimes some
farmers think they must control money making
by legislation and never try to do anything but
growl at others’ mistakes, saying I do notmake
such mistakes and would be ashamed of making:
such mistakes. Why do they never make such
mistakes? Simply because they have become a
chronic set of lounging growlers always and for-
ever dissatisfied, simply because they do noth-
ing. If they would improve half of the time they
lounge away they would then have more rest
then they need and be happier men; and their
women would enjoy themselves better. I know
of no other way that such farmers can take than
to tile their farms, instead of wasting their time
in worse than useless hitching up and driving to
town once, twice or even three or four times a
week, when they have no business in town, except
simply to hear the talk of the slums and to
drink the polluting liquors, and be degraded.and
drag wife, children aud friends down to degrada-
tion. Let me here say to you, stay at home;

BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINING. 11

drain your farm; help yourself to comfort; let
your wife enjoy your company; and enjoy the
comforts of life, as you promised to remain
faithful to her in all adversity. It is your duty
to make home the best of homes; and to do this ©
you must make surroundings to serve you to
their utmost. To do this you must tile drain
all land that retains too much water or holds
water on its surface. If you have but a smalllot
the more important it is to you that its produc-
ting capacity is the greatest that can be made,
for then you will see that a little well done re-
pays much better than much half done; and it
will prove a joy and comfort to you.

Those who have large tracts of land canstand
it better in one sense, and in the other not. _In
the first sense they may have enough todo them
and lay by some without tiling; but if this isthe.
case, should they have any license to compel poor
men to work their land on half pay and spoil
their farms by letting cattle tramp them into
mortar beds, simply because they are toostingy
to buy tile and drain their farms? No.

In the second sense their farms return them
poor interest for capital invested, and taxes paid
thereon. I for one say, tile your land; but don’t
run in debt for both land and tile and expect to
make much headway in paying up from the pro-
ceeds of the farm, as the interest and. debt may
be too much for you to manage. If the farm is
large, you may do this on quite a small piece if

12 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

you purchase cheap enough, so that you can see
your way out by some other way than from the
proceeds of your land alone. But if you are
close to some good market you may easily find
your way out by producing the vegetables that
are in demand at all times in that market.

TO FIND THE DEPTH AND GRADE FOR DRAINS.

How shall [ find the depth to whichI can grade
my ditch? The way I find how deep I can go is
by using’ a carpenter’s level. The first thing you
do is to place the level on the bottom of a nail
kee, turned bottom side up. Shift this kee till
your level shows that it rests level. Then look
over the top of the level at some object at some
distance and have some one to mark the point
you looked to when looking over the level.
Thén turn your level and look from the other
end of the level. Look to see that the spirits
show level and if upon looking over your level
it points to the same place it did in the first
place then your level is correct.

Now take a ten-foot pole and a rule, also your
level and your nail keg, and proceed to the place
that you want to place your drain. Ifyoustart
at the upper end you set your nail keg at some.
spot to start that is on a fair level with theland —
all around it. Lay your level on the kee then
shift your keg until it is level. You must bear
in mind to have your level pointing downstream.
Then measure the height of your nail keg and

THE DEPTH AND GRADE FOR DRAINS. 13

level, then have some one to take the ten-foot
pole and start down the course of your drain to
some suitable spot. Look over your level and
have him to mark where the top of your level
points to. Then take your nail kee and level
and go and set it directly over the place where
the pole was set, then take the diiference of the
point marked on the pole and the height of the
nail keg and level and if it is marked above the |
level of the keg and level that will be the fall you
will have in that distance. Continue thus until
you reach the outlet, making a record every
time you level and take the measurements, in
which way you can easily determine the possible
fall you may have.

Now to tell you just what fall you should have
would do some aninjustice. Butif I could do
no better I would run a tile for eighty rods on a
level, if [could then get even a two foot outlet
that is two feet below the surface. You will see
that the water would press down two feet all
along that tile drain and [could see no difficulty
in such a drain working well if made of smooth
and uniform tile. Ishould prefer the best glazed
tile for such purposes, as they would offer less
resistance to the flow of the water.

But do not understand me to say this is de-
sirable. It will do under the pressure of circum-
stances. Il would prefer one inch to the rod, but
that can not always be had.

14 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

DRAINING SWAMPS.

There is also sucha thing as draining a eee
that seems to be inadeep basin, by drilling
down through the hard-pan into the ground or
sand bed below and filling the holes with tile or
gravel to allow the water to go down. But tile
let down will do better, as tile can be run to
them, then, or you may make more holes by
drilling to the sand bed below and fill them with
gravel. Sometimes you can drain by digging
into the hill and strike the gravel bed. Several
feet in such a gravel bed would be sufficient by
laying tile back from there into the swamp.

Here let me say, if you drill the holes in the
swamp to reach the gravel bed for drainage,
you can protect them from filling up, by digging’
a trench about the hole several feet long and
about sixteen inches wide. Here make a brick
trunk, close up by inserting tile in several places
to admit the tile branches to be constructed.
Remember to make the trunks with solid bot-
tom but use no mortar in making your trunk,
and cover it deep.

Practically all land having no deep gravel bed
in direct connection with the surface soil should
be under-drained with tile. Such soils many
times hold water in them too long, thus causing
imperfect growth of our best cultivated plants.
They first become root-drowned, and the roots
stay on top of the soil, and when the water dries
up, the soil around the roots becomes so

DRAINING SWAMPS. 15

compact that the plant starves for the want of
soil airing if not broken up with cultivation.
There are practically speaking only a few plants
that we generally cultivate during their growth,
as most of our land is generally in wheat, oats,
barley, flax, rye, or grass; and if we are desirous
to succeed fully and satisfactorily we must tile
all such wet land, as then it will be but a short
time until we can cultivate our crops aftera
rain. The sooner the cultivating is done after
rains, but notin mud, the better for the growing:
crops; as the cultivating breaks the crust of the
soil and allows the air to act on the loosened
part of the ground, which then acts as a mulch
or covering of anything that will keep the soil .
from breaking up or cracking apart, and cramp-
ing the roots in air tight blocks of clay.

Tiling in this case helps you to air the roots
of your plants that they may grow. The loos-
ened coat on top helps to hold sufficient mois-
ture and store nitrogen from the air, as air
passes through the loosened soil to the tile be-
low. Manure or the fertility of the soil is not
lost by the evaporation of water from the soil
as the cultivated surface acts as a blanket keep-
ing the temperature even.

Again Isay that tiling well done, helps to save
your crops from drowning out; saves the
ammonia of the rain water as it passes
down to the tile; saves the ammonia
of manure and of the soil; stores nitrogen

16 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING,

in the soil by the soil being kept cover-
ed with the natural grasses instead of weeds
that simply rob thesoilastheslovenly, thought-
less farmer or the stingy miser who seeks to
take off only and make no returns to his soil:
Greed, in this case, often cannot see that treat-
ing the farm intelligently pays. It cannot see a
return ofinterest and principal unless secured by
ironclad notes and cutthroat mortgages.

Tiling makes you less weeds to rob your soil
of its fertility, as it gives you achance to cul-
tivate your soil in time to kill the weeds. Tiling
also helps to pulverize your soil so that weeds
will not spring up from the clods that could not
be pulverized on underdrained soil. Also weed’s
seed require quite an amount of water to make
them germinate. This they get on all land that
is flat and not tiled, while on tiled land the seed
of weeds do not get watersoaked and do not
spring up by millions.

We should drain all soils that can be made to
bring a fair crop by tiling. I would not advise
to drain large flats of very poor clay soil, as it
requires on such soil a very expensive net work
to tile them. Butif you think that you can
better your soil enough to produce profitable
crops, which you can easily and cheaply deter-
mine by draining a few acres asa test, then
drain all; but mind and have good outlets and
perfect grades before laying yourtile. Then you
can prove what tile will do and only then.

DRAINING SWAMPS. 17

Please remember that I said that I would not
tile drain very large flats of poor clay soil. But
if they are small ones don’t let them mar your
farm. Drain them as they may be rich in el-
ements of fertility when opened to the air with
tile. Some of the large flats of supposed clay
soil may be rich in elements of fertility when
opened to the air with tile. These large
flats of supposed clay soil may be rich in the el-
ements of fertility when made dry enough that
they will bring crops, or as soil should be to
bring crops. But let me here state thatin many
cases it would be cheaper to buy afarm ina
good state of fertility than to drain a very poor
clay farm.

Do not understand that I say, by any means,
high prices. here are many farms sold at
moderate prices that naturally have good soil.
Such farms that have once produced good crops
but now fail because of having been wrongly
treated, and are still being treated the same,
these farms may havea few wet spots, winter
springs or swales or sloughs that you may
profitably drain, and .then you can raise good
crops on those places and the rest of your land
can be brought up by raising clover to cover
your ground, thus forming a mulch for the re-
taining of nitrogen or the storing of nitrogen
from the air; also holding the ammonia of the
soil under the bed of leaves with which the soil

will be covered from a well set crop of clover.

18 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

Do not, if you want the good of your clover, let
timothy grow up and devour all that the clover
has done for you, and make the soil stiff and
poor as many do, thinking that the clover runs
out and the timothy does not. Your soil will
run out in timothy, but can be restored with
clover. Remember that clover only lives until
it produces its seed and then dies. It is with
but few exceptions found dead at the end of the
second year. Then is the time to turn it under,
as then you get the good of the roots, of their
fertility also. The more of the tops you plow
under the better, as then you leave your soil in
a good condition for the following crop. But
do not think that you can raise three or four
crops before you return clover to it again. But
get it back to wheat as soon as you can so that
you get it in clover again. Sow your clover
early and plenty of it; also some timothy at
the same time, ora little earlier.. Then when
you havea good set of clover do not turn in
your stock to gnaw it down to the ground,
thinking the great mistake as many do, that if
it grows nice that it is a dead loss if your stock
does not get it to eat. ButIsay to you let
that clover grow up some, but before the weeds
get much of a start take your mower and mow
stubble, weeds and all down to the ground, and
the stubble, weeds and clover leaves, all help to.
mulch the ground and keep your soil from dry-
ing. lIiyou do this you will see your clover make

DRAINING SWAMPS. 19

a thick set of leaves, spreading out over the
ground. It feels good, as you have killed many
ofits robbers and many of your robbers—that
is, the weeds. Your clover gets what the weeds
will take and grows strong and stalky instead
of puny and spindling stuff, as when choked and
robbed by weeds.

If your clover should grow too rank, as it
does sometimes, you can mow it down again,
but not as low as it was the first time. Never
let your stock gnaw your land brown and bare,
if it is farming land, as such soil becomes hard
and poor by such treatment. Properly speak-
ing, it is the way all soils are impoverished and
even tiled land, tramped, don’t drain well or.
half drain. Why I speak of clover as Ido, is
because it not only enriches your soil and loos-
ens it, but helps to drain vour soil—helps tile to
drain by loosening up the soil. Take this into
strong consideration, that land, where clover
can never be made to keep a good stand on ac-
count of constantly freezing out, must tile or
you can never reclaim it.

HOW TO DO TILING.

The first thing in starting a tile drain is to
have a short spade with which you can cut from
eight to nine inches deep. In making this first
cutting, you must grade your fall, as then you
can use the water with the least work to level
your ditch ifyou clean your ditch as you go and

20 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.”

make a perfect even bottom init, so that the
water flowsevenly andfreely. Youcanthenusea —
narrow, round pointed spade, the shape of your
tile. Use this spade as a measure. It should be —
an eighteen inch spade and if you will put your
spade down the same depth every time, the bot-
tom of your ditch will have an even grade.
Clean it out often and be sure that your work is
right. Do not make a lot of ditch and leave it
open, but always lay tile in all your finished
ditch as soon as done. Then norain can hurt
your ditch, por any thing else happenit. If you
cover vour tile and shut the end tile with a
brick, then no mud can be washed into it.

The first opening or grading should always be
done somewhat considerable ahead of the last
spading. Go ahead far enough so you may be
sure that you can go a good depth along your
ditch. Butif you have rooty land, that is new
eround, you want a square pointed
spade, as a round’ pointed § spade will
not cut roots. If you have no tile scoop and
have an old crosscut saw blade, take it to the
blacksmith, remembering to have your pieces
cut as long as your tile, but better fourteen
inches long, than just the length of your tile,
and take a tile along and have him bend it
around or half way around your tile.

You should get an iron fastened inside of the
scoop and at one end so you have the use of the
scoop. Fasten this iron in a good strong fork

HOW TO DO TILING. 21

handle in such ashape that you can stand on
top of the ditch while cleaning it out. It is not
necessary to get in the ditch and muddy your-
self if your scoop is set at the right angle; and
it is not near so hard work as to cramp your-
seli in a narrow ditch, besides avoiding the
wetting and muddying of your clothes.

Then your scoops will make a ditch in which
your tile, if rightly laid cannot move or be
moved. Round tile are the best as they make
the best fits. Tile should fit closely and don’t
you let any holesin the bottom of your tile.
Always turn them up and cover them with
pieces of tile. Just so sure as you let a hole in
the bottom of your tile drain the first crab that
comes up the drain will go down that hole and
fill your tile; be sure that you leave no gaping
cracks between tile, but cover them with pieces
of tile or pieces of crocks, dishes, jugs or flat
stones. When you have this done cover your
tile. Right here let me tell you, not to throw in
the clay or mud that you took from the bottom
of the ditch, but spade down lightly of the top
soil to fill your ditch a little more than half full
before you put thatin the ditch which was in the
bottom. This insures vou the best drainage you
ean get. I made the mistake long ago of put-
ting the soil on top and that which I took from
-the bottom in the bottom again, and tile three
feet deep did not remove the water at some
places for two days afterarain. That bottom

22 P RACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

mud sometimes seals your tile. It did so in my
case. .

Some are in the habit of putting straw on the
tile first; this is useless, and when covered with
sticky clay makes it still worse than useless?
Straw still helps to seal your tile as it packs
down on the tile still worse. I have hauled
gravel and put aload into the ditch at intervals
so as to get surface water from heavy rains to
reach the tile sooner. Another advantage you
have in filling your drains with gravel is that
vou can always know where your tile is if you
want to make new branches. The best way is
to haul a load where you may want to make
your branches and slightly hillit up. The best
thing you can do if your swale is liable to wash,
is to use gravel and make adam across your
swale that will prevent washing.

Should you wish to drain a deep slough that
is subject to deep washes, you must then make
large dams of stone often enough to keep tile
from being washed out. This depends on the
amount of fall there isin the slough and you
must make trunks above those dams to receive
the water more freely. These should be made of
brick and the bottom of the trunk should be on
alevel with the tile. You should remember that
there must be a solid bottom in these trunks as
the crabs might work mud into the trunks.:
Slate or cistern cement would do on the bottom.
Then start and build your trunk of brick, say

HOW TO DO TILING. 23

several feet long. As you build it, cut your
brick at each end so that the tile will fit in asa
stove-pipe does into a chimney. Build your
trunk several bricks high, leaving enough space
between the side walls so that it will hold sever-
al times the amount of water the tile does.
Cover the top of the trunks by laying on bricks.
lithey reach an inch or more on the side walls it
will be enough if they are good strong brick. A
double layer on top would do better, if it comes
near to plow depth. But with the stone dam
below, the wash will soon cover your brick still
deeper, The object of this brick trunk in a tile
drain is to let the water into the drain much
faster than it otherwise could be done. Gravel
put above the dam on the brick would still be
an improvement on the drainage.

Another advantage to be gained in the trunks
is similar to letting air into the upper bung of a
barrel when the lower one is open, causing the
water to escape in full flow. Thus the tile will
flow to their fullest capacity.

Brick trunks should be made where tile passes
through a basin where water lies in for any
length of time. They will air the drain and
cause the water to flow much sooner than it
would otherwise. This, with a gravel covering:
would be of much value in winter when the or-
dinary soil is sealed with frost.

Ii you have had your tile properly laid and
you find that there is such aclay bed that it

24 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

does not admit of good drainage the brick
trunk is what you must.resort to, unless you
can get gravel to make frequent water draws.

DRAINING HOLLOWS.

In draining hollows that are liable to much
wash at every fiood when the ground is in cult-_
ivated crops, there will always be trouble from
tile washing out, or all the soil being washed
away which is in those sloughs or hollows; and
also the fertility of the wash from the hills or -
watershed that flows into the hollows. I will
tell you, that. unless you have thestone dam, you
ean not avoid the trouble of flood washes when-
ever theswales are plowed up. But there isstill,
I think,in many cases another way that will an-
swer equally well to tiling. That is to plow up
those hollows and takearoad grader and grade
them so as to be of an equal width everywhere
from the center. That will leave you a nice and
wide water-course in the center of your hollow.
This can be made very easy if you commence to
plow on the outside at an equal distance from
the center of the hollow. Thus you will have
a wide furrow to start with and if you roll
and harrow the ground several times before you
commence to use the road grader, you can do
much better grading. Now after you have
graded the swale, you should make short stakes
of boards and drive them into the ground across
it. Drive them clear into the ground and close

DRAINING HOLLOWS. 25

together, so that the water cannot wash deeper.
If you follow up the hollow and drive stakes oit-
en enough your hollow will have to stay as you
left it, and to protect the sides drive several
stakes into the plowed ground deep as is nec-
essary to get a very firm hold. Then take
boards and sink them down on the up stream
side of the stakes. Sink them down as deep as
the level of the ground. Nail them tothe stakes
so they cannot be washed out. If you have not
the boards, other timber may do, but should be
several thicknesses. Place allthe dirt taken out
to place timbers, on the upper side of timbers or
boards, tramp it very solid, as it is the solidity
upon which work depends. Now when you have
gone up your hollow and driven stakes in the
center and made your side wings, often enough,
as in this case you must use your own judgment
asno rule can be given as fall varies so much,
and even in the same hollow.

Now you are prepared to sow your land in
some crop suited to sow grass with. But don’t
spare the grass seed. Sow clover, timothy and
red-top very thick and you will be sure to get a
set of grass, and that will insure you one of the
best meadows on your farm, and it will bein
such condition that you can drive in and mow
it with your mower, if you have taken the proper
caution to grade your ground properly. You
then have a wide, even swale that will not
wash easily and cannot wash if you drove

26 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

your stakes right, and made good side wings.
Thus you can use your mower to mow those
sloughs even if your field is in wheat or corn or
oats. I mean to leave the swales for meadow
instead of plowing them up, and you will find
them the best of meadows, and you will not be —
troubled with washout ditches that you cannot
cross. Your meadow will not want much for
manure asthe hillside wash, caught in the grass,
will always supply it. Ifthe field is in grass it
ean be cut with the balance of the field, and I
think it would be a blessing to have the swales
crossable rather than to have them full of wash-
outs, over which neither mower, binder, or wag-
on can safely cross.

Should you need tile nearer the summit, you
must have a stone dam across the hollow and
have your outlet in this stone dam. You can
build your outlet of stone, if you have good flat
stone. If not, use brick or jointed sewer pipe.

BRANCH DRAINS.

Now we will go to the branches. You should
have tile that are prepared with junctions. If
you have not, pick a round hole in your tile just
the size of the branch tile. Cover all cracks well
with pieces of tile, then cover up so as to prevent
them from being moved. Remember that a
three inch tile will hold two and one fourth
times as much asatwo inch tile. Tile are to
each other as the squares -of their diameters.

BRANCH DRAINS. | oF

Yet you may often add several two inch branch-
es to athree inch tile, as a three inch tile is es-
timated to drain the water that falls on two
and one fourth acres.

Now we will go to the upper end of the tile
drain. How shall we finish it? Why, go to
work and let the last tile into a small brick
chimney just as you would put a stove pipe into
a chimney. Let this chimney come as near to
the top as you can so that the plow will not dis-
turb the top covering bricks. This will let air
into your tile and the flow will be much better
than if you shut it up tight with a brick at the
end tile, which you must do if you do not want
your tile to fill up at the upper end. Use a
mixed material, if convenient, for marking, use
plenty of it. Gravel would be the best to cover
the chimneys or trunks with. This also marks
the locality of your tile drain. Right here let
me say you can tell better where your tile drain
is than nine-tenths of the men can with a
surveyor’s plot, by simply placing or scattering
a lot of finely pounded brick or broken white
dishes or broken crocks. Either will be fine
enough to not interfere with your mowing’ ma-
chine. But you must not shut up the tile that
enters into the brick chimney. This brick ven-
tilator must not be laid in mortar, but should
have a solid bottom of cistern cement, bricks or
flat stones, slate or glass to keep the crabs from
shutting up the tile from below. Cover it well

28 ~ PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

with bricks or flat stone to keep loose dirt out
of the ventilator. 3

These pieces should be put on the drain when
shut up. They will mix into the soil and your
tile drain will always be marked, even should
your surveyor’s plot be lost or burned. Gravel
will also do to mark the locality of your drain.
Mounds of earth will do for some time but will
not always bea landmark. Never fail to mark
the place where you stopped laying tile, as you
may want to commence there some time, and if
you mark it well you can find it in twenty years
as well as the day you marked it; and it will
never interfere in the least in your working the
soil.

Some mark with stakes that rot away soon;
some mark with stones and they are always in
the way. I will here say if you start at the out-
let of your tile drain you will have no trouble in
marking it to the upper end by using broken
bricks as a mark, by placing about one-half
bushel of broken bricks into your tile ditch when
you are covering the tile. These should be
placed into the ditch at each curve and then you
can stretch a line from one lot of brick .to the
other and'thus you will never be at a loss to
know where your tile drain is, if you should ever
want to put in a new branch. These bricks
should be pounded so that the largest pieces will
not be larger>than walnuts, and should be
placed so as to show on top of the ditch and

LENGTH AND SIZE OF TILE. 29

need not be placed deeper than one foot, as that
would be deep enough to make a good mark.
These pieces might be mixed for a couple of feet
along the ditch. But be sure-you put a good
mark at the end of your drain, as itis for your
convenience to know at any time where you laid
the last tile of every drain.

LENGTH AND SIZE OF TILE.

Tile used in deep hollows should belonger than
one foot. They should be two feet long. In
Switzerland they use three foot tile. Tile used
in such places should have joints to connect
them that they may not be displaced by a heavy
freshet in the spring. They should have the
stone dam protection as afore described.

Where tile are expected to discharge quite a
lot of water very rapidly they should be corre-
spondingly larger, many times twice the ordi-
nary size, and where it is shed rapidly from hills,
we say three times as large as would berequired
to carry the water from flats.

Again, if you areina flat valley where water
is carried away in a ditch, your tile that leads
into these ditches must be considerable larger
than if they emptied into a natural living
stream, because floods may be kept up much
longer in some than in others. But in ditches
having little fall, water flows slowly ; hence your
tile entering in such ditches must be larger than
usual, for when the water begins to fall in your

30 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

ditch then your tile will do their work quickly.
This is the reason why many persons who putin
small tile have to take them up and put in
larger. In such cases try to get some informa-
tion from those that have tiled in your locality
—the size of tile, the depth put down, and the
working effects. View their position, compare
your situation and you may act safely and wise-
ly.

If you get your tile drains witha perfect grade
as before described, then use the best tile vou
can get. They should be smooth and even in-
side. Ifithey have any rough spots inside, cut
them out with an old file ground to an edge, or
chisel shaped. Lay the tile with no holes in
bottom, covering those on top with pieces of
broken tile. Remember right here to do your
work right, is to have the satisfaction of enjoy-
ing a reward for life, and posterity for time to
come, for having donea good workin good faith.

Many swamps require drains to be put around
the entire swamps and through the body of the
same wherever there are depressions that hold
water.

Winter springs require a complete surr oa
ing of tile, and many times, numerous branches
thredieh: Tough clay that is inclined to winter-
spring can be helped much by tiling, but I have
one on my farm that did me little good until I
used phosphates, after which it brought me the
best crop that I ever had. I have raised three

LENGTH AND SIZE OF TILE. 31

erops on this land with phosphates, which have
yielded better than the heaviest manuring ever
did on it. ButI will not say that if I had ap-
plied lime to this sticky, sour, clay soil that it
would not have had an equal effect to the phos-
phates. ButI must say that the last of the
three crops was the best of all that I raised,
with a heavy set of clover in the bargain. I can
say in this case phosphate helped me to raise a
heavier crop than lever was able to raise on
this land after tiling.

This was part of a basin leaning to a swamp
probably afall of from three to five hundred feet
to the mile. It had sufficient fall to drain any
soil naturally, but the sticky nature of the soil
of this water shed I think is now partly dissolv-
ed with the action of the phosphates, and I think
that ii | keep stock from tramping it, and plow
the second crop of clover under, seed and all—
understand me that [I mean to mow that field
then let the clover come up for seed, and then
letit cover the ground till spring asa mulch then
plow it under for a spring crop, as there is some
blue grass that must be worked out, anda
spring crop is the best for that purpose, before
sowing to wheat. Whereas, should I plow it for
wheat without first killing out the blue grass, it
would choke the wheat out and so take posses-
sion of the ground and make it impossible to
raise a crop of clover, and this would entirely
shut off all crop rotation, as the blue grass

32 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

does not do much more than to fool stock for a
while in the spring, and then when the dry sea-
son of the year comesitis like the darkey’s flea, it
“aint thar,’ and yet when it once has got full
possession of the soil it drives out all other
grass plants; and I think it also helps to bind
such soil to make it drain less instead of loosening
it.

- _Here let me say if you want to drain your soil
perfectly, let plenty of clover help you to keep
the soil loose. Itis the best of help, and it is
help that pays you.

See here, if you are troubled with plantain all
vou need to dois to sow heavily with clover and
timothy. Sow your timothy about midwinter,
your clover in February or early in March, re-
membering to sow heavily. But don’t let your
timothy grow for a year or two after your clov-
erisrun outas that will more than discount
the good the clover has done towards loosening
the soil and assisting in drainage.

Some pec ple think they must have timothy
hay anyhow if it will even rob the farm, just be-
cause they have and because hay buyers all want
it. Cut your clover when it is in full red bloom,
not when the heads are half brown, as the rule
of old is. If you mow when in fullred bloom you
get all the sweet in your hay that the grass will —
ever have. If the weather is rainy, on the after-
noon of the first clear day, mowifthin, and in the
afternoon of the next day rake into winrows.

LENGTH AND SIZE OF TILE. 33

But should your grass be very heavy you must
ted it on the forenoon of the second day. But
I have never needed to ted when it made even
two and one-half tons per acre. I always raked
it the afternoon of the second day, turned it next
morning after the dew was off. | turned it over
so as to bring all loose scattering parts of the
winrows into good shape for pitching; then I
proceed to haul it to the barn as fast as I can.

Ii you have any old hay or straw take it and
cover your new hay every evening with a thin
layer of your old hay as it helps your old hay
and keeps the cold night air from condensing all
evaporation on your new hay.

You had better close all openings about vour
barn except the ventilator and keep the cool air
of the night from condensing the rising vapor
upon the new hay. Sometimes you can haul in
your hay the second day if the weather is very
drying. Treat your hay thus and you will have
the best kind of hay, and you don’t need to feed
any grain in moderate work and when not work-
ing, need feed no grain at all. I thus speak as I
know. There is an opinion and a misleading
one, too, that clover hay is notequalto timothy
hay. It is even better, and with clover and
timothy thickly sown you can at least make
your hay half your ideal. If you sow mammoth
~ clover it will ripen or bloom when the timothyis
at its best. Why I have said so much about
clover hay is to demonstrate to you the value of

34 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

clover hay from my own experience, as a fodder,
and the necessity of clover raising to bring:
your soil into the best draining condition possi-
ble. It loosens the soil. Now don’t think you
must mow your grass to the ground, but leave
good stubbles, for you cannot make your stock
eat much of butts of the hay, and often they
leave much of the stems, and would about as
soon eat so much wood. »Why not leave it on
the field where it will help to cover your soil and
keep it loose. Here let me tell vou don’t eut
vour wheat low but cut it high, and leave allthe
stubbles on the field you can, to cover the ground
and keep it loose and make your soil drain bet-
ter. Mow your stubbles, weeds and all, down
soon after the wheat is taken from the field. It
will help your clover and help to loosen your
soil and store nitrogen and help to tile drain
your farm. This is why I say so much on this.

DEPTH OF TILE DRAINS.

You may want to know to what depth I put
tile down. I put some tile down three feet eight
years ago and there are some places along that
drain that the water does not get down to the
tile in time to produce potatoes, right over the
drain. Nor does it.drain until most of the water
has flown down the drain several rods. Now all
that I will have to do in that drain is to dig it
open down to the tile, and fill the drain with
gravel and bring branches of smaller tile nearer

DEPTH OF TILE DRAINS. - 3D

the surface and then they will drain more rapidly
as they will be above the sticky clay bed and
then there will be no trouble about all the nec-
essary drainage. Could I not get gravel to fill
those drains after digging them open I should
resort to the brick trunk as before described,
and thus I would bring the drainage nearer to
the surface. The occasional gravel fill or the
brick trunk placed in those places will help you
to drain three feet deep even in such sticky soil.
It is very seldom that you find more than forty
feet of it on one drain, though in the drain
mentioned it was probably one hundred and
twenty-five feet, along that drain in several
places. You will find that in making a three
feet drain the last foot of depth costs as much
labor as the first two in many places. They put
tile only two feet deep and it proves very good.
And in some piace where they have a very close,
sticky clay soil, tile are put about twenty inches
deep on an ayerage, and they say that is the
right depth for them. From experience of my
own, I can say there are some places along my
drains if I did not open the drains and make
gravel fills, | am satisfied that there would never
be such perfect drainage on some of the drains
as there are on others where the soil is more
porous. But let your drain be where it will, in
filling, don’t put in straw, but spade the surface
of the sides of your ditches on the tile first then
put on the ground thrown out of the ditch to fill

36 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

the balance. It will then be on top of the ground
where frost, sun and rain can dissolve the
sticky clay; and by spading down the surface
you have aloose mold on your tiie, and you
have widened the sides of your ditch by giving
it slope to the tile. |
There is another rule by which you can govern
yourself as to the depth that youshould lay your
tile with a prospect of their working well or work-
ing. perfectly. That is this: the nearer you areto
a running stream of considerable size. where there
is quite a considerable gravel or drift deposit and
you want to drain only an occasional basin or
swale, then you can @o as deep as your outlet will
let you, or as deepas youwish togo. Remember
to keep an even grade at all times. Should you
have much fall, it is equally as important, for
then it willsave washoutsin floods. Butforsuch
places, longer tile with joints and stone dams over
the tile to break washes, are neccessary. Right
here remember as you go up thestream and where
water flows slower, the condition of the soil is
often not as good for drainage as lower down.
Then you must not put your tile as deep, or you
can put them as deepif you make the gravel fills
often as necessary. But you must bear in mind
to have the same effectual drainage that you
are able to getfurther downstream, you willhave
to exercise greater care in constructing your tile
drains. Thefurther you go upstream the greater
care you must take, and on the summit you

DEPTH OF TILE DRAINS. SU

should first secure a good outlet, then keep as
deep as water will flow out of the outlet of the
drain. Butif there isa very sticky clay soil, you
can not drain as deep as further down thestream.
But, sometimes, on the summit there are some
very porous flats of clay loam that would drain
much deeper than one would think they would.
Such loams have sometimes a mixture of bog or
some irony formation that seems to have a grit
in it when the spade is passing through it. Such
soil generally drains well. Let me say that tile
draining, well done, is done for life, and to do it
well, the first thing is to have a good outlet.
After you begin to lay your tile or are ready to
lay, voushould firstlay agood brick outlet large
enough to carry the water of the tile. Lay these
bricksin cement mortar. These bricksshould be
burned hard enough to be frost proof. Your
brick outlet should be several feet long, and clos-
ed over the tile solidly. You should placea wire
screen in your outlet to prevent animals from en-
tering the tile drain. Why | say you should lay
your brick in cement mortar is that nothing can
displace them easily and spoil your outlet which
would be a damage to the whole drain.

Some make their outlets of sewer pipe, using
several pieces. This will be all right if you can
hold them to their places and no water dams in-
to them to freeze them to pieces. Iivouusesuch
you will have to hold them with stone and cover
them so they are fully protected, or you will

38 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

have trouble. I have used wooden boxes for out-
lets but they cave in before you are aware, as
some side or the top will rot and down goes
vour trunk, and it requires much time to look
after them and keep them in good repair, and if
made of good lumber they cost quite a considera- .
ble. So I think for me there shall be no more
wooden outlets.

WHAT TO USE TO DRAIN OR UNDERDRAIN OUR SOIL.

The very best burned tile that we can get.
Glazed tile are the best, as they generally havea
smooth inside, which is very important to have,
as it lets the water flow more freely than it will
in an ordinary tile, as they are somewhat rough
and retard the flow of water very much; and
many tile have blisters inside which must
be cut out before laying. You had better throw
such defective tile away rather than putthemin.
Without cleaning they will only choke your
ditch or reduce the capacity of the drain. Some
say rough tile let water through the body of the
tile. I assure you it would be very poor drain-
age you would get were it not for the joints you
eet in laying one foot tile. What water passes
through the joints of a tile drain isabout ail you
can expect to pass into the tile as the fine par-
ticles of soil seal ali openings in the tile structure.
It might do for filtering purposes but for noth-
ing else. Then don’t let the man with his rough
tile persuade vou that they are as good or bet-
ter than glazed tile are.

SIZE OF TILE. 39

SIZE OE TILE.

What size tile shall we use? As we are on the
summit we know to what extent our tile have to
work; but as we go down stream further we have
to contend with more water, for that which falls
on the ground to be drained, and that which
faJls on ground above encumbers the capacity of
tile and the outlet of a drain in many cases can-
not work as soon as it would farther up the
stream, as the water from above may keep open
ditches or even running streams full for several
days, and in such case you will necessarilly need
larger tile than where you have a free and un-
obstructed outlet. I will try and give you a
table that wili suit for most of the ordinary out-
lets.

TABLES OF CAPACITY OF TILE AS OUTLETS OF CON-
NECTING BRANCHES.

2 inch tile drains, dic. SCTE:
SE ete a 2% acres.
66 ae ce 66
ee ce ¢¢ S 66
6 66 6¢ 66 : 9 6¢
5 86 66 ra 12Y a4
8 ce 66 ce 16 a3
ae Oa ‘é 66 95 66
TS 6c ee ce 36 ee
14 ce ee os AQ 66
15 66 6e 66 56 iz
16 66 66 ec 64 ce

t& ce ec oe S1 a

40 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

94. 66 (a5 cc ‘ 143 ar
30 ce 66 6¢ 950 cé
36 (a5 66 ‘a5 394 6é

This will be very near the capacity oi the tile,
though condition of locality may change the es-
timate and make it too high or too low.

THE SURVEY.

Is it necessary to have a survey to locate a
good tile drain? No, not unless there are sever-
al disagreeing parties who have land along the
route of the drain, or want to drain into the
same. But [ want to say to you, you had better
compromise the matter and make the drain
without a survey, as the expense of making
the drain will have to be made after all
contending is over. Let each one do his or her
share and it will bea lasting good to all con-
eerned. If you cannot agree then try for an
arbitration and agree to stand by the decision.
Have such agreement in writing placed before
the arbitrators, signed by alli parties concerned,
agreeing to accept the decision of arbitration;
have arbitrators to put agreement on record,
also their decision, recording the same. Then if
any party wishes to engage in constructing the
ditch it may be necessary to have a surveyor,
if there is still some dissatisfaction, to set each
share apart with depth of grade. This will be
about the best way of disposing of the work.
Then have the surveyor to inake a plot of each .

THINGS TO AVOID. 41

man’s share or give each man a separate plot of
his share. Thus you will have the plot of your
own construction at hand always to refer to.

The division of the drain can also be made by
the arbitrator if all parties are agreed to have
them stake it off. But if they say each one shall
do so much work, it must be surveyed.

WHAT SHALL WE AVOID IN TILE DRAINING ?

The first thing to avoid is a willow tree, the
roots of which will sometimes reach a tile drain
four rods from the tree. lm trees are equally
as bad; white and black ash also are bad to
choke tile drains by sending their fine roots into
the tile drain at the joints. Almost any tree is
' that grows well on wet land, as they seem to
naturally seek the water level and they can find
this in the bottom of a tile drain. Right heretow
depart a little from the text, such trees are very
dangerous about foundation walls of buildings.
They often root in among the morter of such
walls and crowd the stones out of their place in
the wall. Fruit trees are not liable to do this
so much as the trees of the forest. Fruit trees
are not likely to injure tile drains as they donot
seek after a water level, but_rather prefer to re-
main inadry soil. There is no instance of any
trouble in tiling an orchard to my knowledge. I
have tiled within ten feet of a row of apple trees
along my orchard to reach my garden witha tile
drain and have never had any trouble with that

4Q PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

drain in seven years, and I know where drains
have been put in not more than five years ago
that were put that near to ash trees that they
had to be taken up and were found full of roots.
Where you have to pass through timber of this
kind, you should never use less than five inch
tile. If the outlet is kept open it will then be
too dry for them to send their roots into the tile.

WHAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER IN TILE DRAINING.

We should first look up the true line of the
main drain, measure it and level it to have it all
correctly proved the best line and the least ex-
pensive. A little time spent in overlooking the
situation is never lost.

We next should remember to grade our ditch-
es. The first thing we do is in cutting the soil
away with a short spade, it is much easier done -
by scooping out the loose dirt and see that the
water all flows freely. Then you can make your
drain of an exact depth.

Next remember to lay your tile of the same
size first, and take the shrunken ones of that
size and lay them back and use them up the
drain where you want smaller tile, as to lay
three inch tile and when you have one burned
very hard that is only two and one-half inches
you would reduce your three inch tile to two and
one-half by using the shrunken tile.

Lay all tile as close as possible. Leave no un-
covered cracks. Leave no holes in bottom of

THINGS TO REMEMBER. 43

drain.’ Remember that tile laid in straight lines
work best. Remember that sinks or miry swamps,
or quicksands must have long narrow boards
that are good and solid laid in the bottom be-
fore tileis laid in any soft and bottomed ditches.
Tile should be more than one foot in length. In
draining a swamp all soft and miry places must _
be tiled to save the crop and beasts.

Don’t use straw, hay or corn stocks to cover
tile. They will dam the water from the tile.

Cover your tile with the surface soil and then
with bottom soil. Remember to use plenty of
bricks or broken tile to mark: your drains.
Broken tile of good quality can often be had for
hauling from the tile kiln. Mark deep and well,
as good marking will make you a good drain
plot, one to last forever.

Remember, too, that to have the best drain-
age your tile must be laid periectly and have
ventilation or air at the upper end to flow freely.

Remember to have the best flow you must
have good smooth tile inside, though some rough
material may sometimes be stronger than the
smooth is. If you lay rough tile, clean the in-
side. But if you can get good glazed tile they
are the best. The writer trusts that you will be
able to drain successfully after reading this
column.

HOW TO LOCATE OLD TILE DRAINS.

You can also locate your old tile drains and

44 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

mark them.in this way very closely. All’ you
have to do is to start near the outlet, just as
soon after a rain as you see the plowed ground
drying off over your old tiledrains. Take a line,
measure across the dry line of ground over the
tile. Take one-half of the width and place a
mark of about a half bushel of pounded bricks
into the ground at this point, then go up this
dry line to the first curve. Put in brick again
after measuring as before. You should also put
in some brick above and below the curve, making
measurements every time. Go up your tiledrain
in this way and I will assure you that you will
never vary more than a foot or so if you take
correct measurements. Go up this line as faras
you see dry ground. Mark at the upper end
with several lots of brick, only a rod orso apart.
This will give you a direct line to approach your
tile drain from above; if you start above the
drain and come down to the drain on this line,
you will surely find your tile and your work is
never lost. But if your drain don’t work you
cannot expect to mark them all right. But as
far as they work all right you can do the mark-
ing all right, and some times where they only
work partly by this you can also tell above
eround where your tile works right. Now ifyou
start out take your measure and stakes and you
may mark the tile location first with stakes,
then follow with pounded brick and shovel to
mark where stakes mark the drain. When you

HOW TO LOCATE OLD TILE DRAINS. 45

first begin to see the dry line on your plowed
ground then is the best time to mark your tile
drains.

Remember that a tile drain ever so well laid, if
its outietis not looked after and kept open it will
not work well.

Remember that the straighter your tile are laid
in line, the better the flow of the water.

Remember that it is cheaper to have a good
tile drain than to lose your crop on untiled land,
or in some cases to only have half a crop.

Remember it is cheaper to have tile drains in
your swamps, than to swampstock.

Rentember it is cheaper to have tile drains than
have your field full of plowed out ditches to run
your machinery over and break them, as the
money lost in this way would often make your
tile drains.

Remember it is cheaper to make tile drains than
to have your field full of plowed out ditches and
have your stock roll in and die.

Remember asheep lostin this way, ifsold would
buy many tile.

Remember a good colt or a good horse lost in
this way would be something; if sold would go far
towards tiling a farm.

Remember, if you could notsell that horse from
your farm, thatto have used the money that was
required to buy another horse, would have gone
far towards tiling your farm, and would have
saved your horse, saved crossing ditches and

46 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

breaking your machinery and vexation; instead
of having nice, even fields to reap over and an
abundant harvest to reap.

Remember that if you must have field ditches,
take aroad grader and make them. They will
not wash out like plow ditches, but they arestill
dangerous to stock if made.very deep.

Remember that too deep spading occasionally
will make a soft slushy bottom to lay your tile
in, and yourtile will never work perfectly. Have
a Sarectly solid bottom, sae graded and you
have a good job.

Remember, oh remember last of all, to see to
it that all your tile are laid right and never let e
job work, but better pay by the day and have —
your tile all laid an even depth. If tile are laid
in a ditch and water partly covers them, they
will be likely to fill up to the water, and you pay
for work half done. Don’t let tile be covered be-
fore you see them, if possible.

Remember it is when you have no places on
your farm that are too wet to produce any crop
thatitisthen that by good culture you can bring
your farm to the highest state of pr oductivel ness
of your locality.

CHAPTER ON DITCHING TOOLS.

a

The numbers designating the different drain-
ing tools, and the numbers of the descriptive
paragraphs correspond.

1. Surface Spade Shovel, to be used in start- .
ing and grading water level.

2. Flat Cleaner should be used in grading to
first water level.

3. Round Cleaner, to be used in absence of
Flat Cleaner.

4. Push and Pull Cleaner, to be used in the
bottom of drain to level tile drain bottom be-
fore laying tile.

5. Square Cleaner, to be used inlaying Square
Sewer pipe.

6. Flat Cleaner, to be used in removing all
ground that falls back into ditch, andin making’
the first level. Also to be used in marshy,
swampy land where you have to lay boards in
the bottom of the ditch before laying the tile.

7. Drain Spade, the most useful in all drains
except where roots interfere.

8. Ordinary Ditching Spade, to be used in
rooty ground; also very good in swamps where
roots may occur and | you have to lay boards in
the bottom.

48 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

9. Post Hole Spade, not wanted for ditching.

10. The Ordinary Spade is not very:good in
ditching.

11. The Ordinary Shovel, is not of much use
in ditching. >

12. Tosumall up, about all that is needed for
willing hands is a Surface Spade, Shovel and
Round Push and Pull Cleaner. This is aboutall
generally needed except where roots interfere.
Then use the Ditch Spade.

The Ditch Spade is intended for open ditches.
In buying those tools get the best and lightest.
You can get the weight on in mud, and clumsy,
heavy tools are tiresome. I give you this to
tell you what to get and don’t let your dealers
put no you other tools than those recommended.

Hussey, Binns & Co., Linard, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
have favored me with these plates and I am
thankful to them. With these illustrations I
think I can tell. you what you want and what
you don’t want.

DITCHING TOOLS.

49

50

PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

No. 5.

No. 6. No. 7.

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—

CLOVER FOR FERTILITY.

The importance of frequent clover seedings is
too often overlooked by many farmers, especial-
ly if they do not grow clover seed themselves.
Clover is not directly a money crop. It may be
sold, but we pity the farmer who grows it for
this purpose. Its best use-is for feeding tostock
on the farm, making manure that is worth near-
ly as much as its price in the market. Thus con-
siderable time is required to bring a clover crop
into money. Capital also is needed to purchase
or even to breed the stock to be fed. Thousands
of farmers every spring neglect sowing clover
seed, or sow it in such small amounts as not to
get much benefit from it. They do not have
money to spare to buy clover seed, when thereis
such indefinite prospect of getting it back the
same season. Probably in nothing is lack of
capital in farming more injurious than in pre-
venting frequent, and liberal seeding of clover.
Going into debt for clover seed is not necessary.
A good seeding costs not much more than adol-
lar an acre. Nothing else comes as cheap as
this, and nothing costing twice as much keeps
fertility as clover does.

Ten to twelve pounds of clover seed are enough

CLOVER FOR FERTILITY. 53

if the soil is in good condition as to tilth. This
will give more plants on a square foot than can
grow to full size, but it is better to seed thickly,
so as to suppress weeds. Iithesoil is very weedy
it is better to sow a peck per acre than to have
partial failure anywhere, and this at present
prices might cost $1.25. Before midsummer
this clover seed will have attained a growth
more than enough to pay the cost of seed. It
will usually pay to sow clover -seed at any-
thing less than $8 or $10 a bushel on spring
grain, whose stubble is to be plowed for wheat
in the fall. It is not merely the bulk of clover
growth that makes this pay. The clover has, if
successiul, suppressed many weeds, and it is
worth much more as a fertilizer then they could
be.

Let this clover grow through two seasons,
and how much has it benefited the soil in that
time? The roots have pushed into the subsoil
so far as the vigor of the plant and richness of
soil above will allow. Successive clover crops
penetrate the soil deeper, until it will in drained
land reach down to shallow drains two or two
and one-half feet deep. It is for this reason bet-
ter to put underdrains down three feet at least,
so that successive clover crops may not finally
reach into them and choke them. No permanent
injury is likely to occur to drains from clover
roots. Assoon as the plant dies the root quick-
ly dissolves, and is washed out by next winter’s

54 PRACTICAL TILE DRAINING.

or spring’s floods. The track of the clover root
in the subsoil makes a water course for surplus
water to filter through to the drain. Clover and -
underdraining thus each help the other.

If all small grains were seeded with clover at
every crop there would soon be no complaint of
the scarcity of manure to fertilize the farm. Ifa
part of all the manure applied is used in grow-
ing clover, it will so rapidly increase the capacity
of the farm to keep stock that there need be no
lack of manure thereafter. Without such clover
seeding it is impossible to grow grain crops with-
out making the land sterile, even though com-
mercial fertilizers be ever so abundantly used.
With clover seeding as often as possible, so much
of all manure is returned to the soil that it can
not help increasing in fertility and this too with-
out plowing under any part of the clover crop
except its roots.

So far as possible, farmers should grow clover
seed. In growing the second crop after the first
has been cut for hay, the grain in soil fertility
and also in the depth of the clover root is great-
er than during any previous equal length of
time that the plant is growing. Part of the
clover seed is generally dropped on the ground
in gathering it, but this is by no means wasted.
Land where clover seed has been oiten grown be-
comes so well seeded that it will grow a crop of
clover every time the field is plowed for several
years thereafter. Farmers sometimes say that -

CLOVER FOR FERTILITY. ay

such land is “‘natural to clover,” which is a mis-
take if it means that clover grows without seed.
But such land is always regarded as among the
best, because it has long been in the hands of
farmers who appreciate the value of clover.—The
~American Cultivator.

INDEX.

Benefits of Tile Draining, -

To Find Depth and Grade of Drains,
Draining Swamps, -

How To Do Tiling, - -
Covering Tile, ie
How To Make Trunks, -
Draining Hollows, -

Branch Drains, - -
Ventilating Drains, -
Length and Size of Tile, -
Depth of Drains, -
Outlets, — - - -
What to Use for Drains, -

Size of Tile, ~ -

The Survey, - :
What to Avoid, © : -
What to Remember, -

How to Locate Old Drains, -
Ditching Tools, - _-

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