head of the hammer pick may be about seven-eighths of an inch square at the largest point, and four and onefourth inches long, or about the weight of a light riveting hammer, the sides and face being flat, with sharp angles all round. The point of both tools should terminate in an abrupt bevel, like the edge of a cold-chisel, as a slender point will break, and cannot be kept sharp. The "edge" of the hatchet pick should have a similar bevel, or it may be one inch wide and ground flat at right angles to its sides. To make a junction, pick a hole through the side FIG. 39. HAMMER PICK. of a tile from the main, with the point of one of these tools, and enlarge it in an oblong form, the width being about equal to the inside diameter of the tile which is to form the branch. The end of this branch tile is then beveled and hollowed out to fit the outside of the tile from the main at the proper angle. When a good fit is made by chipping with the point, or cutting with the sharp angles of the hammer or hatchet, as may be most convenient, place the branch in its proper position over the hole in the tile from the main, and by looking FIG. 40. HATCHET PICK. through its bore the additional cutting or trimming of the hole in the main, that is required to allow a free discharge from the lateral, will readily be seen. When the fitting of the two tiles together is finished they are laid in position in the drain, and the earth packed around them to hold the branch in place. To Lay the Laterals, begin at a junction laid in the main, and make a connection with its branch by cutting the ends of the first tiles more or less obliquely, to make good joints, and give the proper direction for the tiles to be laid. Care must be taken to secure a firm bed for these connections, by making as little excavation as possible to bring the tiles to their place, and in covering them the earth must be packed to prevent any displacement when the ditch is filled. The ditch for the laterals is dug, the shears and line adjusted, and the tiles laid, as described above in the case of the main drain, the lower shears being placed over the junction at the point where the true grade of the lateral begins. When the laterals are finished the ends of the last tiles should be carefully covered with a half brick, or a flat stone, to keep out silt. When ready-made junctions cannot be obtained the mains may be laid without reference to the laterals, or junctions may be made with a tile pick for the laterals that are to be laid at the time, care being taken to prevent any displacement of the branch before the laterals are connected with it. After reaching a junction, it will be seen that two gangs of hands may be employed at the same time, if desirable, the one laying the continuation of the main, and the other laying the lateral. After a main has been finished and a lateral is to be laid, at any time, where no junction has been provided, let the ditch for the lateral begin over the main, bearing in mind the curve required at the lower end of the lateral in making the connection, and uncover the tile in which the junction is to be made. After removing the earth from its side towards the ditch as far as may be necessary, roll it out of its bed, pick a hole at the point. previously marked for the branch, which is then fitted to form a junction. The tile taken from the main is then returned to its former place, the branch is secured in its proper position, and the connecting tiles are laid to the beginning of the straight course of the lateral, after which the work is carried on according to the regular routine. A change in direction, or a curve in a drain, may be made, by trimming the ends of the tiles. to a slight angle and smoothing the surface to make a tight joint. CHAPTER X. DRAINS IN QUICKSAND AND PEAT. Beds, or pockets, of quicksand are frequently found within four feet of the surface, in many localities in the drift formation, and they have been looked upon as serious obstacles in draining, that could not be surmounted when tiles alone are used. Boards and foundations of stones to support the drain, or conduits of planks, and built-up drains of stones, were believed to be necessary, by writers who gave any attention to draining in quicksand,* and in late years collars are frequently mentioned as indispensable if tiles are used. These expensive methods, in connection with the popular notion that quicksand will work into a drain wherever water can enter, have tended to discourage attempts to drain land which might be made valuable by a comparatively mod * Henry Stephens, Manual of Pract. Drain., 3d ed., 1848, p. 14. Munn's Pract. Land Drainer, N. Y., 1855, p. 132. French, Farm Drainage, 1859, p. 314. Loudon, Encycl. of Agr'l, 6th ed., 1869, p. 702. erate outlay under a more consistent system of management. Boards and stones should never be used in quicksand, as they serve no useful purpose, and materially increase the difficulties of construction; while collars only serve to hide imperfect joints, and are, therefore, a source of weakness in the finished drain. A careful consideration of the properties of quicksand, and its behavior under different conditions, will suggest the most available means of obviating the difficulties presented in its management. What is known as quicksand, flowing-sand, or running-sand, is a fine-grained sand, without angles in its particles to increase friction, and sometimes mixed with fine clay, that is easily moved when saturated with water, and readily yields to intermittent pressure. It is freely transported by running water, but, when closely confined and kept in place, it resists continuous pressure, and when thoroughly drained it furnishes a stable foundation for tiles that are properly laid to drain it. If a pocket, or bed, of quicksand is met with in digging a ditch, and the level of the water table is above the sand, it offers no resistance to the hydrostatic pressure and runs into the ditch as fast as it is removed, keeping the level required to establish an equilibrium between its own weight and the pressure to which it is subjected. If the excavation is continued, under these conditions, the banks of the ditch are undermined and cave off, filling it with a mass of earth, which must be removed, and this process may be repeated, if further excavations are made. When the water has considerable head, as it will have, in a wet season, or in the case of springs, the sand will "boil up" into the ditch, filling it to a greater or less height, according to the head of water to which it is exposed. These facts are suggestive, and of great practical significance. From its characteristic qualities, quick sand varies in its behavior with the conditions of its environment, and, in dealing with it, the conditions must be provided which increase its stability, and these may be formulated in the following rules for its successful management in draining: 1st. In land in which quicksands abound, drains should only be made in the summer, when the water table is at its lowest level. 2d. When quicksand is found in the bottom of the ditch it should not be disturbed until the tiles are ready to be laid. 3d. The mouth of the tile which has been laid into the edge of the quicksand should be covered with a sod, grass-side down, or some other form of screen, to keep sand from flowing into the drain, and work should be suspended until the water table is lowered to the level of the drain. 4th. The ditch should not be opened, to expose the quicksand, more than a rod or two in advance of the tile-laying. The pertinence of these rules will readily be seen from the fact, that in time of drouth, ditches are dug and tiles laid in fine sand, without any difficulty, when the same sand, if flooded, or saturated with water, would at once be recognized as a bad form of quicksand. In my first experience with quicksand in draining, the attempt was made to follow the usual practice of curbing the sides of the ditch and proceeding at once with the tile-laying as rapidly as possible. The expense involved in this method, and the unsatisfactory results obtained, soon convinced me that it was better to wait for the water table to be lowered by the drain already laid, and this has proved to be the most economical and only satisfactory plan. It is certainly better to stop work for a few days, or a week, or more, if necessary, according to the extent of the quicksand, and the amount of water to be discharged, than to perform disagreeable labor under difficulties, without obtaining any equivalent in actual progress. |