ditch; one to sight across the tops of the boning-rods, one to hold the plumb-rod at different points as the finishing progresses, and one in the ditch, (see Fig. 30,) provided with the finishing spade and scoop, and, in hard ground, with a pick,-to cut down or fill up as the first man calls

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Fig. 30-POSITION OF WORKMAN AND USE OF FINISHING SCOOP.

too high," or too low." An inch or two of filling may be beaten sufficiently hard with the back of the scoop, but if several inches should be required, it should be well

B

A

C

HORISONTAL LINE

Y

Fig. 31.-SIGHTING BY THE BONING-RODS.

rammed with the top of a pick, or other suitable instrument, as any subsequent settling would disarrange the fall.

As the lateral drains are to be laid first, they should be the first graded, and as they are arranged to discharge into the tops of the mains, their water will still flow off, although the main ditches are not yet reduced to their final

depth. After the laterals are laid and filled in, the main should be graded, commencing at the upper end; the tiles being laid and covered as fast as the bottom is made ready, so that it may not be disturbed by the water of which the main carries so much more than the laterals.

Tile-Laying.-Gisborne says: "It would be scarcely 66 more absurd to set a common blacksmith to eye needles than to employ a common laborer to lay pipes and col"lars." The work comes under the head of skilled labor, and, while no very great exercise of judgment is required in its performance, the little that is required is imperatively necessary, and the details of the work should be deftly done. The whole previous outlay, the survey and staking of the field, the purchase of the tiles, the digging and grading of the ditches-has been undertaken that we may make the conduit of earthenware pipes which is now to be laid, and the whole may be rendered useless by a want of care and completeness in the performance of this chief operation. This subject, (in connection with that of finishing the bottoms of the ditches,) is very clearly treated in Mr. Hoskyns' charming essay,* as follows:

"It was urged by Mr. Brunel, as a justification for more 'attention and expense in the laying of the rails of the "Great Western, than had been ever thought of upon "previously constructed lines, that all the embankments "and cuttings, and earthworks and stations, and law and "parliamentary expenses-in fact, the whole of the out"lay encountered in the formation of a railway, had for its "main and ultimate object a perfectly smooth and level "line of rail; that to turn stingy at this point, just when 66 you had arrived at the great ultimatum of the whole 66 proceedings, viz: the iron wheel-track, was a sort of 66 saving which evinced a want of true preception of the great object of all the labor that had preceded it. It

"Talpa, or the Chronicles of a Clay Farm.”

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"may seem curious to our experiences, in these days, that "such a doctrine could ever have needed to be enforced "by argument; yet no one will deem it wonderful who "has personally witnessed the unaccountable and ever new "difficulty of getting proper attention paid to the leveling "of the bottom of a drain, and the laying of the tiles in "that continuous line, where one single depression or ir"regularity, by collecting the water at that spot, year "after year, tends toward the eventual stoppage of the "whole drain, through two distinct causes, the softening "of the foundation underneath the sole, or tile flange, and "the deposit of soil inside the tile from the water collected "at the spot, and standing there after the rest had run off. "Every depression, however slight, is constantly doing "this mischief in every drain where the fall is but trifling; "and if to the two consequences above mentioned, we may add the decomposition of the tile itself by the action of water long stagnant within it, we may deduce "that every tile-drain laid with these imperfections in "the finishing of the bottom, has a tendency toward "obliteration, out of all reasonable proportion with "that of a well-burnt tile laid on a perfectly even inclina"tion, which, humanly speaking, may be called a permanent thing. An open ditch cut by the most skillful "workman, in the summer, affords the best illustration of "this underground mischief. Nothing can look smoother ❝and more even than the bottom, until that uncompromis "ing test of accurate levels, the water, makes its appearance: all on a sudden the whole scene is changed, the 56 eye-accredited level vanishes as if some earthquake had "taken place: here, there is a gravelly scour, along which "the stream rushes in a thousand little angry-looking rip"ples; there, it hangs and looks as dull and heavy as if it

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had given up running at all, as a useless waste of energy; "in another place, a few dead leaves or sticks, or a morsel “of soil broken from the side, dams back the water for a

considerable distance, occasioning a deposit :f soil along "the whole reach, greater in proportion to the quantity "and the muddiness of the water detained. All this shows "the paramount importance of perfect evenness in the "bed on which the tiles are laid. The worst laid tile is "the measure of the goodness and permanence of the "whole drain, just as the weakest link of a chain is the 66 measure of its strength."

The simple laying of the smaller sizes of pipes and collars in the lateral drains, is an easy matter. It requires care and precision in placing the collar equally under the end of each pipe, (having the joint at the middle of the collar,) in having the ends of the pipes actually touch each other within the collars, and in brushing away any loose dirt which may have fallen on the spot on which the collar is to rest. The connection of the laterals with the mains, the laying of the larger sizes of tiles so as to form a close joint, the wedging of these larger tiles firmly into their places, and the trimming which is necessary ingoing around sharp curves, and in putting in the shorter pieces which are needed to fill out the exact length of the drain, demand more skill and judgment than are often found in the common ditcher. Still, any clever workman, who has a careful habit, may easily be taught all that is necessary; and until he is thoroughly taught, and not only knows how to do the work well, but, also, understands the importance of doing it well,-the proprietor should carefully watch the laying of every piece.

Never have tiles laid by the rod, but always by the day. "The more haste, the less speed," is a maxim which applies especially to tile-laying.

If the proprietor or the engineer does not overlook the laying of each tile as it is done, and probably he will not, he should carefully inspect every piece before it is covered. It is well to walk along the ditches and touch each tile with the end of a light rod, in such a way as to see

whether it is firm enough in its position not to be dis placed by the earth which will fall upon it in filling the ditches.

Preparatory to laying, the tiles should be placed along one side of the ditch, near enough to be easily reached by a man standing in it. When collars are to be used, one of these should be slipped over one end of each tile. The workman stands in the ditch, with his face toward its upper end. The first tile is laid with a collar on its lower end, and the collar is drawn one-half of its length forward, so as to receive the end of the next tile. The upper end of the first tile is closed with a stone, or a bit of broken tile placed firmly against it. The next tile has its nose placed into the projecting half of the collar of the first one, and its own collar is drawn forward to receive the end of the third, and thus to the end of the drain, the workman walking backward as the work progresses. By and by, when he comes to connect the lateral with the main, he may find that a short piece of tile is needed to complete the length; this should not be placed next to the tile of the main, where it is raised above the bottom of the ditch, but two or three lengths back, leaving the connection with the main to be made with a tile of full length. If the piece to be inserted is only two or three inches long, it may be omitted, and the space covered by using a whole 24-inch tile in place of the collar. In turn ing corners or sharp curves, the end of the tile may be chipped off, so as to be a little thinner on one side, which will allow it to be turned at a greater angle in the collar.

If the drain turns a right angle, it will be better to dig out the bottom of the ditch to a depth of about eight nches, and to set a 6-inch tile on end in the hole, perforating its sides, so as to admit the ends of the pipes at the proper level. This 6-inch tile, (which acts as a small silt-basin,) should stand on a board or on a flat stone, and its top should be covered with a stone or with a couple of