Worcester daily spy., 1859-03-17
UNDER DRAINING.

UNDER DRAINING.
At the meeting of the American Institute
Farmers Club in New York, Feb %, Prof
Mapes said that Judge French had recently
Travelled in England, and asked him to state
what he had seen in that country of tile drain
ing.
Judge French-The best depth of drain, il
is thought, is four feet; and that is so, accord
ing to my observations, though it depends up-
on circumstances Where tiles are dear and
labor cheap, the less tiles we can use, the bet
ter Drains three feet Deep and forty feet
apart, are not so effective as at five feet deep
and nifty feet apart. Tiles in this country
must be laid below frost and subsoil plows.
and that should be at least three feet deep.
Nobody contends now, in England, for less
than three feet depth Of drains, and those who
advocate three feet are called shallow drainers.
AS general rule, it costs as much to dig the
fourth foot as it does the other three feet. A
four foot drain is opened, in England, only one
foot wide at the top, and just wide enough to
lay the tile at the bottom open my drains
four inches wide at the bottom, because that is
as narrow as l can dig with pick. The dig
ger must have room for his foot at the bottom
to work with that tool, and our soil is so hard
that nothing else will do AS to the size of the
tiles, never would use a one-inch tile, because
do not believe it is sufficient to carry off the
great amount of rain-water that falls in this
country, which is much greater than falls in
England, and it does not come in that gentle,
dr1zzing way, but with rush, just as we do
many things, and the pipes must be large
enough to carry it all off. We have no suffi-
clent tables as yet, but we are getting posted
up, and, from what | have seen, think we
have got to provide against fall of rain of 45
inches year. Our New England shnware
sometimes little deluges. In 1852 we had
inches in one hour. Often we have 2 3, or
inches in "a hours, just before planting, we
have a flood of rain, and this must be carried
off, and that Immediately. | have drained
some of my land at fifty feet apart, five feet
deep. We need, as general thing, larger tiles
in this country than in England, simply be-
cause we have more water to carry of in
short time AS to the water going through
the pores of the tile, there is ten times as much
goes through the joints as through the pores,
so that making them porous is not so very im-
portant. The joints will take in all the water
in the ground. would have my tiles about
as well burnt as good wall brick. They are
then strong enough, and can be cut, and are
not likely to break in the earth. They should
be hard enough not to dissolve, and the clay
should be compressed enough to make the tile
strong enough, without such hard burning as
will melt the clay. | prefer collars three inch
es long, and always would use collars on small
pipes, because they keep the pipes in line, and
would not use less than J inch tiles. AS to the
shape of the orifice, if you have a low head, an
egg shape, with small end down is the best, but a
round hole is generally good enough Sois tile
that is round on the outside. The difficulty in
round tiles is, that they are apt to bend in dry
ing, and it is important to have the line OF
pipes straight The round tile is the form
adopted by the Land-Draining Company in
of mo ho
work scientifically. They never use less than
II inch pipe, and those always with collars
but they prefer inch tile, without collars.
AS to joining brook drains, would have a
pipe made purposely, and never bring in the
side drain at right angles, and always give it a
fall into the main pipe.
AS to silt basins, if you want to inspect your
drains, silt basin may be of use but simpler
things than such silt basins as are made in the
Central Park will answer. A large, strong
made pipe, set up over the dran-pipe where
the branches Join, will enable any one to in
spect drain to see where the stoppage is.
NV impression is that two-inch tiles, fifty feet
apart, in bitches two hundred yards long, will
carry off all the water necessary. Pipes should
be as smooth as possible. Two-inch pipes are
probably more economical than II pipes with
collars, since the collars cost in England hal1
as much as pipe. But there is some land II
which it will not answer to lay pipes OF any
size without collars or some substitute. i use
pieces of wood, such as the Yankee boot-ma
kers use to stiffen the bottoms of thick boots
which l put under the joints of the tiles, and
that effectually keeps one pipe from settling be
ow the other
Recoect speak of this Yankee way O.
saving leather, and making stiff boot soles
perfectly confidentially hope the reporter O
the Tribune won't get hold of it. But these
pieces of board being cheaper than anything
else, / find it good economy to use them undel
my tile, whether it is or not under boot soles
The most of the drainingtile used IN thii
country are q to 81 inches in diameter, anc
generally of the most expensive kind.
Prof Mapes.-There is new tool that is
substitute for pick, that will dig five feet deeI
by horse power, narrow enough for tile dram
ing. / dig seventy rods long in day, thre'
feet deep, with yoke Of oxen, with Pratt'
digging machine Then with sub-soil ploy
and the horse-pick / do the most OF the worl
the other two feet All my drains are five fee
deep. Our tile makers have ascertained tina
tile can be made more porous by mixing dus
of anthracite coal with the clay. The pipes
too, are stronger when so mixed.
Salisbury's machine for making drain tile
easily adapted to the wants of any farmer, an
can be worked upon any farm, it is so simple
1t also makes better tile than the expensive ms
chinery. One can make three thousand tile
day. 1t is very easy, too, to set up a kiln {
tile upon any farm SO as to burn them
RAr-SKIN CLoTHING.-An ingenious ind
yidual of Lickeard, Cornwall, has for som
time past been exhibiting himself in dres
composed from top to toe OF ratskins, whic
he has been collecting for three years and
half The dress was made entirely by himsel
IL consists Of hat, handkerchief. coat, wais
coat, trowsers, tippet, gaiters, and shoes. Th
number of rats that was required to complet
the suit, was six hundred and seventy an
the individual, when thus dressed appears g,
actly like one of the Esquimaux, described
the travels of Parry and Ross. The tippet
boais composed of the pieces Of skin immed
ately round the tail of the rats, and is yer