The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-09-29
TILE DRAINAGE IN FOUR CHAp.
TIERS.
(Continued.)

(Continued.)
In the fall Of 1895 / began drain
Ing part Of a very fertile creek bot
tom. The field In shape, is as fol-
lows: The east side. north and
south line Is 1925 feet long. The west
side. parallel to the east side, Is $40
feet long; and the south side, an east
and west line Is 400 feet long. The
creek. nearly straight. forms the
north boundary. and flows south
westerly until 1t passes the northwest
corner of the field. after which it
sweeps around to the south. and pass
es near the southwest corner, So If
you plat this on paper. you have the
shape Of the field.
The highest part Of the land is
along the margin of the creek, and
at the southeast corner. and a line
drawn from near the southwest cor
ner and about parallel to the creek,
striking the east side Of the field
about 400 feet south of the creek,
represents the lowest part of the field.
Up this line was laid the main drain.
The laterals ran west and south to
their functions with the main.
The elevation Of the surface of the
ground at lowest end Of this line,
calling the bottom OF the creek, at the
southwest corner of the field 90. is
I'd feet: while the surface at the
northeast or upper end of the line.
is s.3 feet. and the line Is 100 feet
long; so the ground along this line
has fall Of IL feet in 100 feet.
You will readily see there that to the
unaided eye this field appears as an
absolutely level expanse After very
hard and long continued rains the
field is entirely covered with water,
hut the current is so sluggish that
in every inundation there is a deposit
OF silt. and no, erosion
After taking such preliminary
levels and measurements as were
necessary to procure the above data,
l was afraid to attempt this work. as
then knew of no case wherein tile
drains had ben laid with such slight
inclination as would here be imposed
However. / finally concluded to pro-
ceed with the work and increase the
grade by laying the outlet nearly
Ave feet below the surface adopting
a minimum grade of one in 500, and
allowing the upper ends Of all drains
to rise to wherever they would
The preliminary surveying consist
ed in laying off the field into squares
of 100 to 200 feet on side, and TAX
ing the elevation Of the ground at
every corner of each square. This
enabled me to make an absolutely
correct map of the field, showing e;e-
vations of the surface above the
| creek bed. and consequently indicat-
the positions and amount of all
rises and depressions of the surface.
could there lay down on the map
the lines of drains in the most advan-
| tageous positions noting their lengths
and sizes. From the map was then
| taken the estimate of tiles needed
for the work
| The next step was to lay out the
drains on the ground just as they
were represented on the map. This
consisted of placing two stakes at in
tervals Of twenty-five feet along the
lines Of the proposed trenches. These
stakes were not placed on the centre
line of the trench. but on an offset
Of is inches. always to the same side
so they would not be disturbed by the
operation Of digging the trench. One
of these stakes, called the hub, had a
Hat head which was driven flush with
the ground, The top Of the hub Is to
furnish n definite point from which tc
measure. In getting the sides Of the
trench and also It's depth. The other
stake called the witness stake. has al
least one fiat side. and was driven tive
OF three inches from the hub to one
side. This stake is left projecting a
foot or so above the ground. and on
II Is to be written the distance of the
hub from the point Of beginning the
measurement at the lower end OF the
drain, and also the depth Of the
trench below the hub. This work
was all completed before the tile.
were shipped from the factory: Sc
when they arrived the wagons were