Draining for Profit, and Draining for Health

by George E. Waring

If, among the tiles which have passed the inspection, there are some which, from over burning, are smaller than the average, they should be laid at the upper ends of the laterals. The cardinal rule of the tile layer should be never to have a single tile in the finished drain of smaller size, of more irregular shape, or less perfectly laid, than any tile above it. If there is to be any difference in the quality of the drain, at different points, let it grow better as it approaches the outlet and has a greater length above depending upon its action.

Covering the Tiles, and Filling-in the Ditches.—The best material for covering the tiles is that which will the most completely surround them, so as to hold them in their places; will be the least likely to have passages for the flow of streams of water into the joints, and will afford the least silt to obstruct the drain. Clay is the best of all available materials, because it is of the most uniform character throughout its mass, and may be most perfectly compacted around the tiles. As has been before stated, all matters which are subject to decay are objectionable, because they will furnish fine matters to enter the joints, and by their decrease of bulk, may leave openings in the earth through which streams of muddy water may find[pg 137] their way into the tiles. Gravel is bad, and will remain bad until its spaces are filled with fine dirt deposited by water, which, leaving only a part of its impurities here, carries the rest into the drain. A gravelly loam, free from roots or other organic matter, if it is strong enough to be worked into a ball when wet, will answer a very good purpose.

Ordinarily, the earth which was thrown out from the bottom of the ditch, and which now lies at the top of the dirt heap, is the best to be returned about the tiles, being first freed from any stones it may contain which are large enough to break or disturb the tiles in falling on to them.

If the bottom of the ditch consists of quicksand or other silty matters, clay or some other suitable earth should be sought in that which was excavated from a less depth, or should be brought from another place. A thin layer of this having been placed in the bottom of the ditch when grading, a slight covering of the same about the tiles will so encase them as to prevent the entrance of the more "slippy" soil.

The first covering of fine earth, free from stones and clods, should be sprinkled gently over the tiles, no full shovelfuls being thrown on to them until they are covered at least six inches deep. When the filling has reached a height of from fifteen to twenty inches, the men may jump into the ditch and tramp it down evenly and regularly, not treading too hard in any one place at first. When thus lightly compacted about the tile, so that any further pressure cannot displace them, the filling should be repeatedly rammed, (the more the better,) by two men standing astride the ditch, facing each other, and working a maul, such as is shown in Figure 38, and which may weigh from 80 to 100 pounds.

Fig. 38 - MAUL FOR RAMMING.

Those to whom this recommendation is new, will, doubtless, think it unwise. The only reply to their objection must be that others who shared their opinion, have, by[pg 138] long observation and experience, been convinced of its correctness. They may practically convince themselves of the value of this sort of covering by a simple and inexpensive experiment: Take two large, water-tight hogsheads, bore through the side of each, a few inches from the bottom, a hole just large enough to admit a 1-1/4-inch tile; cover the bottom to the hight of the lower edge of the hole with strong, wet clay, beaten to a hard paste; on this, lay a line of pipes and collars,—the inner end sealed with putty, and the tile which passes through the hole so wedged about with putty, that no water could pass out between it and the outside of the hole. Cover the tile in one hogshead with loose gravel, and then fill it to the top with loose earth. Cover the tile in the other, twenty inches deep, with ordinary stiff clay, (not wet enough to puddle, but sufficiently moist to pack well,) and ram it thoroughly, so as to make sure that the tiles are completely clasped, and that there is no crack nor crevice through which water can trickle, and then fill this hogshead to the top with earth, of the same character with that used in the other case. These hogsheads should stand where the water of a small roof, (as that of a hog-pen,) may be led into them, by an arrangement which shall give an equal quantity to each;—this will give them rather more than the simple rain-fall, but will leave them exposed to the usual climatic changes of the season. A vessel, of a capacity of a quart or more, should be connected with each outlet, and covered from the dust,—[pg 139] these will act as silt-basins. During the first few storms the water will flow off much more freely from the first barrel; but, little by little, the second one, as the water finds its way through the clay, and as the occasional drying, and repeated filtration make it more porous, will increase in its flow until it will, by the end of the season, or, at latest, by the end of the second season, drain as well as the first, if, indeed, that be not by this time somewhat obstructed with silt. The amount of accumulation in the vessels at the outlet will show which process has best kept back the silt, and the character of the deposit will show which would most probably be carried off by the gentle flow of water in a nearly level drain.

It is no argument against this experiment that its results cannot be determined even in a year, for it is not pretended that drains laid in compact clay will dry land so completely during the first month as those which give more free access to the water; only that they will do so in a comparatively short time; and that, as drainage is a work for all time, (practically as lasting as the farm itself,) the importance of permanence and good working for long years to come, is out of all proportion to that of the temporary good results of one or two seasons, accompanied with doubtful durability.

It has been argued that surface water will be more readily removed by drains having porous filling. Even if this were true to any important degree,—which it is not,—it would be an argument against the plan, for the remedy would be worse than the disease. If the water flow from the surface down into the drain, it will not fail to carry dirt with it, and instead of the clear water, which alone should rise into the tiles from below, we should have a trickling flow from above, muddy with wasted manure and silty earth.