DRAINING IMPLEMENTS.
Unreasonable Expectations about Draining Tools.--Levelling
Instruments; Guessing not Accurate.--Level by a Square.--Spirit
Level.--Span, or A Level.--Grading by
Lines.--Boning-rod.--Challoner's Drain Level.--Spades and
Shovels.--Long-handled Shovel.--Irish Spade, Description and
Cut.--Bottoming Tools.--Narrow Spades.--English Bottoming
Tools.--Pipe-layer.--Pipe-laying Illustrated.--Pick-axes.--Drain
Gauge.--Drain Plows, and Ditch-Diggers.--Fowler's Drain
Plow.--Pratt's Ditch-Digger.--McEwan's Drain Plow.--Routt's Drain
Plow.
It seems to be a characteristic of Americans, to be dissatisfied with
every recent improvement in art or science, and the greater the step in
advance of former times, the more captious and critical do we become.
There is many a good lady, who cannot tolerate a sewing-machine,
although she knows it will do the work of ten seamstresses, because it
will not sew on buttons and work buttonholes! Most of us are very much
out of temper with the magnetic telegraph, just now, because it does not
bring us the Court news from England every morning before breakfast,
though we have hourly dispatches from Washington, New Orleans, and St.
Louis; and, returning to our _moutons_, everybody is finding fault with
us just now, because we cannot tell them of some universal,
all-penetrating, cheap, strong, simple, enduring little implement, by
means of which any kind of a laborer, Scotch, Irish, or Yankee, may
conveniently open all kinds of drains in all kinds of land, whether
sand, hard-pan, gravel, or clay.
Having personally inquired and examined, touching draining tools in
England, and having been solicited by an extensive agricultural
implement house in Boston, to furnish them a list and description of a
complete set of draining tools, and feeling the obligation which seemed
to be imposed on us, to know all about this matter, we wrote to Mr.
Denton, one of the first draining engineers in the world, to send us a
list, with drawings and descriptions of such implements as he finds most
useful, or, if more convenient the implements themselves.
Mr. Denton kindly replied to our inquiry, and his answer may be taken as
the best evidence upon this point. He says:
"As to tools, it is the same with them as it is with the art of
draining itself--too much rule and too much drawing upon paper; all
very right to begin with, but very prejudicial to progress. I
employ, as engineer to the General Land Drainage Company, and on my
private account, during the drainage season, as many as 2,000 men,
and it is an actual fact, that not one of them uses the set of
tools figured in print. I have frequently purchased a number of
sets of the Birmingham tools, and sent them down on extensive
works. The laborers would purchase a few of the smaller tools, such
as Nos. 290, 291, and 301, figured in Morton's excellent Cyclopaedia
of Agriculture, and would try them, and then order others of the
country blacksmith, differing in several respects; less weighty and
much less costly, and, moreover, much better as working tools. All
I require of the cutters, is, that the bottom of the drain should
be evenly cut, to fit the size of the pipe. The rest of the work
takes care of itself; for a good workman will economize his labor
for his own sake, by moving as little earth as practicable; thus,
for instance, a first-class cutter, in clays, will get down four
feet with a twelve-inch opening, _ordinarily_; if he wishes to
_show off_, he will sacrifice his own comfort to appearance, and
will do it with a ten-inch opening."
Having thus "freed our mind" by way of preliminary, we propose to take
up our subject, and pursue it as practically and quietly as possible to
the end. It may be well, perhaps, first to suggest by way of explanation
of Mr. Denton's letter, above quoted, that drains are usually opened in
England by the yard, or rod, the laborer finding his own tools.
As has been intimated, the implements convenient for draining, depend on
many circumstances. They depend upon the character of the earth to be
moved. A sharp, light spade, which may work rapidly and well in a light
loam or sand, may be entirely unfit to drive into a stiff clay; and the
fancy bottoming tools which may cut out a soft clay or sand in
nicely-measured slices, will be found quite too delicate for a hard-pan
or gravel, where the pick-axe alone can open a passage.
The implements again must be suited to the workman who handles it. Henry
Ward Beecher, in speaking of creeds, which he, on another occasion, had
said were "the skins of religion set up and stuffed," remarked, that it
was of more importance that a man should know how to make a practical
use of his faith, than that he should subscribe to many articles; for,
said he, "I have seen many a man who could do more at carpenter's work
with one old jack-knife, than another could do with a whole chest of
tools!"
What can an Irishman do with a chopping ax, and what cannot a Yankee do
with it? Who ever saw a Scotchman or an Irishman who could not cut a
straight ditch with a spade, and who ever saw a Yankee who could or
would cut a ditch straight with any tool? One man works best with a
long-handled spade, another prefers a short handle; one drives it into
the earth with his right foot, another with his left. A laboring man, in
general, works most easily with such tools as he is accustomed to
handle; while theorizing implement-makers, working out their pattern by
the light of reason, may produce such a tool as a man _ought_ to work
with, without adapting it at all to the capacity or taste of the
laborer. A man should be measured for his tools, as much as for his
garment, and not be expected to fit himself to another's notions more
than to another's coat.
If the land-owner proposes to act as his own engineer, the first
instrument he will want to use is a SPIRIT LEVEL, or some other
contrivance by which he may ascertain the variations of the surface of
his field. The natural way for a Yankee to get at the grades is to
_guess_ at them, and this, practically, is what is usually done. Ditches
are opened where there appears to be a descent, and if there is water
running, the rise is estimated by its current; and if there is no water
rising in the drain, a bucketfull is occasionally poured in to guide the
laborer in his work. No one who has not tested the accuracy, or, rather,
inaccuracy, of his judgment, as to the levels of fields, can at all
appreciate the deceitfulness of appearances on this point. The human eye
will see straight; but it will not see level without a guide. It forms
conclusions by comparison; and the lines of upland, of forest tops and
of distant hills, all conspire to confuse the judgment, so that it is
quite common for a brook to appear to the eye to run up hill, even when
it has a quick current. A few trials with a spirit-level will cure any
man of his conceit on this subject.
And so it is as to the regular inclination of the bottom of drains. It
is desirable not only to have an inclination all the way, but a regular
inclination, as nearly as possible, especially if the descent be small.
Workmen are very apt to work at a uniform depth from the surface, and so
give the bottom of the drain the same variations as the surface line;
and thus at one point there may be a fall of one inch in a rod; at
another, twice that fall; and at another, a dead level, or even a
hollow. On our own farm, we have found, in twelve rods, a variation of a
foot in the bottom line of a drain opened by skillful workmen on a
nearly level field, where they had no water to guide them, and where
they had supposed their fall was regular throughout.
The following sketch shows the difference between lines of tiles laid
with and without instruments. Next to guessing at the fall in our field,
may be placed a little contrivance, of which we have made use
sufficiently to become satisfied of its want of practical accuracy. It
is thus figured and described in the excellent treatise of Thomas, on
Farm Implements.
[Illustration: Fig. 54.]
"_A_ is a common square, placed in a slit in the top of the stake
_B_. By means of a plumb-line the square is brought to a level,
when a thumbscrew, at _C_, fixes it fast. If the square is two feet
long, and is so carefully adjusted as not to vary more than the
twentieth of an inch from a true level, which is easily
accomplished, then a twentieth of an inch in two feet will be one
inch in forty feet--a sufficient degree of accuracy for many
cases."
[Illustration: Fig. 55.--SQUARE AND PLUMB-LEVEL.]
We do not so much object to the principle of the above level, as to its
practical working. We find it difficult, without cross sights, to take
an accurate level with any instrument. However, those who are used to
rifle-shooting may hit tolerably near the mark with the square. Mr.
Thomas only claims that it is accurate enough "for many cases."
A proper spirit-level, such as is used by engineers of railroads and
canals, attached to a telescope, is the best of all instruments. "So
great is the perfection of this instrument," says the writer just
quoted, "that separate lines of levels have been run with it, for sixty
miles, without varying two-thirds of an inch for the whole distance." A
cheap and convenient spirit-level, for our purpose, is thus constructed.
It is furnished with eye sights, _a b_, and, when in use, is placed
into a framing of brass which operates as a spring to adjust it to
the level position, _d_, by the action of the large-headed brass
screw, _c_. A stud is affixed to the framing, and pushed firmly
into a gimlet-hole in the top of the short rod, which is pushed or
driven into the ground at the spot from whence the level is desired
to be ascertained. It need scarcely be mentioned, that the height
of the eye sight, from the guard, is to be deducted from the height
of observation, which quantity is easily obtained by having the rod
marked off in inches and feet; but it may be mentioned, that this
instrument should be used in all cases of draining on level ground,
even when one is confident that he knows the fall of the ground;
for the eye is a very deceitful monitor for informing you of the
levelness of ground. It is so light as to admit of being carried in
the pocket, whilst its rod may be used as a staff or cane.
[Illustration: Fig. 56.--SPIRIT LEVEL.]
A staff of ten feet in length, graduated in feet and inches, and held by
an attendant at the various points of observation, is necessary in the
use of the spirit-level in the field. A painted target, arranged with a
slide to be moved up and down on this staff, and held by a thumbscrew,
will be found useful.
We have made for our own use a level like the above, and find it
sufficiently accurate for drainage purposes. Small spirit-levels set in
iron can be had at the hardware shops for twenty cents each, and can be
readily attached to wood by a screw, in constructing our implement; or a
spirit-level set in mahogany, of suitable size, may be procured for a
half dollar, and any person, handy with tools, can do the rest. The
sights should be arranged both ways, with a slit cut with a chisel
through the brass or tin, and an oblong opening at each end. The eye is
placed at the slit, and sight is taken by a hair or fine thread, drawn
across the opening at the other end. Then, by changing ends, and
sighting through the other end at a given object, any error in the
instrument may be detected. The hair or thread may be held in place by a
little wax, and moved up or down till it is carefully adjusted. The
instrument should turn upon the staff in all directions, so that the
level of a whole field, so far as it is within range, may be taken from
one position.
[Illustration: Fig. 57.
STAFF AND TARGET.]
To maintain a uniform grade in the bottom of a drain so as to economize
the fall, and distribute it equally through the whole length, several
different instruments and means may be adopted. The first which we will
figure, is what is called the Span, or A Level. Such a level may be
easily constructed of common inch-board. If it be desired to note the
fall in feet, the span may conveniently be ten feet. If a notation in
rods be preferred, the span should be a rod, or half rod long.
The two feet being placed on a floor, and ascertained to be perfectly
level by a spirit-level, the plumb-line will hang in the centre, where a
distinct mark should be made on the cross-bar. Then place a block of
wood, exactly an inch thick, under one leg, and mark the place where the
line crosses the bar. Put another block an inch thick under the same
leg, and again mark where the line crosses the bar, and so on as far as
is thought necessary. Then put the blocks under the other leg in the
same manner, and mark the cross-bar. If the span be ten feet, the
plumb-line will indicate upon the bar, by the mark which it crosses, the
rise or fall in inches, in ten feet. If the span be a rod, the line will
indicate the number of inches per rod of the rise or fall.
[Illustration: Fig. 58.--SPAN, OR A LEVEL.]
This instrument is used thus: The fall of the ditch from end to end
being ascertained by the spirit-level, and the length also, the fall per
rod, or per one hundred feet, may be computed. The span is then placed
in the bottom of the drain, from time to time, to guide the workman, or
for accurate inspection of the finished cut. We have constructed and
used this level, and found it very convenient to test the accuracy of
the workmen, who had opened drains in our absence. A ten-foot span will
be found as large as can be conveniently carried about the farm.
For the accurate grading of the bottom of drains, as the work proceeds,
we have in practice found nothing so convenient and accurate as the
arrangement which we are about to illustrate.
The object is simply to draw a line parallel with the proposed bottom of
the drain, for the laborers to work under, so that they, as they
proceed, may measure down from it, as a guide to depth. Having with the
spirit-level, ascertained the fall from end to end of the drain, a short
stake is set at each end, and a line is drawn from one to the other at
the requisite height, and supported by the cross-pieces, at suitable
distances, to prevent the sagging of the line.
[Illustration: Fig. 59.--GRADING TRENCHES BY LINES.]
Suppose the drain to be ten rods long, and that it is intended to cut it
four feet deep, the natural fall being, from end to end, sufficient. We
drive a stake at each end of the drain, high enough to attach to it a
line three feet above the surface, which will be seven feet above the
bottom of the finished drain--high enough to be above the heads of the
cutters, when standing near the bottom.
Before drawing the line, the drain may be nearly completed. Then drive
the intermediate stakes, with the projecting arms, which we will call
squares, on one side of the drain, carefully sighting from one end of
the stake to the other, at the point fixed for the line, and driving the
squares till they are exactly even. Then attach a strong small cord, not
larger than a chalk line, to one of the stakes, and draw it as tight as
it will bear, and secure it at the other stake. The line is now
directly over the middle of the drain, seven feet from the bottom. Give
the cutters, then, a rod seven feet long, and let them cut just deep
enough for the rod to stand on the bottom and touch the line.
Practically, this has been found by the author, the most accurate and
satisfactory method of bringing drains to a regular grade.
Instead of a line, after the end stakes have been placed, a _boning
rod_, as it is called, may be used thus: A staff is used, with a
cross-piece at the top, and long enough, when resting on the proper
bottom of the drain, to reach to the level of the marks on the stakes,
three feet above the surface. Cross-pieces nailed to the stakes are the
most conspicuous marks. A person stands at one stake sighting along to
the other; a second person then holds the rod upright in the ditch, just
touching the bottom, and carries it thus along. If, while it is moved
along, its top is always in a line with the cross-bars on the end
stakes, the fall is uniform; if it rise above, the bottom of the drain
must be lowered; if it fall below, the bottom of the drain must be
raised. This may be convenient enough for mere inspection of works, but
it requires two persons besides the cutters, to finish the drain by this
mode; whereas, with the lines and squares, any laborer can complete the
work with exactness.
Another mode of levelling, by means of a mammoth mason's level, with an
improvement, was invented by Colonel Challoner, and published in the
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. It may appear to some persons
more simple than the span level. We give the cut and explanation.
"I first ascertain what amount of fall I can obtain, from the head
of every drain to my outfall. Suppose the length of the drain to be
96 yards, and I find I have a fall of two feet, that gives me a
fall of a quarter of an inch in every yard. I take a common
bricklayer's level 12 feet long, to the bottom of which I attach,
with screws, a piece of wood the whole length, _one inch wider_ at
one end than at the other, thereby throwing the level one inch out
of the true horizontal line. When the drain has got to its proper
depth at the outfall, I apply the broadest end of the level to the
mouth; and when the plumb-bob indicates the level to be correct,
the one-inch fall has been gained in the four yards, and so on. I
keep testing the drain as it is dug, quite up to the head, when an
unbroken, even, and continuous fall of two feet in the whole 96
yards has been obtained."
[Illustration: Fig. 60.--CHALLONER'S LEVEL.]
SPADES AND SHOVELS.
[Illustration: Fig. 61, 62, 63.--DRAIN SPADES.]
No peculiar tool is essential in opening that part of the drain which is
more than a foot in width. Shovels and spades, of the forms usually
found upon well-furnished farms, and adapted to its soil, will be found
sufficient. A Boston agricultural house, a year or two since, sent out
an order to London for a complete set of draining tools. In due season,
they received, in compliance with their order, three spades of different
width, like those represented in the cut.
These are understood to be the tools in common use in England and
Scotland, for sod-draining, and for any other drains, indeed, except
tiles. The widest is 12 inches wide, and is used to remove the first
spit, of about one foot depth. The second is 12 inches wide at top, and
8 at the point, and the third, eight at top, and four at the point. The
narrowest spade is usually made with a spur in front, or what the Irish
call a _treader_, on which to place the foot in driving it into the
earth.
[Illustration: Fig. 64. SPADE WITH SPUR.]
For wedge drains, these spades are made narrower than those above
represented, the finishing spade being but two and a half inches wide at
the point. It will be recollected that this kind of drainage is only
adapted to clay land. The shovels and spades which have been heretofore
in most common use in New England are made with short handles, thus--
[Illustration: Figs. 65, 66.--COMMON SHOVEL AND SPADE.]
They are of cast-steel, and combine great strength and lightness.
Long-handled shovels and spades are much preferred, usually, by Irish
laborers, whose fancy is worth consulting in matters with which they
have so much to do. We believe their notion is correct, that the
long-handled tool is the easier to work with, at almost any job.
In our own draining, we find the common spade, with long or short
handle, to be best in marking out the lines in turf; and either the
spade or common shovel, according to the nature of the soil, most
convenient in removing the first foot of earth.
After this, if the pick is used, a long-handled round-pointed shovel,
now in common use on our farms, is found convenient, until the ditch is
too narrow for its use. Then the same shovel, turned up at the sides so
as to form a narrow scoop, will be found better than any tool we yet
have to remove this loosened earth.
[Illustration: Figs. 67, 68.--LONG-HANDLED ROUND SHOVEL. SCOOP SHOVEL.]
Of all the tools that we have ever seen in the hands of an Irishman, in
ditching, nothing approximates to the true Irish spade. It is a very
clumsy, ungainly-looking implement used in the old country both for
ditching, and for ridging for potatoes, being varied somewhat in width,
according to the intended use. For stony soil, it is made narrower and
stronger, while for the bog it is broader and lighter. The Irish
blacksmiths in this country usually know how to make them, and we have
got up a pattern of them, which are manufactured by Laighton and Lufkin,
edge-tool makers, of Auburn, N. H., which have been tested, and found to
suit the ideas of the Irish workmen.
This is a correct portrait of an Irish spade of our own pattern, which
has done more in opening two miles of drains on our own farm, than any
other implement.
The spade of the Laighton and Lufkin pattern weighs 5 lbs., without the
handle, and is eighteen inches long. It is of iron, except about eight
inches of the blade, which is of cast steel, tempered and polished like
a chopping axe. It is considerably curved, and the workmen suit their
own taste as to the degree of curvature, by putting the tool under a
log or rock, and bending it to suit themselves. It is a powerful, strong
implement, and will cut off a root of an inch or two diameter as readily
as an axe. The handle is of tough ash, and held in place by a wedge
driven at the side of it, and can be knocked out readily when the spade
needs new steel, or any repair. The length of the handle is three feet
eight inches, and the diameter about one and one-fourth inches. The
wedge projects, and forms a "treader," broad and firm, on which the foot
comes down, to drive the spade into the ground.
[Illustration: Fig. 69.--IRISH SPADE.]
We have endeavored to have the market supplied with the Irish spades,
because, in the hands of such Irishmen as have used them "at home," we
find them a most effective tool. We are met with all sorts of reasonable
theoretical objections on the part of implement sellers, and of farmers,
who never saw an Irish spade in use. "Would not the tool be better if it
were wider and lighter," asks one. "I think it would be better if the
spur, or "treader," were movable and of iron, so as to be put on the
other side or in front," suggests another. "It seems as if it would work
better, if it were straight," adds a third. "Would it not hold the dirt
better if it were a little hollowing on the front," queries a fourth.
"No doubt," we reply, "there might be a very good implement made, wider
and lighter, without a wooden treader, and turned up at the sides, to
hold the earth better, but it would not be an Irish spade when finished.
Your theories may be all correct and demonstrable by the purest
mathematics, but the question is, with what tool will Patrick do the
most work? If he recognizes the Irish spade as an institution of his
country, as a part of 'home,' you might as well attempt to reason him
out of his faith in the Pope, as convince him that his spade is not
perfect." Our man, James, believes in the infallibility of both. There
is no digging on the farm that his spade is not adapted to. To mark out
a drain in the turf by a line, he mounts his spade with one foot, and
hops backward on the other, with a celerity surprising to behold. Then
he cuts the sod in squares, and, with a sleight of hand, which does not
come by nature, as Dogberry says reading and writing come, throws out
the first spit. When he comes on to the gravel or hard clay, where
another man would use a pick-axe, his heavy boot comes down upon the
treader, and drives the spade a foot or more deep; and if a root is
encountered, a blow or two easily severs it. The last foot at the bottom
of the four-foot drain, is cut out for the sole-tile only four and a
half inches wide, and the sides of the ditch are kept trimmed, even and
straight, with the sharp steel edge. And it is pleasant to hear James
express his satisfaction with his national implement. "And, sure, we
could do nothing at this job, sir, without the Irish spade!" "And, sure,
I should like to see a man that will spade this hard clay with anything
else, sir!" On the whole, though the Irish spade does wonders on our
farm, we recommend it only for Irishmen, who know how to handle it. In
our own hands, it is as awkward a thing as we ever took hold of, and we
never saw any man but an Irishman, who could use it gracefully and
effectively.
_Bottoming Tools._--The only tools which are wanted of peculiar form in
draining, are such as are used in forming the narrow part of the
trenches at the bottom. We can get down two feet, or even three, with
the common spade and pick-axe, and in most kinds of drainage, except
with tiles, it is necessary to have the bottom as wide, at least, as a
spade. In tile-draining, the narrower the trench the better, and in
laying cylindrical pipes without collars, the bottom of the drain should
exactly fit the pipes, to hold them in line.
Although round pipes are generally used in England, we have known none
used in America until the past season--the sole-pipe taking their place.
As the sole-pipe has a flat bottom, a different tool is required to
finish its resting-place, from that adapted to the round pipe. As we
have not, however, arrived quite at the bottom, we will return to the
tools for removing the last foot of earth.
And first, we give from Morton, the Birmingham spades referred to by Mr.
Denton, in his letter, quoted in this chapter. They are the
theoretically perfect tools for removing the last eighteen or twenty
inches of soil in a four or five-foot drain. Mr. Gisborne says of the
drain properly formed:
"It is wrought in the shape of a wedge, brought in the bottom to
the narrowest limit which will admit the collar, by tools admirably
adapted to that purpose. The foot of the operator is never within
twenty inches of the floor of the drain; his tools are made of
iron, plated on steel, and never lose their sharpness, even when
worn to the stumps; because, as the softer material, the iron,
wears away, the sharp steel edge is always prominent."
[Illustration: Fig. 70. Fig. 71. Fig. 72. BIRMINGHAM SPADES.]
This poetical view of digging drains, meets us at every turn, and we are
beset with inquiries for these wonderful implements. We do not intimate
that Mr. Gisborne, and those who so often quote the above language, are
not reliable. Mr. Gisborne "is an honorable man, so are they all
honorable men;" but we must reform our tiles, and our land too, most of
it, we fear, before we can open four-foot trenches, and lay pipes in
them, without putting a foot "within twenty inches of the floor of the
drain."
In the first place, we have great doubt whether pipes can be laid close
enough to make the joints secure without collars, unless carefully laid
by hand, or unless they are round pipes, rolled in the making, when half
dried, and so made straight and even at the ends. In laying such
sole-pipes as we have laid, it requires some care to adjust them, so as
to make the joints close. Most of them are warped in drying or burning,
so that spaces of half an inch will often be left at the top or side,
where two are laid end to end. Now, if the foot never goes to the bottom
of the drain, the pipes must be laid with a hook or pipe-layer, such as
will be presently described, which may do well for pipes and collars,
because the collar covers the joint, so that it is of no importance if
it be somewhat open.
Again, we know of no method of working with a pick-axe, except by
standing as low as the bottom of the work. No man can pick twenty
inches, or indeed any inches, lower than he stands, because he must move
forward in this work, and not backward. Each land-owner may judge for
himself, whether his land requires the pick in its excavation.
In soft clays, no doubt, with suitable tools, the trench may be cut a
foot, or more, lower than the feet of the workman. We have seen it done
in our land, in a sandy soil, with the Irish spade, though, as we used
sole-pipes, our "pipe-layer" was a live Irishman, who walked in the
trench backwards, putting down the pipes with his hand.
We are satisfied, that the instances in which trenches may be opened a
foot or two below the feet of the workmen, are the exceptions, and not
the rule, and that in laying sole-tiles, the hand of a careful workman
must adjust each tile in its position.
We have found a narrow spade, four inches wide, with a long handle, a
convenient tool for finishing drains for sole-tiles.
[Illustration: Fig. 73. Fig. 74. NARROW SPADES FOR TILES.]
We have thoroughly tested the matter; and in all kinds of soil, give a
decided preference to spades as broad at the point as at the heel. We
have used common long-handled spades, cut down with shears at a
machine-shop, into these shapes.
The spade of equal width, works much more easily in the bottom of a
trench, because its corners do not catch, as do those of the other. The
pointed spade is apparently nearer the shape of the sloping ditch, but
such tools cannot be used vertically, and when the heel of the pointed
spade is lowered, it catches in the side of the trench, before the point
reaches the bottom.
Very strong spades, of various width, from three to eight inches, and
thick at the heel, to operate as a wedge, will be found most suitable
for common use. The narrowest spades should have the spur, as shown in
Fig. 64, because there is not room for the foot by the side of the
handle.
The various tools for finishing the bottoms of drains, as figured in
Morton, are the following:
[Illustration: Fig. 75. Fig. 76. Fig. 77. Fig. 78. Fig. 79.
ENGLISH BOTTOMING TOOLS.]
The last implement, which is a scoop for the bottom of trenches for
round pipes, is one of the tools mentioned in Mr. Denton's letter, as
not being found to the taste of his workmen. For scooping out our
flat-bottomed trenches, we use a tool like Fig. 77. For boggy land, soft
clay, or, indeed, any land where water is running at the time of the
excavation, scoops like the following will be found convenient for flat
bottoms.
[Illustration: Fig. 80. Fig. 81. Fig. 82.
DRAWING AND PUSHING SCOOP, AND PIPE-LAYER.]
The pushing scoop (Fig. 81), as it is called, may be made of a common
long-handled shovel, turned up at the sides by a blacksmith, leaving it
of the desired width.
The _pipe-layer_, of which mention has so often been made, is a little
implement invented by Mr. Parkes, for placing round pipes and collars in
narrow trenches, without stepping into them.
The following sketch, by our friend Mr. Shedd, shows the pipe-layer in
use. The cross section of the land, shown in front, represents it as
having had the advantage of draining, by which the water-table is
brought to a level with the bottom of the drain, as shown by the heavy
shading. An "Irish spade" and a pipe-layer are shown lying on the
ground.
[Illustration: Fig. 83.--PIPE-LAYING.]
The _pick-axes_ commonly used in excavation of trenches, are in the
following forms:
[Illustration: Fig. 84, 85.--PICK-AXES.]
Pick-axes may be light or heavy, according to the nature of the soil. A
chisel at one end, and point at the other, is found best in most cases.
A _Drain-gauge_ is usually mentioned in a list of draining tools. It is
used when ditches are designed for stone or other material than tiles,
and where the width is important. In tile-draining the width is entirely
immaterial. If opened by the rod, it is only important that they be of
proper depth and inclination, with the bottom wide enough for the tile.
[Illustration: Fig. 86.--DRAIN-GAUGE.]
The above figure shows the usual form of the drain-gauge. Below, we give
from Morton, drawings, and a description of Elkington's augers for
boring in the bottoms of ditches.
"The cut annexed represents the auger employed by Elkington, where
_a b_ and _c_ are different forms of the tool; _d_, a portion of
the shaft: _e_, with the wedges, _h h_, the cross handle; and _f_
and _g_ additional pieces for grasping the shaft, and so enabling
more than one person to work at it." The auger-hole ought to be a
little at one side of the drain, as in Fig. 3, at page 35, so that
the water may not rise at right angles to the flow of water in it,
and obstruct its current.
[Illustration: Fig. 87.--ELKINGTON'S DRAINING AUGER.]
[Illustration:
_a._ The plug, or point under ground, to which the string of pipes is
attached.
_bb._ The coulter from the point up through the beam, regulated by
wheel and screw midway.
_c._ The beam connecting the two pairs of wheels.
_e._ Drain opened by hand where pipes enter the ground.
_a to e._ Pipes under ground.
_e to f._ Pipes above ground.
_g._ Windlass or capstan, worked by horses.
_h._ Wire rope attached to plow, and wound round the windlass.
_i._ Pulley round which the rope runs to keep the plow in the line of
the ditch.]
DRAINING-PLOWS AND DITCH-DIGGERS.
The man who can invent and construct a machine that shall be capable of
cutting four-foot ditches for pipe-drains, with facility, will deserve
well of his country.
It is not essential that the drain be cut to its full depth at one
operation. If worked by oxen or horses, it may go several times over the
work, taking out a few inches at each time. If moved by a capstan, or
other slowly-operating power, it must work more thoroughly, so as not to
consume too much time.
With a lever, such as is used in Willis's Stump Puller, sufficient power
for any purpose may be applied. An implement like a subsoil plow,
constructed to run four feet deep, and merely doing the work of the
pick, would be of great assistance. Prof. Mapes says he has made use of
such an implement with great advantage. For tile-drains, the narrower
the ditch the better, if it be only wide enough to receive the tiles. A
mere slit, four inches wide, if straight and of even inclination at the
bottom, would be the best kind of ditch, the pipes being laid in with a
pipe-layer. But if the ditch is to be finished by the machine, it is
essential that it be so contrived that it will grade the bottom, and not
leave it undulating like the surface. Fowler's Drain Plow is said to be
so arranged, by improvements since its first trials, as to attain this
object.
Having thus briefly suggested some of the points to be kept in mind by
inventors, we will proceed to give some account of such machines as come
nearest to the wants of the community. Fowler's Draining-Plow would meet
the largest wants of the public, were it cheap enough, and really
reliable to perform what it is said to perform. The author saw this
implement in England, but not in operation, and it seems impossible,
from inspection of it, as well as from the theory of its operation,
that it can succeed, if at all, in any but soft homogeneous clay. The
idea is, however, so bold, and so much is claimed for the implement,
that some description of it seems indispensable in a work like this.
The pipes, of common drain tiles, are strung on a rope, and this rope,
with the pipes, is drawn through the ground, following a plug like the
foot of a subsoil plow, leaving the pipes perfectly laid, and the drain
completed at a single operation. (See Fig. 88.)
The work is commenced by opening a short piece of ditch by hand, and
strings of pipes, each about 50 feet long, are added as the work
proceeds; and when the ditch is completed, the rope is withdrawn. When
the surface is uneven, the uniform slope is preserved by means of a
wheel and screw, which governs the plug, or coulter, raising or lowering
it at pleasure. A man upon the frame-work controls this wheel, guided by
a sight on the frame, and a cross-staff at the end of the field.
Drains, 40 rods long, are finished at one operation. This plow has been
carefully tested in England. Its work has been uncovered when completed,
and found perfect in every respect. The great expense of the machine,
and the fact that it is only adapted to clay land free from
obstructions, has prevented its general use. We cannot help believing
that, by the aid of steam, on our prairies, at least, some such machine
may be found practicable and economical.
PRATT'S DITCH DIGGER,
Patented by Pratt & Bro., of Canandaigua, is attracting much attention.
We have not seen it in operation, nor have we seen statements which
satisfy us that it is just what is demanded. It is stated, in the
_Country Gentleman_, to be incapable of cutting a ditch more than two
and a half feet deep. A machine that will do so much is not to be
despised; but more than one half the digging remains of a four-foot
ditch, after two and a half feet are opened, and we want an implement to
do the lowest and worst half. It is stated that, in one instance, a
ditch, 60 rods long, about two feet deep, in hard clay, was cut with
this machine, worked by two horses, in five hours.
We trust that the enterprising inventors will perfect their implement,
so that it will open drains four feet deep, and thus meet the great want
of the public. It is not to be expected that any such implement can be
made to operate in ground full of stones and roots; and inventors should
not be discouraged by the continual croakings of those sinister birds,
which see nothing but obstacles, and prophecy only failure.
[Illustration: Fig. 89.--PRATT'S DITCH DIGGER.]
The drain plow was first introduced into Scotland by M'Ewan. The soil in
his district was mostly a strong unctuous clay, free from stones. He
constructed an immense plow, worked by 12 or 16 horses, by means of
which a furrow-slice, 16 inches in depth, was turned out; and, by a
modification of the plow, a second slice was removed, to the depth, in
all, of two feet. This plow is expensive and heavy, and incapable of
working to sufficient depth.
Mr. Paul, of Norfolk Co., England, has lately invented an ingenious
machine for cutting drains, of which we give an elevation.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.--PAUL'S DITCHING MACHINE.]
It is worked by a chain and capstan, by horses, and, of course, may be
operated by steam or lever power. It is drawn forward, and, as it moves,
it acts as a slotting machine on the land, the tools on the
circumference of the acting-wheel taking successive bites of the soil,
each lifting a portion from the full depth to which it is desired that
the trench should be cut, and laying the earth thus removed on the
surface at either side. There is a lifting apparatus at the end of the
machine, by which the cutting-wheel may be raised or lowered, according
to the unevenness of the surface, in order to secure a uniform fall in
the bottom of the drain. The whole process is carried on at the rate of
about four feet per minute, and it results, on suitable soils, in
cutting a drain from three to five feet deep, leaving it in a finished
state, with a level bottom for the tiles to rest upon. We give the cut
and statement from the Cyclopaedia of Agriculture, and if the machine
shall prove what it is represented to be, we see but little more to be
desired in a ditching machine. The principle of this implement appears
to us to be the correct one, and we see no reason to doubt the
statement of its performance.
Routt's drain plow is designed for surface-draining merely. We give,
from the _New England Farmer_, a statement of its merits, as detailed by
a correspondent who saw it at the exhibition of the U. S. Agricultural
Society at Richmond, in 1858:
"One of the most attractive implements on the Fair ground, to the
farmer, was A. P. Routt's patent drain plow. This implement makes a
furrow a foot deep, two feet and a half wide at the top, and four inches
wide at the bottom, the sides sloping at such an angle as to insure the
drain from falling in by the frost, the whole being perfectly completed
at one operation by this plow, or tool. Those who have tried it say it
is the very thing for surface-draining, which, on wet lands, is
certainly very beneficial where under-draining has not been done. The
manufacturer resides in Somerset, Orange County, Va. The plow is so made
that it opens a deep furrow, turning both to the right and left, and is
followed by a heavy iron roller that hardens the earth, both on the
sides and the bottom of the surface-drain, thus doing very handsome
work. The price, as heretofore stated, is $25, and with it, a man can,
with a good pair of team horses, surface-drain 60 acres of land a day."