"London, 52 Parliament Street, Westminster, S. W."My Dear Sir:—I have received your letter of the 17th August, and hasten to reply to it."I am gratified at the terms in which you speak of my roughly-written 'Essays on Land Drainage.' If you have not seen my published letter to Lord Berners, and my recent essay 'On the Advantages of a Daily Record of Rain-fall,' I should much like you to look over them, for my object in both has been to check the uniformity of treatment which too much prevails with those who are officially called upon to direct draining, and who still treat mixed soils and irregular surfaces pretty much in the same way as homogeneous clays and even surfaces, the only difference being, that the distance between the drains is increased. We have now, without doubt, arrived at that point in the practice of draining in this country, which necessitates a revision of all the principles and rules which have been called into force by the Drainage Acts, and the institution of the Drainage Commission, whose duty it is to administer those Acts, and to protect the interests of Reversioners."This protection is, in a great measure, performed by the intervention of 'Inspectors of Drainage,' whose subordinate duty it is to see that the improvements provisionally sanctioned are carried out according to certain implied, if not fixed, rules. This is done by measuring depth and distance, which tends to aparallel system (4 feet deep) in all soils, which was Smith of Deanston's notion, only his drains were shallower,i.e., from 2 to 3 feet deep."Some rules were undoubtedly necessary when the Commissioners first commenced dispensing the public money, and I do not express my objection to the absurd position to which these rules are bringing us, from any disrespect to them, nor with an idea that any better course could have been followed by the Government, in the first instance, than the adoption of the 'Parkes—Smith frequent drain system.' This system was correctly applied, and continues to be correctly applied, to absorbent and retentive soils requiring the aeration of frequent drains to counteract their retentive nature; but it is altogether misapplied when adopted in the outcropping surfaces of the free water-bearing strata, which, though equally wet, are frequently drained by a comparatively few drains, at less than half the cost."The only circumstance that can excuse the indiscriminate adoption of a parallel system, is the fact, that all drains do some good, and the chances of a cure being greater in proportion to the number of drains,it was not necessary to insist upon that judgment which ten years' experience should now give."My views on this point will perhaps be best understood by the following extract from an address I recently delivered. [Extract omitted, see p. 161].* * * "I use one and a half inch pipes for the upper end of drains (though I prefer two-inch), one half being usually one and a half and the other half two-inch. This for minor drains; the mains run up to 9 or 10 inches, and even 18 inches in size, according to their service."There is no doubt sufficient capacity in one-inch pipes for minor drains; but, inasmuch as agricultural laborers are not mathematical scholars, and are apt to lay the pipes without precise junctions, it is best to have the pipes so large as to counteract that degree of carelessness which cannot be prevented. The ordinary price of pipes in this country will run thus: + meaningabove, and-below, the prices named:1½inch15s.+2"20s.-3"30s.4"40s.+5"50s.+6"60s.+"The price of cutting clays 4 feet deep, will vary from 1d. to 1½d. per yard, according to density and mixture with stone; and the price of cutting in mixed soils will vary from 1½d. to 6d., according to the quantity of pick-work and rock, and with respect, also, to the price of agricultural labor. (See my tabular table of cost in Land Drainage and Drainage Systems.)"I should have thought it would have been quite worth the while of the American Government to have had a farm of about 500 acres, drained by English hands, under an experienced engineer, as a practical sample of English work, for the study of American agriculturists, with every drain laid down on a plan, with the sizes of the pipes, and all details of soil, and prices of labor and material, set forth."I am, dear Sir,"Yours very faithfully,"TheHon. H. F. French, Exeter."J. BAILEY DENTON."
"London, 52 Parliament Street, Westminster, S. W.
"My Dear Sir:—I have received your letter of the 17th August, and hasten to reply to it.
"I am gratified at the terms in which you speak of my roughly-written 'Essays on Land Drainage.' If you have not seen my published letter to Lord Berners, and my recent essay 'On the Advantages of a Daily Record of Rain-fall,' I should much like you to look over them, for my object in both has been to check the uniformity of treatment which too much prevails with those who are officially called upon to direct draining, and who still treat mixed soils and irregular surfaces pretty much in the same way as homogeneous clays and even surfaces, the only difference being, that the distance between the drains is increased. We have now, without doubt, arrived at that point in the practice of draining in this country, which necessitates a revision of all the principles and rules which have been called into force by the Drainage Acts, and the institution of the Drainage Commission, whose duty it is to administer those Acts, and to protect the interests of Reversioners.
"This protection is, in a great measure, performed by the intervention of 'Inspectors of Drainage,' whose subordinate duty it is to see that the improvements provisionally sanctioned are carried out according to certain implied, if not fixed, rules. This is done by measuring depth and distance, which tends to aparallel system (4 feet deep) in all soils, which was Smith of Deanston's notion, only his drains were shallower,i.e., from 2 to 3 feet deep.
"Some rules were undoubtedly necessary when the Commissioners first commenced dispensing the public money, and I do not express my objection to the absurd position to which these rules are bringing us, from any disrespect to them, nor with an idea that any better course could have been followed by the Government, in the first instance, than the adoption of the 'Parkes—Smith frequent drain system.' This system was correctly applied, and continues to be correctly applied, to absorbent and retentive soils requiring the aeration of frequent drains to counteract their retentive nature; but it is altogether misapplied when adopted in the outcropping surfaces of the free water-bearing strata, which, though equally wet, are frequently drained by a comparatively few drains, at less than half the cost.
"The only circumstance that can excuse the indiscriminate adoption of a parallel system, is the fact, that all drains do some good, and the chances of a cure being greater in proportion to the number of drains,it was not necessary to insist upon that judgment which ten years' experience should now give.
"My views on this point will perhaps be best understood by the following extract from an address I recently delivered. [Extract omitted, see p. 161].
* * * "I use one and a half inch pipes for the upper end of drains (though I prefer two-inch), one half being usually one and a half and the other half two-inch. This for minor drains; the mains run up to 9 or 10 inches, and even 18 inches in size, according to their service.
"There is no doubt sufficient capacity in one-inch pipes for minor drains; but, inasmuch as agricultural laborers are not mathematical scholars, and are apt to lay the pipes without precise junctions, it is best to have the pipes so large as to counteract that degree of carelessness which cannot be prevented. The ordinary price of pipes in this country will run thus: + meaningabove, and-below, the prices named:
"The price of cutting clays 4 feet deep, will vary from 1d. to 1½d. per yard, according to density and mixture with stone; and the price of cutting in mixed soils will vary from 1½d. to 6d., according to the quantity of pick-work and rock, and with respect, also, to the price of agricultural labor. (See my tabular table of cost in Land Drainage and Drainage Systems.)
"I should have thought it would have been quite worth the while of the American Government to have had a farm of about 500 acres, drained by English hands, under an experienced engineer, as a practical sample of English work, for the study of American agriculturists, with every drain laid down on a plan, with the sizes of the pipes, and all details of soil, and prices of labor and material, set forth.
"I am, dear Sir,"Yours very faithfully,"TheHon. H. F. French, Exeter."J. BAILEY DENTON."
Prices far too high; Albany Prices.—Length of Tiles.—Cost in Suffolk Co., England.—Waller's Machine.—Williams' Machine.—Cost of Tiles compared with Bricks.—Mr. Denton's Estimate of Cost.—Other Estimates.—Two-inch Tiles can be Made as Cheaply as Bricks.—Process of Rolling Tiles.—Tile Machines.—Descriptions of Daines'.—Pratt & Bro.'s.
Prices far too high; Albany Prices.—Length of Tiles.—Cost in Suffolk Co., England.—Waller's Machine.—Williams' Machine.—Cost of Tiles compared with Bricks.—Mr. Denton's Estimate of Cost.—Other Estimates.—Two-inch Tiles can be Made as Cheaply as Bricks.—Process of Rolling Tiles.—Tile Machines.—Descriptions of Daines'.—Pratt & Bro.'s.
The prices at which tiles are sold is only, as the lawyers say,primâ facieevidence of their cost. It seems to us, that the prices at which tiles have thus far been sold in this country, are very far above those at which they may be profitably manufactured, when the business is well understood, and pursued upon a scale large enough to justify the use of the best machinery. The following is a copy of the published prices of tiles at the Albany Tile Works, and the same prices prevail throughout New England, so far as known:
Few round pipe-tiles have yet been used in this country, although they are the kind generally preferred by engineers in England. The prices of round tiles would vary little from those of sole-tiles.
Tiles are usually cut fourteen inches long, and shorten,in drying and burning, to about twelve and a half inches, so that, with breaking and other casualties, they may be calculated to lay about one foot each; that is to say, 1,000 tiles may be expected to lay 1,000 feet of drains.
To assist those who desire to manufacture tiles for sale, or for private use, it is proposed to give such information as has been gathered from various sources as to the cost of making, and the selling prices of tiles, in England. The following is a memorandum made at the residence of Mr. Thomas Crisp, at Butley Abbey, in Suffolk Co., Eng., from information given the author on the 8th of July, 1857:
"Mr. Crisp makes his own tiles, and also supplies his neighbors who need them. He sells one and a half inch pipes at 12s. ($3) per 1,000. He pays 5s. ($1.25) per 1,000 for having them made and burnt. His machine is Waller's patent, No. 22, made by Garrett and Son, Leiston, Saxemundham, Suffolk. It works by a lever, makes five one and a half inch pipes at once, or three sole-tiles about two-inch. The man at work said, that he, with a man to carry away, &c., could make 4,000 one and a half inch pipes per day. They used no screen, but cut the clay with a wire. The machine cost £25 (about $125). At the kiln, which is permanent, the tiles are set on end, and bricks with them in the same kiln. They require less heat than bricks, andcost about half as muchas bricks here, which are moulded ten inches by five.
"Two girls were loading bricks into a horse-cart, and two women receiving them, and setting them in the kiln. They made roof-tiles with the same machine, and also moulded large ones by hand. The wages of the women are about 8d. (sixteen cents) per day."
At the exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society, in England, the author saw Williams' Tile Machine in operation, and was there informed by the exhibitor, who saidhe was a tile-maker, that it requiresfive-sevenths as much coalto burn 1,000 two-inch tiles, as 1,000 bricks—the size of bricks being 10 by 5; and he declared, that he, with one boy, could make with the machine, 7,000 two-inch tiles per day, after the clay is prepared. Of course, one other person, at least, must be employed to carry off the tiles.
Mr. Denton gives his estimates of the prices at which pipe-tiles may be procured in England, as follows—the prices, which he gives in English currency, being translated into our own:
"When ordinary agricultural labor is worth $2 50 per week, pipes half one and a half inch, and half two-inch, maybe taken at an average cost of $4 38 per 1,000. When labor is $3 00 per week, the pipes will average $5 00 per 1,000, and when labor is $3 50, they will rise to $5 62."He adds: "In giving the above average cost of materials, those districts are excluded from consideration, where clay suitable for pipes, exists in the immediate vicinity of coal-pits, which must necessarily reduce the cost of producing them very considerably."
"When ordinary agricultural labor is worth $2 50 per week, pipes half one and a half inch, and half two-inch, maybe taken at an average cost of $4 38 per 1,000. When labor is $3 00 per week, the pipes will average $5 00 per 1,000, and when labor is $3 50, they will rise to $5 62."
He adds: "In giving the above average cost of materials, those districts are excluded from consideration, where clay suitable for pipes, exists in the immediate vicinity of coal-pits, which must necessarily reduce the cost of producing them very considerably."
Taking the averages of several careful estimates of the cost of tiles and bricks, from the "Cyclopædia of Agriculture," we have the price of tiles in England about $5 per 1,000, and the price of bricks $7.87, from which the duty of 5s. 6d. should be deducted, leaving the average price of bricks $6.50. Upon tiles there is no such duty. Bricks in the United States are made of different sizes, varying from 8 × 4 in. to the English standard 10 × 5 in. Perhaps a fair average price for bricks of the latter size, would be not far from $5 per 1,000; certainly below $6.50 per 1,000. There is no reason why tiles may not be manufactured in the United States, as cheaply, compared with the prices of bricks, as in England; and it is quite clear that tiles of the sizes named, are far cheaper there than common bricks.
What is wanted in this country is, first, a demand sufficientto authorize the establishment of works extensive enough to make tiles at the best advantage; next, competent skill to direct and perform the labor; and, finally, the best machinery and fixtures for the purpose. It is confidently predicted, that, whenever the business of tile-making becomes properly established, the ingenuity of American machinists will render it easy to manufacture tiles at English prices, notwithstanding the lower price of labor there; and that we shall be supplied with small tiles in all parts of the country at about the current prices of bricks, or at about one half the present Albany prices of tiles, as given at the head of this chapter. It should be mentioned here, perhaps, that, in England, it is common to burn tiles and bricks together in the same kiln, placing the tiles away from the hottest parts of the furnace; as, being but about half an inch in thickness, they require less heat to burn them than bricks.
In the estimates of labor in making tiles in England, a small item is usually included for "rolling." Round pipes are chiefly used in England. When partly dried, they are taken up on a round stick, and rolled upon a small table, to preserve their exact form. Tiles usually flatten somewhat in drying, which is not of importance in any but round pipes, but those ought to be uniform. By this process of rolling, great exactness of shape, and a great degree of smoothness inside, are preserved.
Drainage with tiles is a new branch of husbandry in America. The cost of tiles is now a great obstacle in prosecuting much work of this kind which land-owners desire to accomplish. The cost of tiles, and so the cost of drainage, depends very much—it may be said, chiefly—upon the perfection of the machinery for tile-making; and here, as almost everywhere else, agriculture and themechanic arts go hand in hand. Labor is much dearer in America than in Europe, and there is, therefore, more occasion here than there, for applying mechanical power to agriculture. We can have no cheap drainage until we have cheap tiles; and we can have cheap tiles only by having them made with the most perfect machinery, and at the lowest prices at which competing manufacturers, who understand their business, can afford them.
In the preceding remarks on thecost of tiles, may be found estimates, which will satisfy any thinking man that tiles have not yet been sold in America at reasonably low prices.
To give those who may desire to establish tileries, either for public or private supply, information, which cannot readily be obtained without great expense of English books, as to the prices of tile machines, it is now proposed to give some account of the best English machines, and of such American inventions as have been brought to notice.
It is of importance that American machinists and inventors should be apprised of the progress that has been made abroad in perfecting tile machines; because, as the subject attracts attention, the ingenuity of the universal Yankee nation will soon be directed toward the discovery of improvements in all the processes of tile-making. Tiles were made by hand long before tile machines were invented.
A Mr. Read, in the "Royal Agricultural Journal," claims to have usedpipetiles as early as 1795, made by hand, and formed on a round stick. No machine for making tiles is described, before that of Mr. Beart's, in 1840, by which "common tile and sole (not pipes or tubes) were made." This machine, however, was of simple structure, and not adapted to the varieties of tiles now used.
All tile machines seem to operate on the same general principle—that of forcing wet clay, of the consistency of that used in brick-making, through apertures of the desired shape and size. To make the mass thus forced through the aperture,hollow, the hole must have a piece of metal in the centre of it, around which the clay forms, as it is pushed along. This centre piece is kept in position by one or two thin pieces of iron, which of course divide the clay which passes over them, but it unites again as it is forced through the die, and comes out sound, and is then cut off, usually by hand, by means of a small wire, of the required length, about fourteen inches.
Tile machines work either vertically or horizontally. The most primitive machine which came to the author's notice abroad, was one which we saw on our way from London to Mr. Mechi's place. It was a mere upright cylinder, of some two feet height, and perhaps eight inches diameter, in which worked a piston. The clay was thrown into the cylinder, and the piston brought down by means of a brake, like an old-fashioned pump, and a single round pipe-tile forced out at the bottom. The force employed was one man and two boys. One boy screened the clay, by passing through it a wire in various directions, holding the wire by the ends, and cutting through the mass till he had found all the small stones contained in it. The man threw the masses thus prepared, into the cylinder, and put on the brake, and the other boy received the tiles upon a round stick, as they came down through the die at the bottom, and laid them away. The cylinder held clay enough to make several, perhaps twenty, two-inch pipes. The work was going on in a shed without a floor, and upon a liberal estimate, the whole establishment, including shed and machine, could not cost more than fifty dollars. Yet, on this simple plan, tiles were moulded much more rapidly than bricks weremade in the same yard, where they were moulded singly, as they usually are in England. It was said that this force could thus mould about 1,800 small tiles per day.
This little machine seems to be the same described by Mr. Parkes as in general use in 1843, in Kent and Suffolk Counties.
Most of the tile machines now in use in England and America, are so constructed, as to force out the tiles upon a horizontal frame-work, about five two-inch, or three three-inch pipes abreast. The box to contain the clay may be upright or horizontal, and the power may be applied to a wheel, by a crank turned by a man, or by horse, steam, or water power, according to the extent of the works.
We saw at the Exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society, at Salisbury, in England, in July, 1857, the "pipe and tile machine," of W. Williams, of Bedford. It was in operation, for exhibition, and was worked by one man, who said he was a tile maker, and that he and one boy could make with the machine 7,000 two-inch tiles per day, after the clay was prepared in the pug mill. Four tiles were formed at once, by clay passed through four dies, and the box holds clay enough for thirty-two two-inch tiles, so that thirty-two are formed as quickly as they can be removed, and as many more, as soon as the box can be refilled.
The size, No. 3, of this machine, such as we then saw in operation, and which is suitable for common use, costs at Bedford $88.50, with one set of dies; and the extra dies, for making three, four, and six-inch pipes, and other forms, if desired, with thehorses, as they are called, for removing the tiles, cost about five dollars each.
This, like most other tile machines, is adapted to making tiles for roofs, much used in England instead of shingles or slates, as well as for draining purposes.
There are several machines now in use in Englandnamely: Etheridge's, Clayton's, Scragg's, Whitehead's, and Garrett's—either of which would be satisfactory, according to the amount of work desired.
We have in America several patented machines for making tiles, of the comparative merits of which we are unable to give a satisfactory judgment. We will, however, allude to two or three, advising those who are desirous to purchase, to make personal examination for themselves. We are obliged to rely chiefly on the statements of the manufacturers for our opinions.
DAINES' DRAIN TILE MAKER
DAINES' DRAIN TILE MAKER
Daines' American Drain Tile Machine is manufactured at Birmingham, Michigan, by John Daines. This machine is in use in Exeter, N. H., close by the author's residence, and thus far proves satisfactory. The price of it is about $100, and the weight, about five hundred pounds. It occupies no more space than a common three-and-a-half foot table, and is worked by a man at a crank. It is capable of turning out, by man power, about two hundred and fifty two-inch tiles in an hour, after the clay is prepared in a pug mill. Horse or water power can be readily attached to it.
We give a drawing of it, not because we are sure it is the best, but because we are sure it is a good machine, and to illustrate the principle upon which all these machines are constructed.
Pratt's Tile Machine is manufactured at Canandaigua, New York, by Pratt & Brothers, and is in use in various places in that State as well as elsewhere. This machine differs from Daines' in this essential matter, that here the clay ispugged, or tempered, and formed into tiles at one operation, while with Daines' machine, the clay is first passed through a pug mill, as it is for making bricks in the common process.
Pratt's machine is worked by one or two horses, or by steam or water power, as is convenient. The price of the smaller size, worked by one horse, is $150, and the priceof the larger size, worked by two horses, $200. Professor Mapes says he saw this machine in operation and considers it "perfect in all its parts." The patentees claim that they can make, with the one-horse machine, 5,000 large tiles a day. They state also that "two horses will make tiles about as cheap as bricks are usually made, and as fast, with the large-sized machine."
Fig. 53.—Pratt's Tile Machine.
Fig. 53.—Pratt's Tile Machine.
These somewhat indefinite statements are all that we can give, at present, of the capacity of the machines. We should have no hesitation in ordering a Pratt machine were we desirous of entering into an extensive business of Tile-making, and we should feel quite safe with a Daines' machine for a more limited manufacture.
S. C. Salisbury, at the Novelty Works, in the city of New York, is manufacturing a machine for making tiles and bricks, which exhibits some new and peculiar features, worthy of attention by those who propose to purchase tile machines. Prof. Mapes expresses the confident opinion that this machine excels all others, in its capacity to form tiles with rapidity and economy. We have examined only a working model. It is claimed that the large size, with horse-power, will make 20,000 two-inch tiles per day, and the hand-power machine 3,000 per day. We advise tile makers to examine all these machines in operation, before purchasing either.
Draining no more expensive than Fencing.—Engineering.—Guessing not accurate enough.—Slight Fall sufficient.—Instances.—Two Inches to One Thousand Feet.—Cost of Excavation and Filling.—Narrow Tools required.—Tables of Cubic contents of Drains.—Cost of Drains on our own Farm.—Cost of Tiles.—Weight and Freight of Tiles.—Cost of Outlets.—Cost of Collars.—Smaller Tiles used with Collars.—Number of Tiles to the Acre, with Tables.—Length of Tiles varies.—Number of Rods to the Acre at different Distances.—Final Estimate of Cost.—Comparative Cost of Tile-Drains and Stone-Drains.
Draining no more expensive than Fencing.—Engineering.—Guessing not accurate enough.—Slight Fall sufficient.—Instances.—Two Inches to One Thousand Feet.—Cost of Excavation and Filling.—Narrow Tools required.—Tables of Cubic contents of Drains.—Cost of Drains on our own Farm.—Cost of Tiles.—Weight and Freight of Tiles.—Cost of Outlets.—Cost of Collars.—Smaller Tiles used with Collars.—Number of Tiles to the Acre, with Tables.—Length of Tiles varies.—Number of Rods to the Acre at different Distances.—Final Estimate of Cost.—Comparative Cost of Tile-Drains and Stone-Drains.
A prudent man, intending to execute a work, whether it be "to build a tower," or drain a field, "sitteth down first and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it." There is good sense and discretion in the inquisitiveness which suggests so often the inquiry, "How much does it cost to drain an acre?" or, "How much does it cost a rod to lay drains?" These questions cannot be answered so briefly as they are asked; yet much information can be given, which will aid one who will investigate the subject.
The process of drainage is expensive, as compared with the price of land in our new settlements; but its cost will not alarm those who have been accustomed to see the improvements made in New England upon well cultivated farms. Compared with the labor and cost of building and maintainingfencesupon the highways, and in the subdivisions of lots, common in the Eastern States, thedrainage of land is a small matter. We see in many places long stretches of faced walls, on the line of our roads near towns and villages, which cost from two to five dollars per rod. Our common "stone walls" in these States cost about one dollar per rod to build originally; and almost any kind of wooden fence costs as much. Upon fences, there is occasion for annual repairs, while drains properly laid, are permanent.
These suggestions are thrown out, that farmers may not be alarmed without cause, at the high cash estimates of the cost of drainage operations. Money comes slowly to farmers, and a cash estimate looks larger to them than an estimate in labor. The cost of fencing seems no great burden; though, estimated in cash, it would seem, as in fact it is, a severe charge.
Drainage can be performed principally by the same kind of labor as fencing, the cost of the tiles being a small item in the whole expense. The estimates of labor will be made at one dollar per day, in investigating this matter.
This would be the fair cash value of work by the day, perhaps; but it is far more than farmers, who have work in hand on their own farms, which may be executed in the leisure season after haying, and even into the Winter, when convenient, will really expend for such labor. Few farm operations would pay expenses, if every hour of superintendence, and every hour of labor by man and boy and beast, were set down at this high rate.
The cost of the tiles will, ordinarily, be a cash item, and the labor may be performed like that of planting, hoeing, haying, and harvesting, by such "help" hired by the mouth or day, or rendered by the family, as may be found convenient.
The cost of drainage may be considered conveniently, to borrow a clerical phrase, "under the following heads."
1.Laying out, or Engineering.—In arranging our Spring's work, we devote time and attention to laying it out, though this hardly forms an item in the expense of the crop. Most farmers may think themselves competent to lay out their drainage-works, without paying for the scientific skill of an engineer, or even of a surveyor.
It is believed, however, that generally, it will be found true economy, to procure the aid of an experienced engineer, if convenient, to lay out the work at the outset. Certainly, in most cases, some skill in the use of levelling instruments, at least, is absolutely essential to systematic work. No man, however experienced, can, by the eye, form any safe opinion of the fall of a given tract of land. Fields which appear perfectly level to the eye, will be found frequently to give fall enough for the deepest drainage. The writer recently had occasion to note this fact on his own land.
A low wet spot had many times been looked at, as a place which should be drained, both to improve its soil, and the appearance of the land about it; but to the eye, it seemed doubtful whether it was not about as low as the stream some forty rods off, into which it must be drained. Upon testing the matter carefully with levelling instruments, it was found that from the lowest spot in this little swamp, there was a fall of seven and a half feet to the river, at its ordinary height! Again, there are cases where it will be found upon accurate surveys, that the fall is very slight, so that great care will be requisite, to lay the drains in such a way that the descent may be continuous and uniform.
Without competent skill in laying out the work, land-owners will be liable not only to errors in the fall of the drains, but to very expensive mistakes in the location of them. A very few rods of drains, more than are necessary,would cost more than any charge of a competent person for laying them out properly.
Again, experience gives great facility in judging of the underground flow of water, of the permeability of soil, of the probability of finding ledges or other rock formation, and many other particulars which might not suggest themselves to a novice in the business.
The laying out of drains is important, not only with reference to the work in hand, but to additional work to be executed in future on adjoining land, so that the whole may be eventually brought into one cheap and efficient system with the smallest effective number of drains, both minors and mains, and the fewest outlets possible; with such wells, or other facilities for inspection, as may be necessary.
In the English tables of the cost of drainage by the Drainage Companies, an estimate of $1.25 per acre is usually put down for "superintendence," which includes the engineering and the supervision of the whole process of opening, laying and filling, securing outfalls, and every other process till the work is completed. The general estimate of the cost of drainage is about $25.00 per acre, and this item of $1.25 is but a small per centage on that amount. The point has been dwelt upon here, more for the purpose of impressing upon land-owners, the importance of employing competent skill in the laying out of their drainage works, than because the expense thus incurred, forms any considerable item of the cost of the whole work.
2.Excavation and Filling.The principal expense of drainage is incurred in the excavation of the ditch, whether it be for tiles or for stones. The labor of excavation depends much upon the nature of the soil to be moved.
"Draining on a sound clay," says the writer of a prize essay, "freefrom stones, may be executed at a cheaper rate per rod, in length, than on almost any other kind of soil, as, from the firmness of the clay, the work may be done with narrow spades, and but a small quantity of soil requires to be removed. The draining of wet sands or grounds, or clays in which veins of sand abound, is more expensive than on sound clays, because a broader spade has to be used, and consequently a larger amount of soil removed; and draining stony or rocky soils is still more expensive, because the pick has to be used. This adds considerably to the expense."
"Draining on a sound clay," says the writer of a prize essay, "freefrom stones, may be executed at a cheaper rate per rod, in length, than on almost any other kind of soil, as, from the firmness of the clay, the work may be done with narrow spades, and but a small quantity of soil requires to be removed. The draining of wet sands or grounds, or clays in which veins of sand abound, is more expensive than on sound clays, because a broader spade has to be used, and consequently a larger amount of soil removed; and draining stony or rocky soils is still more expensive, because the pick has to be used. This adds considerably to the expense."
Great stress is laid, by all experienced persons, upon using narrow spades, and opening ditches as narrow as possible.
It is somewhat more convenient for unskillful laborers to work in a wide ditch than in a narrow one, and although the laborers frequently protest that they cannot work so rapidly in narrow ditches, yet it is found that, in contract work, by the rod, they usually open the ditches very narrow.
Indeed, it will be found that, generally, the cost of excavation bears a pretty constant proportion to the number of cubic feet of earth thrown out.
It will surprise those unaccustomed to these estimates, to observe how rapidly the quantity excavated, increases with the increased width of the ditch.
To enable the reader accurately to compute the measurement of drains of any dimensions likely to be adopted, a table and explanations, found in the Report of the Board of Health, already quoted, are given below. The dimensions, or contents of any drain, are found by multiplying together the length, depth, andmeanwidth of the drain.
"Thus, if a drain is 300 yards long, and the cutting 3 feet deep, 20 inches wide at the top, and 4 inches wide at the bottom, the mean width would be 12 inches (or the half of the sum of 20 and 4), and if we multiply 300, the length, by 1, the depth in yards, and by 1/3, the mean width in yards, and the product would be 100 cubic yards. The following table will serve to facilitate such calculations.
"Thus, if a drain is 300 yards long, and the cutting 3 feet deep, 20 inches wide at the top, and 4 inches wide at the bottom, the mean width would be 12 inches (or the half of the sum of 20 and 4), and if we multiply 300, the length, by 1, the depth in yards, and by 1/3, the mean width in yards, and the product would be 100 cubic yards. The following table will serve to facilitate such calculations.
"Along the top of the table is placed the mean widths in inches, and on the left-hand side the depths of the drains, extending from 30 inches to 5 feet. The numbers in the body of the table express cubic yards, and decimals of a yard. In making use of the table, it is necessary first to find the mean width of the drain, from the widths at the top and bottom. Thus, if a drain 3 feet deep were 16 inches wide at the top, and 4 inches at the bottom, the mean width would be half of 16 added to 4, or 10; then, by looking in the table for the column under 10 (width), and opposite 36 (inches of depth), we find the number of cubic yards in each rod of such a drain to be 1.53, or somewhat more than one and a half. If we compare this with another drain 20 inches wide at the top, 4 inches at the bottom, and 4½ feet deep, we have the mean width 12, and looking at the table under 12 and opposite 54, we find 2.75 cubic yards, or two and three-quarters to the rod. In this case, the quantity of earth to be removed is nearly twice as much as in the other, and hence, as far as regards the digging, the cost of the labor will be nearly double. But in the case of deep drains, the cost increases slightly for another reason, namely, the increased labor of lifting the earth to the surface from a greater depth."
"Along the top of the table is placed the mean widths in inches, and on the left-hand side the depths of the drains, extending from 30 inches to 5 feet. The numbers in the body of the table express cubic yards, and decimals of a yard. In making use of the table, it is necessary first to find the mean width of the drain, from the widths at the top and bottom. Thus, if a drain 3 feet deep were 16 inches wide at the top, and 4 inches at the bottom, the mean width would be half of 16 added to 4, or 10; then, by looking in the table for the column under 10 (width), and opposite 36 (inches of depth), we find the number of cubic yards in each rod of such a drain to be 1.53, or somewhat more than one and a half. If we compare this with another drain 20 inches wide at the top, 4 inches at the bottom, and 4½ feet deep, we have the mean width 12, and looking at the table under 12 and opposite 54, we find 2.75 cubic yards, or two and three-quarters to the rod. In this case, the quantity of earth to be removed is nearly twice as much as in the other, and hence, as far as regards the digging, the cost of the labor will be nearly double. But in the case of deep drains, the cost increases slightly for another reason, namely, the increased labor of lifting the earth to the surface from a greater depth."
Under the title of the "Depth of Drains," other reasons are suggested why shallow drains are more easily wrought than deeper drains. The widths given in English treatises, and found perfectly practicable there, with proper drainage-tools, will seem to us exceedingly narrow. Mr. Parkes gives the width of the top of a four-foot drain 18inches, of a three-and-a-half foot drain 16 inches, and of a three-foot drain 12 inches. He gives the width of drains for tiles, three inches at bottom, and those for stones, eight inches. Of the cost of excavating a given number of cubic yards of earth from drains, it is difficult to give reliable estimates. In the writer's own field, where a pick was used to loosen the lower two feet of earth, the labor of opening and filling drains 4 feet deep, and of the mean width of 14 inches, all by hand labor, has been, in a mile of drains, being our first experiments, about one day's labor to three rods in length. The excavated earth of such a drain, measures not quite three cubic yards. (Exactly, 2.85.)
In work subsequently executed, we have opened our drains of 4 foot depth, but 20 inches at top, and 4 inches at bottom, giving a mean width of 12 inches. In one instance, in the Summer of 1858, two men opened 14 rods of such drain in one day. In six days, the same two men opened, laid, and filled 947 feet, or about 57½ rods of such drain. Their labor was worth $12.00, or 21 cents per rod. The actual cost of this job was as follows:
This is 46½ cents per rod, besides our own time and skill in laying out and superintending the work. The work was principally done with Irish spades, and was in a sandy soil. In the same season, the same men opened, laid, and filled 70 rods of four-foot drain, of the same mean width of 12 inches, in the worst kind of clay soil, where the pick was constantly used. It cost 35 days' labor to complete the job, being 50 cents per rod for the labor alone. The least cost of the labor of draining 4 feet deep, on ourown land, is thus shown to be 21 cents per rod, and the greatest cost 50 cents per rod, all the labor being by hand. One-half these amounts would have completed the drains at 3 feet depth, as has been already shown.
But the excavation here is much greater than is usual in England, Mr. Parkes giving the mean width of a four-foot drain but 10½ inches, instead of 14 or 12, as just given. Mr. Denton gives estimates of the cost, in England, of cutting and filling four-foot drains, which vary from 12 cents per rod upwards, according to the prices of labor, and other circumstances.
In New England, where labor may be fairly rated at one dollar per day, the cost of excavating and filling four-foot drains by hand labor, must vary from 20 to 50 cents per rod, according to the soil, and half those amounts for drains of three-foot depth.
Of the aid which may be derived from the use of draining plows, or of the common plow, or subsoil plow, our views may be found expressed under the appropriate heads. That drains will long continue to be opened in thisvastcountry by hand labor, is not to be supposed, but we give our estimates of the expenses, at this first stage of our education in drainage.
3.Cost of the Tiles.Under the title of "The Cost of Tiles," we have given such information as can be at present procured, touching that matter. It will be assumed, in these estimates, that no tiles of less than 1½ inch bore will be used for any purpose, and for mains, usually those of three-inch bore are sufficient. The proportion of length of mains to that of minors is small, and, considering the probable reduction of prices, we will, for the present, assume $10 per 1,000 as the prices of such mixed sizes as may be used.
Add to this, the freight of them to a reasonable distance, and we have the cost of the tiles on the field. Theweight of two-inch tiles is usually rated at about 3 lbs. each, though they fall short of this weight until wet.
4.Outlets.A small per-centage should be added to the items already noticed, for the cost of the general outfall, which should be secured with great care; although, from such examination as the writer has made in this country, and in England also, in the large majority of cases, drains are discharged with very little precaution to protect the outlets. Works completed under the charge of regular engineers, form an exception to this remark; and an item of 37 cents per acre, for iron outlets and masonry, is usually included in the estimated cost per acre of drainage.
5.Collars.It is not known to the author that collars have been at all used in America, except at the New York Central Park, in 1858; round pipes, upon which they are commonly used abroad, when used on any, not being yet much in use here.
In the estimates of Mr. Denton, in his tables, collars are set down at about half the cost of the mixed tiles. The bore of them being large enough to receive the end of the tile, increases the price in proportion to the increase in size. It is believed, however, that a smaller size of tiles may prudently be used with collars than without, because the collars keep the tiles perfectly in line, and freely admit water, while they exclude roots, sand, and other obstructions. A drain laid with one and a half inch tiles with collars is, no doubt, better in any soil than two-inch tiles without collars. Some compensation for the cost of collars may thus be found in the less price of the smaller tiles.
6.Laying.The cost of laying tiles is so trifling as hardly to be worth estimating, except to show its insignificance. The estimate, by English engineers, is two cents per rod for "pipe laying and finishing." What is included in "finishing," does not appear. From the personal observations of the writer, it is believed that anactive man may lay from 60 to 100 rods of tiles per day, in ditches well prepared. Indeed, we have seen our man James, lay twelve rods of two-inch tiles, in a four-foot ditch, in forty-five minutes, when he was not aware that he was working against time. This is at the rate of sixteen rods an hour, which would give just 160 rods, or a half-mile, in a day of ten hours.
7.Number of Tiles to the Acre.The number of tiles used depends, of course, upon the distances apart of the drains, and upon the length of the tiles used.
The following table gives the number of tiles of various length, per acre, required at different intervals:
The following table gives the number of rods per acre of drains at different distances:
It may be remarked here, that tiles, moulded of the same length, vary nearly two inches when burned, according to the severity of the heat. It may be suggested, too, that the length of the tile, in the use of any machine, is entirely at the option of the maker. It is not, perhaps, an insult to our common humanity, to suggest to buyers the propriety of measuring the length as well as calibre of tiles before purchasing. In the estimates which will be made in this detail, it will be assumed that tiles will lay one foot each, with allowance for imperfections and breakage. This is as near as possible to accuracy, according to our best observation; and, besides, there is convenience in this simple estimate of one tile to one foot, which is important in practice.
We have now the data from which we may make some tolerably safe estimates of the cost of drainage. With labor at one dollar per day, and tiles at $10 per 1,000, or one cent each, or one cent a foot, and ditches four feet deep, opened and filled at one-third of a day's labor to the rod, we may set down the principal items of the cost of drainage by the rod, as follows:
This is putting the tiles at one cent a foot, and the labor at two cents a foot, or just twice as much as the cost of tiles, and it brings a total of half a dollar a rod, all of them numbers easily remembered, and convenient for calculation.
By reference to the table giving the number of rods to the acre, the cost of labor and tiles per acre may be at once found, by taking half the number of rods in dollars. At 42 feet distance, the cost will be $31.42 per acre; at30 feet distance, $44; and at 60 feet, half that amount, or $22 per acre.
Our views as to the frequency of drains, may be found under the appropriate head.
Our estimate thus far, is of four-foot drains. We have shown, under the head of the "Depth of Drains," that the cost of cutting and filling a four-foot drain is double that of cutting and filling a three-foot drain. There is no doubt, that, after all the good advice we have given on this subject, many, who "grow wiser than their teachers are," will set aside the teachings of the best draining engineers in the world, and insist that three feet deep is enough, and persist in so laying their tiles.
Thisshallownesswill reduce the cost of labor about one half, so that we shall have the cost of labor and tiles equal—one cent a foot, making 33? cents per rod, or one-third of a dollar, instead of one-half a dollar per rod. To the cost of labor and tiles, we should add a fair estimate of the cost of the other items of engineering and outlets. These are trifling matters, which English tables, as has been shown, estimate together, at about $1.67 per acre.
Briefly to recapitulate the elements of computation of the cost of drainage, we find them to be these: the price of labor, the price of tiles, and freight of them; the character of the soil, the depth of the drains, and their distance apart, with the incidental expense of engineering and of outfalls, and the large additional cost ofcollars, where they are deemed necessary.
It is not possible to answer, with precision, the question so often asked, as to the comparative cost of drainage with tiles and stones.
The estimates given of the cost of tile drains, are based upon the writer's own experience, upon his own farmmainly; and the mean width of four-foot tile drains, may be assumed to be 14 inches, instead of 10½ inches, as actually practiced in England.
For a stone drain of almost any form, certainly for any regular water-course laid with stones, our ditch must be at least 21 inches wide from top to bottom. This is just 50 per cent, more than our own estimate, and 100 per cent., or double the English estimate for tile drains.
It will require at least two ox-cart loads of stones to the rod, to construct any sort of a stone drain, costing, perhaps, 25 cents a load for picking up and hauling. In most cases, where the stones are not on the farm, it will cost twice that sum. We will say 25 cents per rod for laying the stones, though this is a low estimate. We have, then, for cutting and filling the ditch, 50 cents per rod, 50 cents for hauling stone, and for laying, 25 cents per rod, making $1.25 a rod for a stone drain, against 50 cents per rod for tile drains.
Then we have a large surplus of earth, two cartloads to the rod, displaced by the two loads of stone, to be disposed of; and in case of the tiles, we have just earth enough. There are many other considerations in favor of tiles: such as the cutting up of the ground by teaming heavy loads of stones; the greaterpermanencyof tiles; and the fact that they furnish no harbor for mice and other vermin, as the English call such small beasts. In favor of stones, is the fact, that often they are on the land, and must be moved, and it is convenient to dispose of them in the ditches.
Again, there are many parts of the country where tiles are not to be procured, without great cost of freight, and where labor is abundant at certain seasons, and money scarce at all seasons, so that the question is really between stone drains and no drains.
Stone drains, if laid very deep, are far more secure thanwhen shallow; because, if shallow, they are usually ruined by the breaking in of water at the top, in the Spring time, by the action of frost, and by the mining of mice and moles. If laid four feet deep, and the earth rammed hard above the stones, and rounded on the surface to throw off surface water, they may be found efficient and permanent.
The conclusion, however, is, that where it can be procured, at any reasonable cost, drainage with tiles will generally cost less than one-half the expense of drainage with stones, and be incomparably more satisfactory in the end.