er ones; and this is advisable in steep
descents or flowing sands.

A great advantage in round pipes is, that there is no wrong-side-up to
them, and they are, therefore, more readily placed in position than
tiles of any other form.

Again: all tiles are more or less warped in drying and burning; and,
where it is desired to make perfect work, round pipes may be turned so
as to make better joints and a straighter run for the water--which is
very important.

If collars are used, there is still less difficulty in adjusting the
pipes so as to make the lines straight, and far less danger of
obstruction by sand or roots. Indeed, it is believed that no drain can
be made more perfect than with round pipes and collars.

As it is believed that few collars have ever yet been used in this
country, and the best drainers in England are not agreed as to the
necessity of using them, we give the opinions of two or three
distinguished gentlemen, in their own language. Mr. Gisborne says:

"We were astounded to find, at the conclusion of Mr. Parkes'
Newcastle Lecture, this sentence: 'It may be advisable for me to
say, that in clays, and other clean-cutting and firm-bottomed
soils, I do not find the collars to be indispensably necessary,
although I always prefer their use.' This is a barefaced treachery
to pipes, an abandonment of the strongest point in their case--the
assured continuity of the conduit. Every one may see how very small
a disturbance at their point of junction would dissociate two pipes
of one inch diameter. One finds a soft place in the bottom of the
drain and dips his nose into it one inch deep, and cocks up his
other end. By this simple operation, the continuity of the conduit
is twice broken. An inch of lateral motion produces the same
effect. Pipes of a larger diameter than two inches are generally
laid without collars. This is a practice on which we do not look
with much complacency; it is the compromise between cost and
security, to which the affairs of men are so often compelled. No
doubt, a conduit from three to six inches in diameter is much less
subject to a breach in its continuity than one which is smaller;
but, when no collars are used, the pipes should be laid with
extreme care, and the bed which is prepared for them at the bottom
of the drain should be worked to their size and shape with great
ac