n, 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