Now you know what the grade of the bottom of your ditch will be.  Reproduce this on a level place by means of a board with a large enough block under one end to give the right pitch; put the triangle on this and when the plumb-line comes to a rest, mark the place on the cross piece.  Reverse the ends of the triangle to get a similar mark on the other side of the centre or level mark.  This makes a level by which a fairly accurate grade can be made.

The tile pipes were laid upon a bed of gravel.  This prevents the clogging up of the loosely put together joints.  To fit tiles place the small end of one into the large end of the next, and so on.  Over the end of the last tile, which emptied into the brook, they wired a bit of rather fine-meshed chicken wire.

Then the trench was filled in.  By test Albert had found the soil of this land acid.  Lime was to be put on it.  Now lime must be in a crumbling state for this purpose.  So after they had bought the lime they dumped it in a heap on a corner of the plot.  After it had become air slaked, or reduced to a powder by the action of air upon it, it was spread over the lot.  This and considerable fertilizer was ploughed in.  The boys then had an ideal sort of planting soil for almost anything.  The drain actually worked.

Now some boy may ask, suppose a fellow has no tile and cannot afford to buy any.  In such a case there are two alternatives or choices.  A wooden trough may be made by nailing together boards six inches wide.  Then make a gravel bed and tip this trough over on it peak up.  The wooden drain, however, is likely to rot.  The other way is to put a double row of stones right through the centre of the bed slope.  These stones—­perfectly flat ones—­should be placed on end with a foot between the rows.  In this space put small stones.

The chief thing to remember in the drainage problem is that one wants a gradual flow of water from inlet to outlet.  Any boy can fix his wet, soggy garden spot even though he has no tiles.  Stones can be found surely, and, if no gravel beds are near, all the little brothers and sisters can pick small stones.

The boys had decided on planting what they called a general vegetable garden—­corn, pumpkins, beans (bush), melons, tomatoes, beets and carrots.  This combination of vegetables was a happy choice as they all can well wait until rather late for planting.  The boys used the planting table that Peter had worked out.

[Illustration:  Photograph by H.L.  Schultz

Jay’s Tile Drain Converted a Swamp Into a Garden]

Many times boys and girls are bothered by the word “hill”.  I have seen boys make nice little heaps of earth and then make a hole in the top of these like a crater in a volcano.  Down into this crater they poke seeds.  Now a hill merely means a place.  This place is not to be heaped up above the level of the ground.  Place five seeds to the hill.  Do not, of course, make a little pile of these seeds but lay them on the ground with a little space between seeds, say an inch.  When planting beans place the eye of each bean down against the ground.  The bean stands up on edge.