op (_A_);
Tile-layer (_B_); Pick-axe (_C_); and Scoop Spades, and Shovel.

Writers on drainage, almost without exception, recommend the use of
elaborate sets of tools which are intended for cutting very narrow
ditches,--only wide enough at the bottom to admit the tile, and not
allowing the workmen to stand in the bottom of the ditch. A set of these
tools is shown in Fig. 22.

Possibly there may be soils in which these implements, in the hands of men
skilled in their use, could be employed with economy, but they are very
rare, and it is not believed to be possible, under any circumstances, to
regulate the bottom of the ditch so accurately as is advisable, unless the
workman can stand directly upon it, cutting it more smoothly than he could
if the point of his tool were a foot or more below the level on which he
stands.

On this subject, Mr. J. Bailey Denton, one of the first draining engineers
of Great Britain, in a letter to Judge French, 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 4 feet with a 12-inch opening, _ordinarily_; if he wishes to
_show off_, he will sacrifice his own comfort to appearance, and will do
it with a 10-inch opening."

In the Central Park work, sets of these tools were procured, at
considerable expense, and every effort was made to compel the men to use
them, but it