Shortage Of Tiles Limiting Factor In Farm Draining

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 94, 13 September 1948, Page 3

Shortage Of Tiles Limiting Factor In Farm Draining

Shortage of tiles for farm drainage is one of the factors limiting the development of farms. The output per man-hour, as well as the facilities for making clay tiles, seems likely to limit their greater production. One obvious and easy way to remedy this is to augment the limited supply of clay tiles with ones made from concrete, states a circular issued by the drainage advisory service of Massey Agricultural College. Machines are available—and several are in operation in New Zealand—which can make concrete tiles at the rate of four per minute. ‘These machines are being made by firms in the Manawatu and Southland. Another machine on trial at the moment in the United States turns out tiles at the rate of seven per minute. Although three-inch concrete tiles are at present dearer in some cases than clay ones in the North Island, there seems no good reason why they should not be turned out as cheaply as, or more cheaply than, clay tiles if the demand for them arose. In South Otago four-inch concrete tiles are being sold at the same price as four-inch clay tiles. In view of the importance of increasing production the small amount of cement required for the manufacture of tiles should be the subject of a special priority for its use in this connection. As far as is known, well-made concrete tiles are, for all practical purposes, as satisfactory as earthenware tiles. Extremely acid or alkaline soils may cause concrete tiles to decay slowly. However, alkaline soils are very rare in New Zealand, and mormally only in peats would extremely acid soils be found. Sincethe use of tiles in peat soils would

not be satisfactory in any case, this is not a serious limitation. The extent to which the tile is porous is unimportant, since water finds its way into the tile drain through the spaces between the individual tiles. The amount moving through the walls of the tile is negligible, and a strong tile is more important than a porous one. '