Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-03-31
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD
About Cisterns.

kD0ut Cisterns.
A D1srrNau1sHED physician, who has
long and carefully tested the subject,
"Hard water for cooking is bad. Many
vegetables are nearly spoiled by being
cooked In Il; and 1t IL difficult to get q
good infusion Of tea or coffee. The water
used In the city Of London requires full
One-fOurth more of tea or cOffee to obtain
an infusion of equal strength than that
obtained In soft water, while the flavor
ID decidedly inferior" 7tsi F1.ittt's I
The superior cleansing properties of
rain-water are acknowledged by every
housekeeper who has ever been obliged to
do large washing. lfa a,.l,.l
In many localities, it is extremely diff
cult to obtain good water from wells. The
water may be tainted with lime, or alum,
or salts, or sulphur. Or, again, it may be
necessary to dig wells so deep that they are
very expensive, costing often from one to
five hundred dollars.
In any locality, however, good and use.
full cisterns may be made, ut a cost of
twenty to fifty dollars, which will give a
full supply of soft, pure water.
Some 400 hogsheads Of water fall upon
the roof of so by 40 foot house or barn,
this being equal to $4,000 pailfuls at least.
Allowing four pailfuls day to each ami
NAL, this quantity will afford drink for
twenty head of cattle daily the year
round. ..ts4N alNi
A hogshead contains about 81 cubic or
solid feet. A cstern two feet two inches
square, and Of the same depth, will hold
one hogshead; one twice that size and
depth will hold eight hogsheads
one eight feet each way will hold
sixty-two hogsheads; and one ten feet
each way will hold 100 hogsheads A
round cistern, four feet in diameter and six
feet deep, will hold over AZ hogsheads of
water one of the same diameter, and
nine feet deep, will hold about IS hogs
heads; one twelve feet deep, same diane
ter, about SO hegsheads. .".
Generally speaking, the best place for a
cistern in dwelling house is in the cellar ;
and one Of brick is preferable, if your els
tern Is above the ground. Good hard
bricks should be used, and well laid in
good cement. Mixtures of one.fourth
! cement to three-fourths sand will some
| times make better mortar than other
qualities of cement with equal proportions
of both. So that it is best to be governed
by the working of the material when
mixed. 1t should be tenacious, slip read.
| ly from the trowel, and harden quickly.
TO make good cement-mortar, the sand
and cement should be thoroughly mixed
before any water is applied, and used as
soon rs is practicable after it is wet.
1t is better to have the lower half of the
cistern- walls eight inches in thickness.
When half way to the required height,
the inner course may be dropped.
The entire outside should be well plas-
tered with cement, put on in two coats,
one Immediately after the other, and each
as thin as possible. Where both coats ex-
coed three-eights Of an inch in thickness,
they are liable to crack.
The last and most particular part OF the
work is to lay the bottom. 1t is absolute
| ly Unnecessary that this should be upon firm
| foundation, where it cannot possibly sag.
If the bottom lowers the least particle, the
cstern is worthless, and nine times in ten,
cannot be repaired.
| have known as many as six successive
bottoms put in single cistern; still the
cistern continued to leak, for when filled
to certain height the weight of the
water caused the bottom to give down
ward This will, perhaps, account for the
mysterious leakage in the cisterns Of some
Of your readers.
In case of any cracks in the inside plas-
tering, it is best to apply, with common
white wash brush, thick wash OF cement
and sand. Cement-work should not be
exposed to the frost till it Is thoroughly
hardened, as freezing causes the inside
plastering to peel off in flakes.
1t is not advisable to let in water for
some time after the completion Of the
work from four to six weeks 10 generally
long enough to wait.
In this locality (Massachusetts), cisterns
are often dug in the ground, like wells.
The cement is laid directly upon the
earth at the sides and bottom "a brick bot.
tom is sometimes put inn
A few courses-six or eight-Of brick
should be laid in cement around the upper
edge, to hold up the loose earth, andspre-
vent any possible action of frost. These
are cheaper than brick cisterns, take up
less room, and are as good IL the ground
is tough and claysy.-HearM and Home.
L