The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1894-02-02
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
THE IMPORTANT MATTER OF
A WATER SUPPLY.
Pure water for stock as Wen as Family
a NecessIty-PrOmpE Returns - Why
Queens Are BalIed-AgriculturaIH Hints
and Household Helps.
water supply of the Farm.


the management of the farm, as well
as the farm household, is the water
supply. There is far too much 1gno-
rance or neglect in this regard. the
results of which are always costly
and sometimes disastrous. Water
is really the most important aliment
of all animals.
Every person should know that the
fatal fevers of fall and winter are all
caused by impurities in the water,
and in regard to cows, especially
that impure water may infect the
milk so as to carry disease to the
consumers of it, while, by certain
physiological influence by which the
milk will carry of from a COW the
germs of disease or other poisonous
matters, the animal escapes, but
those who use the milk will receive
the infection.
Thus the Importance of securing
supply of pure water for the farm
stock is as great as that of the pro-.
vision for the family. And at the
same time there are some considera-
lions of convenience to be thought
Of
North, while the summer is the dry
time in the South. And what will
be here suggested may be equally
applicable to the South and the
North, only the seasons will be re-
versed. And it is curious proof of
this reversal of condition that the
fever season is rife during the sum-
mer in the South, but in the winter
in the North.
The purest water that can be pro-
cured is that which is distilled from
the clouds, writes Henry Stewart in
the New York Times. In natures
laboratory everything is made pure.
1t is only when it is contaminated
by the dead and decaying matter of
the earth that the water or the air
becomes defled. And this is pre-
-eisely what is the matter with most
of the water from springs and many
wells. 1t washes the soil, the most
effective means of disposing of the
dead matter, the wastes of nature
and of mankind, and in the ordinary
operations of nature the water would
carry all this waste to the ocean,
where it becomes changed into food
for marine animals, upon which the
fishes feed, and thus it returns once
more freed from all impurities into
another round of life. But when we
interrupt this course of nature with
out due care and precaution we vio-
late natural law, and whether it is
done deliberately or in ignorance,
nature claims the unavoidable ~pen.
atty and we suffer the consequences
The cistern must be underground,
as we'll for convenience and safety
from frost as for the preservation of
a desirable temperature of the water.
In this way. in the South. cool water
may be had in the hot summer, and
in the North warm water may be
had in the cold winter. The right
form of the cistern, both for strength
and room, is section of an egg with
the top cut off.
A strong man can only with diff
Guilty crush an egg in his hands by
pressing only the ends of it. The
seemingly fragile she'll resists great
pressure, that would crush per-
fectly round body quite easily, al
though globular form has much
more strength than a square or
cube.
The material of which cistern is
best made is hard brick laid end
ways for large cistern, or sideways
for one of moderate size. The brick
should be laid in water lime, with
two parts of sand added. The joints
should be as narrow as will give a
perfect adhesion between the bricks;
a little less than quarter of an inch
will be sufficient. The digging should
be made from the top to the middle of
the bulge straight down and then be
finished in the shape desired. The
reason for this is that it is not easy
to work in it if the top overhangs.
A fat stone is first bedded in the
cement at the bottom, on which
the workman stands while building
the wall. The joints of the bricks
with this must be closed, and it is
indispensable that the brick should
be laid tight against the solid earth
as the work proceeds, SO that
the pressure of the water inside
may not crush out the
wall. Quite contrary to common
ideas, the greatest pressure in a els
tern is from within, and this is often
ignored and the wall IS pressed out
by the weight of the water, and, hav-
ing no solid backing of earth the
cistern is apt to give way. So that
when the cistern begins to narrow
in it is absolutely necessary to pack
the loose earth tight against the
wall outside. And to aid in this it
is we'll to pour water on the packed
earth to make it quite solid. In
this way the wall Is carried to the
top. leaving only an opening sufi-
GENTLY large for the admission of a
man to the inside when it may be
necessary.
1t is a wise precaution in laying
bricks to plaster the outside all over.
This is done by spreading some of
the cement on the earth at the lower
part and pressing the bricks close
against it, and when the wall is
drawn in plastering the outside.
This prevents leakage from the out
side into the cistern, which has the
effect of loosening the inside cover
ing of cement
The stone covering the mouth of
the cistern should be two feet under
ground, wherever the freezing of the
soil might penetrate so far. and
equally where the summers heat is