504 



Construction of Labourers Cottages. 



gable ; consequently their cubical content is considerably above 

 the average of cottage rooms, 



Drainar/e. — The drainage of a pair of agricultural cottages 

 offers but a narrow field for remarks. For first it would of 

 course be out of our limits to allude to any extended scheme of 

 drainage, by which a whole neighbourhood might be drained 

 to one level, and the manure applied to purposes of agri- 

 culture. 



And secondly, it would be superfluous and absurd in these 

 days of medical and chemical science to attempt to prove that 

 bad drainage is the prolific source of disease : our remarks must 

 therefore be of a very practical character, and our attention con- 

 fined to mere details. 



We have frequently had brought under our notice the open 

 cesspools, or dead holes, which are too frequently used. 



They are generally mere pits dug in the ground, and are often 

 found to drain themselves — in doing so they saturate the whole 

 neighbourhood with drainage matter, and give rise to the most 

 noxious gases. 



For these dead-holes we would substitute cesspools properly 

 paved, lined, and domed with brick set in cement. 



All openings into the same should be properly trapped to 

 prevent the return of any vapour or gases. 



In the accompanying plans the arrangement proposed is ex- 

 tremely simple. 



Tlie ground underneath the privies and 

 ashpit is excavated to the depth of 6 feet, and 

 lined and domed with bricks set in cement. '. 

 In the ashpit a 9-inch opening B is made 

 in the dome of the cesspool. This opening 

 is fitted with an iron plate and rod, and at 

 certain intervals the plate B is pulled up, 

 and the accumulated ashes falling down par- 

 tially deodorize the soil, 



A man hole fitted with a stone slab and 

 ring is formed in connection with the same. 

 These privies are provided with a cheap 

 and simple trap and basin,* 

 This apparatus will be effectual as long as the trap is sup- 

 plied with water, but since this will increase the bulk of the 

 sewage, it would be advisable to form a communication with 

 some drain, by means of a drain pipe inserted within 1 foot of 

 the head of the cesspool. This would draw off the water and 

 leave the sewage at a uniform depth. 



Fiff. 8. 



B 



* Those formed in one or two pieces of stone-ware, may be purchased at about 

 7.S. Grf. together ; allowing 5s. Gd. for fixing, &c., one privy may be efi'ectually 

 trapped at about 13s. or 26s, the two. 



