WATER SUPPLY FOR THE FARM. 531 



testify that their first want is water, and that a parched tongue is more intolerable than a 

 gnawing stomach. Our farm stock would bear the same testimony could they speak. 



In order to appreciate the value of water for stock, we must remember that it constitutes, 

 on the average, three-fourths of the weight of the animal, and it furnishes largely the 

 elements, oxygen and hydrogen, of the bodily structure, that it is essential for softening solid 

 foods, so as to facilitate mastication, digestion, and the passage of waste material through the 

 body, and. finally, by its evaporation from the surface, it keeps the body cool and healthy. 

 Fever always ensues when perspiration is checked. The estimated amount of water which 

 an average man throws off each day is eighty-three ounces forty in the urine and faeces, and 

 forty through his lungs and skin. The average ox requires a much larger allowance than 

 this, and a cow that gives twenty quarts of milk a day must have at least eighteen quarts of 

 water in some form from which to manufacture this milk, for its analysis shows about ninety 

 per cent, of water. 



The objection most commonly urged against bringing water to the barn for the conven 

 ience of stock is the expense, but where there are large herds or flocks, the benefit in one 

 year will compensate for the outlay. Most farmers have logs suitable for making the aque 

 duct, but if not, lead and iron pipe are so cheap in these days, that it pays even to borrow 

 the money and invest it in a water privilege. A three-quarter inch iron pipe can now be 

 bought for five or six cents a foot, and there is no better material for constructing an aque 

 duct. Logs rot and lead corrodes, but iron, if it does rust a little, furnishes no poison. In 

 a constantly-filled pipe there is not rust enough to make a good tonic, so that iron is probably 

 the best conductor of water. After a log becomes rotten, the water conveyed through it 

 must be more or less contaminated, and what the farmer wants for his stock is what he wants 

 for himself and family the pure article. 



If the farm is so unfortunately situated that no spring or brook can be tapped that will 

 flow to the barn, then a water-ram or wind -mill can be used that will overcome gravity. 

 Windmills have long done service in Europe, and they are getting to be quite common in 

 this country. Their advantage over water-rams is that they can be utilized not only for 

 pumping water, but for threshing and grinding grain, sawing wood, and any other farm 

 purpose for which power is required. A neighbor has two or three in operation on his farm, 

 and they are labor-saving machines. Wind in a cheap power with which to furnish water.&quot; 



We believe with the above-mentioned writer, that all animals should have free access to 

 an abundant supply of good water, and it will well repay any farmer in the improved condition 

 of his stock to incur the necessary expense of procuring it for them, since it is one of the 

 first essentials of successful farming. We regret to say that many farmers still adhere to 

 the shiftless and unprofitable practice of failing to provide sufficient water for their stock, 

 and oblige them to drink from holes cut in the ice from some frog-pond or brook, often 

 driving them long distances, and exposing them to the cold weather and danger of having 

 their legs broken by slipping on the ice, or of being hooked by others of the drove while 

 crowding about such drinking places. This is not only a very inconvenient way of managing 

 stock, but it is extravagant and detrimental to success. About eighty per cent, of all flesh 

 being water, animals cannot thrive well without a sufficient supply of it. Clean water abun 

 dantly supplied to cows in the barn-yard, where they can have frequent access to it, will 

 prove a paying investment and cheapen the production of milk. 



Cisterns. Aside from wells and springs for a water supply, another very cheap and 

 easy means of furnishing this necessary element is in utilizing the rain that falls upon the 

 roofs of buildings, and collecting it in a cistern for present and future use. If cisterns are 

 made of ample size (as they always should be), a permanent and sufficient quantity of water 

 can be obtained in this manner, and with so little trouble or expense that no farmer need be put 

 to any inconvenience in procuring good water for his house or barn. We would not recom- 



