1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



405 



home. If we love the dear Savior we shall be 

 working in the interests of a// womankind. 



Well, these government bulletins, while 

 admitting the value of the slops, rather dis- 

 courage underground slop-drains and cess- 

 pools. They do speak about tiles laid so near 

 the surface that vegetation can absorb the 

 fermenting liquids; but they touch on the 

 subject only lightly. The reason why we 

 may feel pretty sure various plants and trees 

 will find their way into the slop drain is be- 

 cause there is a certain amount of moisture 

 going though said drains every day in the 

 year. When the roots and rootlets discover 

 it is a daily program, they are like a lot of 

 chickens that have become accustomed to get 

 feed and drink at a certain spot every day — 

 they will very soon be on hand promptly, 

 without fail, and ready for business. Some 

 years ago a friend sent us a slip of willow 

 that he said was an excellent honey-plant. 

 We stuck it in the ground in a damp place in 

 the lower part of the apiary. Well, it hap- 

 pened to be right near the roadway to the 

 barn; and to keep this roadway dry a tile 

 was run through under the road. Before the 

 willow had been there many seasons this tile 

 would not work. It was a mass of willow 

 roots from one end to the other. We took 

 them out and put in larger tile, and in two 

 years this larger tile was utilized by the wil- 

 low in the same way; and during the past 

 winter I saw a pond of water in that old spot, 

 and I suppose we shall have another job of 

 getting those roots out of the way. It is like 

 the text — a tree planted by running water; and, 

 true enough, its leaf has not withered, even in 

 a dry time. The willow-tree has made a most 

 astonishing growth, and is going to crowd out 

 evergreens, fruit-trees, and every thing else, 

 if we do not take it away.* 



In my earlier experiments in sanitary drain- 

 age I had a four-inch tile leading from an out- 

 door slop-basin down into the orchard. In a 

 few years it would clog up with soapsuds and 

 other stuff. By digging a pit at the lower end, 

 however, the soapy jellylike mass would begin 

 to move slowly, and finally run out like sau- 

 sage from a machine (I beg pardon for the il- 

 lustration), and after considerable coaxing we 

 would get the tiles clear so they could be 

 washed out. Now, a stoppage is likely to hap- 

 pen to almost any slop-drain or to any outlet 

 to the water-closet ; and to guard against such 

 stoppages it occurred to me to have the tiles 

 gradually increase in size as they recede from 

 the house. So I bought a lot of tiles of all 

 sizes. Through the wall of the basement of 

 the house, and for perhaps 12 or 15 feet, we 

 used four-inch glazed sewer-pipe, with the 

 ends carefully cemented. This four-inch pipe 

 was then introduced into some six-inch tiles. 

 We ran these tiles 15 or 20 feet, then put in a 

 size still larger, and so on till we got up to 



*In the government bulletin I have already referred 

 to, it says that low wet ground, or places where water 

 is liable to stand and make the vicinity of the home 

 unwholesome, may often be made dry by planting 

 suitable trees. A good-sized maple shade-tree, for in- 

 stance, planted in a wet seepv spot, will make dry 

 ground of a place that had been, before the tree was 

 planted, even swampy. 



twelve-inch tiles, keeping them just enoui^h 

 under ground so the plow would not strike 

 where we go through the orchard. I wanted 

 some hard-burned tiles that would not be easi- 

 ly crushed by the weight of the horses, an t 

 so I went to the tile-factory and bought a lot 

 of culls. They were warped and twisted by 

 being burned too hard. Now, these warped 

 and twisted tiles could not be fitted together 

 so as to make a tight joint ; and, in fact, I did 

 not want a tight joint. I wanted to give every 

 chance possible for roots to get into this slop- 

 drain. Just a little east from the house we 

 have a Downing ever-bearing mulberry. This 

 tree loves water almost as well as the willow. 



A little further we have a choice early apple- 

 tree. The apparatus was arranged with the 

 view of having these trees send their roots 

 into the drain as much as possible. In fact, I 

 wanted to coax all the roots into this very 

 drain. You may ask what is to be done when 

 the tiles are choked up with roots. Well, I 

 decided if it did not choke up too quickly I 

 would either clear them out or buy some more 

 tiles and put them alongside of the filled ones, 

 whichever was the cheapest. The apparatus 

 has been running now for about ten years 

 without any stoppage orany supervision what- 

 ever. The fruit-trees are making wonderful 

 growth, and bearing grand crops of fruit. A 

 similar arrangement was constructed for Er- 

 nest's home, the tiles being carried down 

 through our vegetable-garden. As there were 

 no means for carrying it as far as at my home, 

 after it had been running four or five years he 

 was obliged to carry it a little further, and in- 

 crease the size of the tiles to 18 inches. We 

 both use water-closets. This necessitates a 

 large quantity of water to keep every thing 

 well flushed. The apparatus at my own home 

 goes down through the orchard between two 

 rows of apple-trees, and is perhaps 300 feet in 

 length all together. After the size of the tiles 

 had been increased to 12 inches we used 

 twelve-inch tiles for about 25 feet. After that 

 we laid only a four-inch drain to carry olf the 

 comparatively clear water. This four inch 

 drain crosses at right angles some 2>^-inch 

 drain-tiles laid through the orchard in an op- 

 posite direction. Thus you see the liquid part 

 of the slop is gradually spread over an orchard 

 occupying something like an acre. 



This method of disposing of sewage will, of 

 course, work best on sandy soils. With an open 

 porous sandy soil, fewer tiles may be used, and 

 a much cheaper arrangement. You can tell, 

 by experimenting, the length required to get 

 rid of all the slops. Our own ground is stiff 

 hard clay. Of course, these slops must be 

 carried off so far from the well that no seep- 

 age or drainage can by any possibility reach 

 the well. We use and prefer a cistern. A 

 government bulletin directs that the sewage 

 should be run off on the opposite side of the 

 dwelling from the well ; that the well should 

 be on higher ground ; that the sewage should 

 go at least 100 feet, with a good fall before it 

 is dropped where it could bv any means ac- 

 cumulate and fennent. I feel sure the owner 

 of any home could manage this matter so as 

 to utilize the fertilizing qualities of the slops, 



