70: 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sei't. 



like thanking God again that these beauti- 

 fnl machines were at length otfered for so 

 small a sum. My plans were pretty quickly 

 matured. When I scooped the water out 

 with that tin pail I noticed a pure silvery 

 stream that came out ol' the sand and rock. 

 It came from the northern bank of the 

 brook, and a few feet away— far enough 

 to get into the solid ground — Jacob w^as di- 

 rected to dig a well. He is a stout German 

 boy, and it is just fun for him to dig. In a 

 little more than a day he had thrown out 

 the yellow dirt, so that he got a glimpse of 

 the blue clay. 



As before, we found this blue clay just 

 about one foot in thickness; and when we 

 got through that, that gray quicksand full 

 of water presented itself. The transition 

 from th(! clay to the sand is so sudden and 

 abrupt that we cut out a great chunk of the 

 clay off from the top of the quicksand. It 

 came off as e'.ean as you would slip the cus- 

 tard from the crust of a piece of custard pie. 

 In fact, I turned the block over and washed 

 its under surface ; and when the sand was 

 cleaned away, there was the smooth bottom 

 to the block of clay. Then comes the ques- 

 tion, Why doesn't this immense weight of 

 clay and earth sink down into that soft 

 yielding semi-liquid quicksand ? I presume 

 the only reason is, that^there is no place for 

 the quicksand to go to get out of the way, 

 so the solid earth rests on it, much as it 

 would rest on a body of confined water. 

 This bed of quicksand is perhaps one or one 

 and a half feet through, and then we come 

 to a slaty rock. Jacob dug down into this 

 rock perhaps a foot, to make room for the 

 pump ; and as it was then diinier time the 

 well was left. I told the boys to get back as 

 soon as they could, because there w^ould be 

 so mu(,'li water in the well. In just 80 min- 

 utes we were on the spot, and, to my great 

 astonishment, we had quite a well of water. 

 A little figuring revealed the fact that at 

 least five barrels had run in in 30 minutes. 

 Now, 10 barrels an hour would be 240 l)arrels 

 a day ; but we were not sirre that the spring 

 would give this amount continuously. 



Well, friends, as I write this morning, 

 Sept. 9, the windmill is pumping away, and 

 the carp-pond is partly filled up — at least 

 there is water enough so the fish are rejoic- 

 ing in it ; and it is not stagnant pool water 

 either. It is clear running spring water. 

 The windmill delivers it into a tank clos<' 

 by the well, and this tank is for irrigating 

 tlie creek-l)ottom garden. In case the wa- 



ter is not used as fast as it comes in, how- 

 ever, a pipe takes the overriow and carries it 

 over to the bank of the carp-pond. Before 

 going to the pond, however, it fills a large 

 tub made of the larger half of a cask or bar- 

 rel. This tub is for the Jersey cow; and 

 she admires it so much that she comes and 

 takes a big drink whenever any visitors 

 come to see our spring and waterworks. 



When the tub is filled nearly to the top 

 with surplus, it pours over into the pond, as 

 before mentioned, and the windmill keeps 

 up a stream of running water, the volume 

 varying according to the strength of the 

 breeze. 1 do not know that I ever put up 

 any piece of machinery that has given me 

 so much pleasure as this mill. It is the 

 Eureka, manufactured by Smith & Wood- 

 ward, Kalamazoo, Mich. 



Now, for irrigation we need a large reser- 

 voir or reservoirs for storing the water dur- 

 ing the occasional days when the wind does 

 not blow ; and although our well gives us so 

 large a volume, I felt as if I could hardly 

 spare the water in the springs that fill tiie 

 I chainiel of the brook. This channel, you 

 I will remember, is one that is cut straight 

 ; through the land artificially. In places it is 

 I five or six feet deep. Well, by putting some 

 heavy planks across it at the lower side of 

 our grounds, we have dammed the water up 

 I so it sets back as far up as the windmill and 

 pump, and even further. Just a couple of 

 j plank set in against firm posts, with their 

 joints made tight with the afore-mentioned 

 i clay that came out of the well, have given 

 us a reservoir that will hold one or two thou- 

 sand barrels, at an expense of only four or 

 five dollars; and during a very windy day, 

 when the water is pretty much out of the 

 i well, it passes through from this reservoir, 

 I through this porous quicksand that I have 

 ' mentioned; so you see, during a drought 

 like the present one I have a reservoir to 

 draw on besides the capacity of the well. As 

 ' soon as the children saw^ this long pond, 

 Ruber petitioned for a little boat. The boat 

 is made, i^ainted white, and christened the 

 ''Ma\rtower ;" and could you see the chil- 

 dren enjoy themselves scudding up and down 

 , this canal of clear spring water, you would, 

 I think, agree with me, that the arrange- 

 ment is worth all it cost to make home pleas- 

 ant foi- the children, if nothing further. I 

 used to say I would give $-300 for a living 

 spring on our preuiises, and here it. is pour- 

 ing forth a steady stream almost constantly, 

 at a cost of (•onsi(leral)ly less than even $100, 



To be continued. 



