32 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



It took nearly three months to finish the water 

 system, but it has proved wonderfully conven- 

 ient and satisfactory. During seven years I have 

 not spent more than $50 for changes and repairs. 

 We struck bed-rock at 197 feet, drilled 27 feet 

 into this rock, and found water which rose to 

 within 50 feet of the surface and which could 

 not be materially lowered by the constant use of 

 a three-inch power-pump. The water was milky 

 white for three days, in spite of much pumping ; 

 and then, and ever after, it ran clear and sweet, 

 with a temperature of 54 F. Well and water 

 being satisfactory, I cheerfully paid the well man 

 $448 for the job. 



Meantime I contracted for a tank twelve by 

 twelve feet, to be raised thirty feet above the 

 well on eight timbers, each ten inches square, 

 well bolted and braced, for $430, I to put in 

 the foundation. This consisted of eight concrete 

 piers, each five feet deep in the clay, three feet 

 square, and capped at the level of the ground 

 with a limestone two feet square and eight 

 inches thick. These piers were set in octagon 

 form around the well, with their centres seven 

 feet from the middle of the bore, making the 

 spread of the framework fourteen feet at the 

 ground and ten at the platform. The founda- 

 tion cost $32. A Rider eight-inch, hot-air, wood- 

 burning, pumping engine (with a two-inch pipe 

 leading to the tank, and a four-inch pipe from 

 it), filled the tank quickly ; and it was surpris- 



