94 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



" If irrigation pays " and no one now questions that 

 "the whole Western country of rich soil, which asks but a 

 drink now and then, will be turned into a Garden of Eden." 

 (Maxwell's Talisman.) 



Agriculture may be revolutionized with the advent of 

 irrigation. 



A new method of disposing of sewage and at the same time 

 irrigating the soil, has come into use recently, and will be 

 found valuable to those who are situated so that they can 

 make use of it. 



The sewage from buildings is drained into a large tank 

 where the heavier matter can settle to the bottom. When 

 the water rises nearly to the top of the tank it is siphoned 

 into another tank, and from there it is piped about the 

 field. 



The piping is very simple ordinary drain tile conveys 

 the water. Beginning at the highest point of the field to be 

 irrigated, a six-inch (or larger) line of tile should be laid 

 along the highest ground with a fall of not over one inch 

 to each ten feet. From this main trunk should be branch 

 lines of "laterals," laid from eight to twelve feet apart, as 

 they would be laid for draining a field. These branch lines 

 may be laid at an angle to the main trunk as may be most 

 convenient; all the joints must be covered so as to keep 

 out the dirt. The whole system should be laid deep enough 

 in the ground to be secure from frost ; but to be most effec- 

 tive it should not be over fourteen to sixteen inches below 

 the surface, hence sub-irrigation cannot be used very suc- 

 cessfully in the Northern states. In a sandy loam soil with 

 a clay subsoil it works best at sixteen to twenty-four inches. 



This is substantially Colonel Waring's method of sewage 

 disposal. To get the best use of it for plants, the water should 



