seo. ir.] 



WATER FOR THE FARl^fERY. 



813 



5. Divide the wliolo result by L'31 (the nuinbcr of cubic inclies in the wine 

 gallon), and the result will be the number of gallons in the cistern. 



Divide the gallons by 30, and you will have the number of barrels, and 

 thus you can calculate how large to make a cistern for the use of house or 

 barn; and be sure not to neglect so important and so inexpensive an im- 

 jiroveinent as making a cistern. 



335. Digj;Ji!,2; Wells. — There is no better improvement put upon a farm 

 than wells, either in their every-day convenience or value in estimaiing 

 the price of a farm. In some localities it will pay to dig a well at the 

 house, at the barn, in the stable-yard, and in almost every field. In com- 

 jiact earth, a well can be dug without curbing to support the earth sides 

 during the excavation. 



Where curbing is necessary, the best way to do it is to build the wall 

 upon a wooden or iron ring, atid let that down as the excavation jirocceds, 

 adding brick or stone at the top as fast as may be necessary to keep the wall 

 even with the surface. 



336. Uorizoiita! Wflls. — Here is a new idea for dwellei-s in mountainous, 

 or even moderately hilly districts to think of. Mining after coal in Penn- 

 cylvania, and gold in California, has clearly illustrated the fact, that wellu 

 may be dug into hillsides, or l)anks, or bluil's, as well level or horizontally, 

 as down perpendicularly, which would save dangerous and severe labor. 

 \Yater, so troublesome in digging common wells, has not to be bailed in tiie 

 horizontal, as it takes care of itself. The ccrlainly of discovering or cutting 

 oft' veins of water is greater with the horizontal well than the perjtcndicidar, 

 if it starts in near the base of a hill, or anywhere as much below the surface 

 ns a common shaft would be likely to be sunk. By laying down wooden rails, 

 all the dirt can bo brought out in a little railway car, and the stone or brick 

 carried in to build the well as fast as the digging progresses. It will not 

 be necessary to make a horizontal shaft any larger than a perpendicular 

 one, though it should be of a difterent shajio. We would make it in the 

 form of tlie figure we call a naught or cipher in numerals. Two feet wide 

 and four feet high will be large enough, with a gentle descent for the water 

 to run to the outlet ; and in many situations it can be made to run through 

 a short pipe into the house ; or if it will not run, it can be drawn by a pump 

 through a horizontal pipe any distance. 



Tliere is another advantage in such a well. It would not be constantly 

 liable to have things falling, or being thrown into it, nnd the water would 

 remain purer. 



There are a great many pastures where water for stodk lias to be drawn 

 from wells, which might have a natural flow from hillsides, with an expend- 

 iture of no more time and money than is rc(iuired for a peri)endicular well. 



There arc some dairy farms that could have vahiablo s])ring-lioii8C8 sni)- 

 pliod by such a horizontal well, and such a supply of cold running water 

 would add to the value of the farm almost as much, in some" cases, iia ita 

 whole value is now. 



