210 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



the mass of small particles may be oxidized after the water has been 

 strained from it. This process is accomplished generally in two ways. 

 First, the effluent from the septic tank is flushed upon filter beds which 

 are made by excavating in the ground about two feet deep and filling 

 with sand after placing four-inch drain tile on the bottom. The drain 

 tile should have an outlet from whence the filtered liquid may escape. 

 The air and sunshine decompose the organic matter which is left upon 

 the filter bed. The second method of final disposition of sewage consists 

 in flushing the sewage from the septic tank into a series of drain tile which 

 are placed under ground and have a slope of about 1 inch in 100 feet. In 

 sandy soil about 150 feet of pipe should be allowed for each person living 

 in the home. In clay soil about 400 feet of pipe should be provided for 

 each person. It is necessary to ventilate these lines of pipe at intervals 

 in order that the material left in the pipes after the liquid has escaped 

 into the soil may be oxidized by the air. The size of the tank should be 

 determined by the size of the family, allowing twenty-five gallons of water 

 per day for each person. 



By writing the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C., 

 one may receive farmers' bulletins which describe and illustrate different 

 systems of sewage disposal. It is often thought and sometimes stated in 

 literature that after sewage has remained in a septic tank for twenty-four 

 hours it may be dumped into a stream without fear of pollution. This 

 is absolutely wrong, for the sewage may contain disease germs which are 

 not affected in the least by the decomposition in the septic tank. 



There is a patented sanitary closet which is manufactured by the 

 Kaustine Company, Buffalo, N. Y., which is giving good satisfaction. 

 The principle upon which this method of sewage purification operates is 

 as follows: 



The excrement enters a steel tank containing a very strong chemical 

 which is mixed with water. This chemical destroys all bacteria and odor 

 and also disintegrates all solid matter to the point that it may be drained 

 or pumped from the tank and disposed of without fear of contamination. 

 This tank will hold the sewage produced by a family of five during a 

 period of six to eight months. The contents of the tank rates high in 

 fertilizing value. 



REFERENCES 



"Electricity for the Farm." Anderson. 



"Rural Hygiene." Ogden. 



Canadian Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin 78. "Ventilation of Farm Buildings." 



U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin 57. "Water Supply and Sewage Disposal for 



Country Homes." 

 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Year-Book 1914. "Clean Water on the Farm and How to 



Get It." 

 Farmers' Bulletin 463, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. "Sanitary Privy." 



