50 



Best Method of Constructing Cisterns. 



Vol. IX. 



For the Fanners" Cabinet. 

 Best Method of Constructing Cisterns. 



To THE Editor, — In some parts of tlie 

 country where running streams are not ad- 

 jacent to the dwelling — or where the water 

 is hard, or difficult to be obtained, in conse- 

 quence of the great depth vvh:ch it is neces- 

 sary to dig the wells, it becomes a, matter of 

 considerable importance, to know how to 

 provide, in the best possible manner, cheap 

 and durable cisterns. I find the following 

 communication in a late number of the 

 American Farmer, and it appears to me 

 well worth copying into the Cabinet: I ac- 

 cordingly forward it for that purpose, know- 

 ing many farmers who would be greatly 

 accommodated by a cit-tern under their shed, 

 but who have heretofore been discouraged 

 from the undertaking, from an impression 

 that it was exceedingly difficult to prevent 

 continued leakage and disappointment. 



H. R. 



Burlington co., N. J. 



Messrs. Editors, — You will doubtless 

 allow me to communicate through your val 

 liable monthly, pro bono jjuLlico, but espe- 

 cially for the benefit of those interested, a 

 few brief hints in regard to the proper man- 

 ner of constructing cisterns; household ap- 

 pendages so necessary to the comfort and 

 convenience of those who are not blessed 

 by nature or art, with a generous fountain 

 of pure soft water at their doors. 



Of the various methods recommended and 

 practiced in different sections of the conn- 

 try, the plan of constructing cisterns of brick, 

 and water cement, is doubtless far superior 

 to any other, particularly in regard to use- 

 fulness and durability. Though we have 

 made one answer a tolerably good purpose 

 for a number of year's, made of white pine, 

 bound with strong iron hoops, and firmly set 

 in bine clay, yet the liability of the material 

 to decompose and become useless, even 

 when every precaution is used, suggested 

 the propriety of adopting some improved 

 mode in constructing it. The plan chosen 

 was the one above mentioned. We con- 

 structed two of different sizes. For the 

 largest, a pit was ordered to be dug ten feet 

 in diameter and nine feet in depth, the bot- 

 tom being shaped similar to that of a lai'ge 

 potash kettle, and the sides perpendicular. 

 The brick selected from the kiln for the 

 purpose, were those burned hard, though 

 but little cracked or warped. The mortar 

 used was made of two parts coarse clean 

 river sand, and one part ground water ee- 

 ment ready for mixing, obtained at the mill 

 near Schuyler ville, N. Y,, at 25 cents per 



bushel, though from the fact that it does not 

 petrify or "set" as soon as soirre kinds, it is 

 believed a superior quality may be obtained. 

 Water is worked in to render it sufficiently 

 soft for use, like common lime mortar. With 

 materials and pit thus prepared, the mason 

 commences operations exactly in the centre 

 and bottom of the excavation, by covering 

 the surface with a thick coat of his mortar, 

 and laying the br-ickswith their flat surfaces 

 contiguous, fbrming as soon as convenient, 

 a perfect circle of some three or four feet 

 in diameter. Regular courses are then laid 

 around the circle, taking care to increase 

 the inclination of the upper edge towards 

 the centre, so that when the bottom is fin- 

 ished to the edge from where he wishes to 

 carry up the sides, the bricks will be placed 

 in an angle of about fifty degrees wuth the 

 per-pendicular side. Extreme cai'e should 

 I be taken with this part of the work, and an 

 extra quantity of cement used, in order to 

 prevent the possibility of a leak,, as in turn- 

 ing up the wall, the outer edges of the 

 bricks must necessarily be further apart 

 than the inner, and every cavity should be 

 completely filled with the mortar. The 

 sides were then car-ried up perpendicularly 

 five feet, from which point they were gradu- 

 ally drawn in until carried up nine feet, and 

 the neck or top so small as to admit of being 

 covered with large slabs of white marble, 

 with a circular orifice sufficiently large to 

 admit an ordinary sized person, and to place 

 a pump for raising the water. A curb is 

 then carried up sufficiently high to prevent 

 any action of the frost on the work below, 

 and filled in with dirt or gravel that will 

 not heave. At the top of the brick wall 

 and immediately under the stone covering, 

 is left an opening the size of a brick, from 

 which a drain is laid to conduct off the sur- 

 plus water, made like the cistern of brick 

 and cement. While the wall is going up, 

 the mason should be particularly careful to 

 lay on a good coating of cement over the 

 outside before filling in, care being taken to 

 preserve a sufficient space between the bank 

 and wall for'this purpose. To complete the 

 work, a flat stone is placed on the bottom of 

 the cistern in a bed of mortar for tlie pump 

 to stand upon, the whole inside plastered 

 with cement similar to the walls of a house, 

 and after drying a few hours, whitewashed 

 with a thick mixture of cement and water, 

 and the work is done. Water may be ad- 

 mitted after the work has become partially 

 hardened, but should be conducted to the 

 bottom in such a manner as not to wash the 

 coating of cement. The first quantity of 

 water discharged into it, will be hardened 

 and rendered unfit for use, by the sulphate 



