THE FARM WATER SUPPLY 



BY FRED W. MORSE 



Since the experiment station has been in its present location, 

 it has often been asked to analyze water, and numerous sam- 

 pies from wells and springs have consequently been examined 

 to find out their sanitary condition.^ 



This bulletin has been prepared in order to present to the 

 farmers of the state some facts observed in the course of the 

 work that should be of interest to the occupants of every farm, 

 especially in those sections of the state which attract summer 

 visitors. 



New Hampshire has been provided by Nature with an abund- 

 ant and pure supply of water. The springs and streams of 

 the state that are beyond the reach of the wastes from its popu- 

 lation, furnish water which is almost always pure and soft, 

 because most of our rocks are made up of the minerals, quartz, 

 feldspar, mica and hornblende, which dissolve very slowly, 

 even in the strong acids of the chemical laboratory. Lime- 

 stone, which is more easily dissolved, and is usually the cause 

 of "hard" water, occurs in only a few localities along the 

 Connecticut river. According to Professor Hitchcock,^ the 

 limestone area includes portions of Stewartstown and Cole- 

 brook ; isolated ridges in Littleton, Lisbon, Lyman, Orford 

 and Lyme ; most of the townships of Plainfield and Cornish, a 

 strip through Claremont and a hill in Charlestown. 



The source of the water which flows in streams, lies quietly 

 in lakes, bubbles forth in springs or stands in wells, is the 

 rain and snow. Part of the rainfall on any area, runs oft' the 

 sloping surface to the brooks and ponds, some is evaporated 

 by the wind .and sim, and the rest soaks into the soil, which at 

 some distance below the surface is thoroughly saturated. The 



lAt first the work was done free of charge; but as it has increased and re- 

 quired a large amount of time on the part of the chemical laboratory, while 

 the government appropriation W9,s not intended for such sanitarj- investiga- 

 tions, it has become necessary to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost to the 

 station for time and material. 



2Geology of New Hampshire. 



