1879.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



18i 



hold 7x7x>^x5J, or 2254 gallons, which is some, 

 less than the iictual quantity. The rule has 

 the advantage of being short, easy to reuieni- 

 luT and easy to calculate. 



Now if a family uses 10() gallons of water 

 l>cr wiik and want to make sure ofasupjily 

 for I'lHir niiinlhs, a cistern would lie ncedi-d of 

 a caiiacitv ofaliout 170(1 j^allons. One of 7 ffrl 

 diauieler and (i feet deep will liolil lliis. 

 Wlier<' all licniselidld iiurpDses must be sup- 

 plied from the rlslcin, it should have a capa- 

 city of at lc;i>l 10(1(1 gallons. This would 

 re<pnre one lA'.i Irct diameter and 9 feet deep. 



In lU-t.^rniiiiiiiL^ tlie size waided it is well to 

 reniemli.r that a cistern with llie depth and 

 diaini'ter almnt the same will cost less, and 

 take less work than one in which this is not 

 the case. Thus a cistern o feet in diameter 

 an<l 12 feet deep will hold about the same quan- 

 tity as one 7 feet in diameter and (j feet deep, 

 but will take more than one-fom-th more bricks 

 than the latter. Kxeept in v<-rv favorable 

 soil a cistern sliould not lie more than \2 feet 

 deep, as the [iressure of the water on tlw^ bot- 

 tom is so great that leaks are apt to be sprung. 

 With the water 12 feet deep, the pressure at 

 the bottom is 700 pounds per square foot. 



To make a Rood job out of it the cistern 

 should be entirely under ground, and one 

 built in a hillside, with one face out, as I have 

 seen them, will try the patience of the best 

 Job among us. Built in the latter manner a 

 cistern will be always leaky from the beavint; 

 effects of frost. In" northern localities it has 

 become common to put them entirely under 

 ground. iiriu^inLT them only to within two or 

 tlirrc lect of the surface, covering them with 

 .some duialile timber and then filling earth on 

 top of this, leaving a man-hole for the pump 

 and as a place to enter if any cleanini; or re- 

 I)airing is needed. Fixed in this manlier no 

 danger from frost need be apprehended, and 

 the water will be nice and cool in summer. In 

 view of the latter fact this is also one of the 

 best ways to build for warm localites when it 

 is intended to use as a drinking water. 



Arches of brick may be used as a cover in- 

 stead of tindii'i-, as they are more durable and 

 will cost little if any more. In the smaller 

 diameters the arch is made with the edge of 

 the brick facing ; in those of a larger size the 

 ends of the bricks are made to f;ue, and con- 

 sequently tlie thickne.ss of the arch is the 

 len^'th of II brick, or about nine inches. When 

 the diameter is lifteen or twenty feet, a central 

 column of about two feet in diameter shoidd 

 1 e made, and the arch sprung from this towards 

 the sides. 



In the construction stone may be used, but 

 they should not be of as large a size as are 

 used in common mason work, as they will not 

 make a tjood job and the wall will be thicker 

 than is needed. Hard burned bricks are the 

 best material, but are more expensive, par- 

 ticularly where the distance they have to be 

 liauled is considerable. In some places no 

 wall is made at all, but the cenjent laid di- 

 rectly on the earth lo the thickness of an inch 

 or an inch and a half; this kind of a cistern 

 is usually egg-shaped, benig widest at the top. 

 Walled cisterns have perpendicular sides and 

 are usually round, but I have known of some 

 that are square ; the latter, when of the same 

 capacity, cost more than the round ones, as 

 they lake eonsidc-ralile mor(! material. 



The luunber of bricks required for a cistern 

 can be pretty I'losdy found by the following 

 rules: For the liottoin, when the bricks are 

 laid Hat, multiply the diameter by itself and 

 this product by .'! ; for the sides, when the 

 edge faces, nuiltiiily the diameter bv thedeiith 

 and Ibis product by 2(1-. for the arJb, if one is 

 ma<l.-, the edgeof Uic brick facing, aild one 

 to the diameter, fnuUiply this amount bv 

 itself and the resulting product by 7. 



Thus in a cistern of 8 feet in diameter and 

 10 ti'ct dee]! the following numbers of bricks 



would be 1 (led : Fm- the bottom. Kx8x^ = 



l<t2; for the side. Sn|(Ix:.'0. ic.oo; f,,,- the arch, 

 8 + 1, or OxOxT .Mm. ( nnipletcd, without 

 arch, about isiio: with aidi. about 2H.".0. 



The waste pipe is an important part of a 

 cistern, and should be placed at such a height 



as will keep the water from Hooding any 

 woodwork or running over top and endanger 

 the sides by eating away the supporting 

 earth. It should have at least the capacity of 

 the entering pipe, or in a heavy rain it might 

 not discharge the surplus water fast enough. 



Wliere the cistern lies higher than the place 

 where the water is mostly used a great saving of 

 labor can be made b.\ putting in a. siphon with 

 a sloii cock. The iVmbest part of the sijdion 

 should be a litl le lower lliau the wiisle pipe, 

 as llun it the siphon isempiv and the water 

 raises until it Mows out at the wast.' pipe the 

 siphon will lill by mere opening the stop-cock. 

 The submerL'ed leg should not <piite reach the 

 bottom, or the .sediments, if any, will be 

 sucked up. ^Vhere there is a bank of only (l 

 or 8 feet thickness the siiihon of course need 

 not be used, but a hole can be drilled through 

 the bank and a direct pipe laid at much less 

 expense. To draw the water in this manner 

 is very pleasant and easy and will be found 

 particularly useful in the case of stock or 

 wherever largo quantities of water are used. 



If a pump is used, three important points 

 should be remembered in selecting the kind : 



1. It should throw much water. 



2. It should work very easy. 



3. It should be durable and not liable to 

 get out of order. 



The common cucumber pmui) will do very 

 Well for common family use, but is not dura- 

 ble enough and does not throw water enough 

 when large quantities are needed. Never put 

 in a chain pump, as they are a great nuisance 

 after they are used a year or two. 



The tenor of the article looks to making 

 the cistern large enough for all probable 

 wants. But may not the cistern be built of 

 a larger capacity than the amount of water 

 from the roof needs. Taking the average of 

 a number of years the depth of rain that falls 

 is about 44 inches. Making it only 40 inches 

 every 100 square feet of building sheds about 

 2,50() gallons of water per year ; this, in a 

 house of 20 by 30 feet, would give 15,000 

 gallons or nearly 300 gallons per week ; if so 

 much water as this was con.sumed, a cistern of 

 5,000 gallons would be needed. Some years 

 the water falling on such a building as the one 

 supposed would not amount to more than 

 12,000 gallons ; in the years of a maximum 

 amount of rain fall, more than 20,000 gallons 

 could be gathered. 



And then, as to the cost, a cistern of twice 

 the capacity will not cost twice as much 

 money. Thus, a cistern of nine feet diameter 

 and ten feet deep will hold about 4,700 gal- 

 lons ; one of seven feet diameter and eight 

 feet deep will hold about 2,300 gallons ; the 

 former takes less than 800 bricks more and 

 holds 2,400 gallons more. 



Cisterns as large as twenty feet in diameter 

 are mostly used in irrigating vegetable and 

 flower gardens.— .4. B. K. 



Eruata : In November Farmer, page 

 165, first coluinn, thirty-first line from top, 

 put semicolon ( ; ) after word doiun ; thirty- 

 third line, after word juint, put comma ( , ). 

 As it stands little or no sense can be made. 



Selections. 



WOOL MANUFACTURES AND SHEEP 

 HUSBANDRY. 

 At a late meeting of woolen manufacturers 

 in Philadelphia, the .secretary, .John L. Hayes, 

 LL. D., read the annual report, which was 

 very lengthy, and detailed the i)rogress of the 

 Anierican wool industry since 18G0. Refer- 

 ring lirst to what it termed the agricultural 

 branch, it slated that in 1800 our wool pro- 

 duction, accordini: to census returns, was, in 

 round uuuilurs, i'i( 1.0(10.000 pouiuls. Careful 



42.0(10,000 jiouuds, a gain in the twenty-four 

 years previous to 18t>0. of IS.ooo pounds'. The 

 iu'oduction in 1807 reached 147,ooo,oooiiounds. 

 In 1877 it had reached 208.ooo,0o(' ]ioiinds,an 

 increase of 246 per cent, in eighteen years 

 from 1860, as compared with an increase of 

 but 44 per cent, in the twenty -four years pre- 



vious to 18C.0. A more rtMuarkable fact is that 

 the product of 1867 was from 42.oiio,0(IOsbeep, 

 while the product of 1.S77 was from :J5,00(J,000 

 sheep, the substitution of superior races, im- 

 provements in breeding, and a more advanced 

 husbandry being th(^ cause of the greatly in- 

 creasc<l avera-e yi.Od of (Icoce since 1836. 

 Tbci-e has been a constant decline in liie num- 

 ber ..!' sheep ill ilie nldei' states. 80 that, wliile 



the w 1 prndiiction in the whole country is 



five limes as great as in 1830, there is now in 

 the older states less than half the number of 

 sheep than at that period. This has been 

 comiiensated by the growth of sheep husband- 

 ry in the new states and territories. lu 1802 

 llollisber & Dibbles introduced four hundred 

 pure Spanish Merino ewes to California. In 

 twelve years tlie increase of pure stock from 

 this flock was 28,0(W. The iiroduction from 

 this single state has reachen 50,(KX),0»H) pounds 

 in one year. 



Although Texas in 1845 had no sheep but 

 native Mexicans, with a fleece almost value- 

 less, and scarcely a sensible progress had been 

 made before the war, since tliat period all the 

 original stock has been ameliorated by the in- 

 fusion of Merino blood. 



Her sheep exceed 4,000,(X)0; her produce of 

 wool exceeds 14,000,000 pounds; and wool, 

 but a few years ago regarded as the poorest in 

 the market, much of it equals that of Ohio. 

 Sheep husbandry is extending throughout the 

 South, for wliieii industry that section i.s ad- 

 mirably fitted. Mr. Hayes then referred to 

 the worth of ilerino sheep husbandry, saying 

 the progress at the best recorded yield in 

 Merinos in 1809 was 9i per cent., and tlie 

 heaviest fleece 27 pounds. In three rams bred 

 in Vermont since 1873 the yield to live weight 

 was 27i per cent, of unwashed wool, and the 

 average weight of fleece 34^ pounds, while, 

 what is more remarkable, the finest of the 

 fibre equaled that of the Saxon super-electa 

 breeders in Australia and South America on 

 importing these animals to improve their 

 flocks. 



The secretary of the National Wool Grow- 

 ers' Association, has this season carried 200 

 American sheep to Japan, each one among 

 the.se in good condition, and Dr. Hayes re- 

 ceived a letter from him in China, on his way 

 to Mongolia, with the object, under the au- 

 spices of General (hant, who favored his mis- 

 sion and gave him letters to the high Chinese 

 otlicials, cif intnHlucing American sheep in 

 that distant quarter of the world. 



Speaking of the improvements in manufac- 

 ture, he said, in 1800 hand-combing prevailed 

 in our few worsted mills. Since that period 

 it has been displaced, first by the Lister 

 comber for long wools, one machine doin^the 

 work of fifty men, followed by the Noble 

 comber for fine wools, introducing a quality of 

 yarn wholly unknown in our mills fifteen 

 years ago. Carpet filling was spun by hand; 

 it is now spun by power with a great gain of 

 economy. In our cloth mills self-operating 

 heads have been applied to the hand-spinning 

 jacks, and self-operating mules have been in- 

 troduced, effecting a saving of from 20 to 40 

 per cent., according to the fineness of yarn, in 

 the cost of spinning. Self-feeders on the first 

 breaker and finisher have been applied to card 

 machines, dispensing, it Is declared, with half 

 the help in the card-room. Improved wind- 

 ers, dyers anil cloth pressers give greatly in- 

 creased rapidity to the processes of finishing. 

 Looms also have been greatly perfected. The 

 first and most important fact illustrative of 

 progress is the cheaixMiing of goods to the 

 consumer, effected within the period under 

 review by our manufacturers, and an increased 

 supply of our domestic wool. 



The second great fact is that the ta-stes and 

 necessities of American consumers are not 

 only cheaply but more adequately supplied by 

 the improvement of old and the" introduction 

 of new fabrics, or those not in-eviously made 

 here. While we produce certain fabrics not 

 made abroad, such as the fine blankets for 

 bedding, and coarse ones for horse covering, 

 the latter exported to England, and our indigo 

 blue suitings, we make, wilh the exceptioa of 



