No. 4.] AGRICULTURE AND HEALTH. 267 



it would be preferable to place the well above the house and 

 barn, in higher rather than in lower ground, unless some 

 neighbor's house, and consequently his drainage system or 

 want of system, happens to be on still higher ground above 

 the well. In hilly and mountainous regions it is a common 

 and an excellent practice to draw the water for the farm 

 from a spring at an elevation on the mountain side, above 

 the house and away from all possibility of contamination. 



In connecting such springs with the house there is, how- 

 ever, an element of danger which deserves a moment's 

 notice. I refer to the use of lead pipe. Under certain 

 conditions and with certain waters lead pipe is used con- 

 tinuously and without harm ; but this is not always the case. 

 It is only quite recently that I have investigated a serious 

 epidemic of lead poisoning in a small village furnished with 

 a public water supply, where some thirty or forty people 

 were poisoned with lead, and some of them quite seriously. 

 In all these cases of poisoning I found that unusually long 

 lines of lead pipe were used to connect the houses with the 

 street mains. I also found that little care had been taken 

 to draw off the water which had stood in the pipe over night 

 befor© using it in the morning. With this precaution the 

 danger is greatly diminished. It is much safer, however, 

 to use no lead pipe at all. Iron is entirely safe, and the 

 added cost of occasional renewal of the pipes does not im- 

 pose a serious tax upon the house holder. 



Drainage. — Having considered the water which enters 

 the house, let us now spend a few moments upon another 

 and a similar question, — the water which goes out of the 

 house, that is to say, the drainage or sewage of the house ; 

 in other words, the water which has entered the house, with 

 the addition of such refuse as the household may add to it. 

 The location of farm-houses at a distance from densely 

 settled communities usually prevents their connection with 

 public systems of sewerage ; hence it becomes necessary to 

 take care of the house drainage upon the farm itself. 



A repulsive pool of foul-smelling sewage near the back 

 door of the farm-house or under the windows of sleeping 

 rooms is not a pleasing or a healthful ornament to the home- 

 stead. If a cesspool is used to receive the sewage, it should 



