1870. 



NEW ENGLAM) FAEIMER. 



477 



usually at one side a man-hole to get down 

 into the cistern and to let the water in from 

 the eaves, — 18 inches by 21. We make the' 

 man-hole at one side of the cistern because we 

 can get it usually nearer the house and more 

 out of the way, and it is easier covering it in 

 this way. After the planks are cut we wet 

 them thoroughly all over with cfement, and 

 water to preserve the wood. Place them on 

 the cistern, and point up with mortar under- 

 neath the plank. 



The next thing is to put in the bottom of 

 the cistern. Get four or five flat stones a foot 

 or so wide, and bed them down carefully with 

 mortar in the bottom of the cistern. These 

 are to rest the ladder on, and to stand on 

 while you are plastering the bottom. These 

 stones should be washed clean, so that the 

 cement will adhere to them. Now scoop out 

 a place that will hold three or four quarts. 

 This is to be used to wash the dirt into when 

 the cistern is cleaned out. Put an even coat 

 of mortar of one half sand and one half cement 

 about an inch thick over the bottom, and finish 

 with a coat of clear cement. 



Make a box for the curb around the man- 

 hole, and the cistern is done. 



Some ground composed of sand and gravel 

 will not allow the digging to the depth of the 

 cistern without caving and falling in. In this 

 case, I dig as. deep as' the ground will hold up, 

 and then put on the cement, wash and plaster. 

 Then dig again and plaster — so continue till 

 the depth desired is attained. 



In ground where there are stones so large 

 that we cannot make an even surface of wall, 

 we plaster over the uneven surface and over 

 stones which project beyond the surface, and 

 into places in the walls where large stones 

 come out, being careful to get a good thick- 

 ness over all parts. 



To attach a pump to a cistern. When the 

 cistern is within a short distance of the cellar, 

 and the ground is not stony, we bore a hole 

 under the cellar wall to the cistern, and run 

 the pipe through. We make an instrument to 

 bore this hole with by taking a piece of sheet- 

 iron, cutting it about 4 inches wide and 10 

 long, bending it into the shape of a pod augur, 

 and nailing it on the end of a straight stick. 

 With this the distance of 30 or 40 feet can 

 be easily bored. This saves digging a ditch, 

 and secures the pipe from the frost. 



A cistern should not be covered with plank 

 • when flat stone can be had ; but as we seldom 

 find a stone large enough to cover the whole 

 cistern, we usually place one stone on each 

 side of the cistern, leaving a space about 18 

 inches wide across the centre, then place thin 

 stones across from one of these large ones to 

 the other, leaving the man-hole open, point up 

 carefully under the stones, make the curb, 

 and cover about 18 inches deep with earth. 



A good plank cover will last some twelve 

 years, but when it is old it is dangerous going 

 into the cistern, as the plank may be decayed 



and fall in. It is difficult to cover a cistern 

 so that it will be tight and proof against sur- 

 face water, worms, &c., either with plank or 

 stone. 



The best covering is a cement or brick arch, 

 which can be made as tight as a jug to the top 

 of the ground, and is perfectly durable. To 

 arch the cistern with cement or brick, the 

 whole digging, from the top of the ground to 

 the botton, is of the diameter of the cistern. 

 We plaster the walls as high up as the place 

 where we wish to begin the arch. Above this 

 we cut a groove some 2 inches deep and 8 

 wide, — thus : — , 



Fig. 1. — Slijwirg thi groove in ci-;tern to be arched. 



We now embed four flat stones in the bot- 

 tom of the cistern for four po^ts to rest on to 

 support a frame to build the arch on. These 

 posts may be quite small. We place two 

 timbers across the top of each two posts, and 

 cut two boards in shape of the arch which will 

 just reach across the cistern 18 inches apart. 



Fig, 2. — Form of aroh-boardf. 



We then cut two shorter boards in the same 

 shape to go between these long ones and the 

 sides of the cistern. These arch boards we 

 place across the timbers. 



The position of the posts, timbers and arch- 

 boards are shown by the following illustra- 

 tion : — 



Fig. 3,— The posts are indicated byAAAA; the 

 timbers by B B, and the archboardt* by C C C C C; — 

 our engraver having put one more arch-board into his 

 cut than Mr, Livermore had in his drawing.— So. Far- 

 mer. 



