40 



WATERING THE PARKS, 



desired direction. The -wind causes the water to fall in 

 the most divided form possi'ole. With an apparatus thirty 

 metres long a man can easily water 1500 square metres 

 per hour^ moving the hose three times. Of course the 

 quantity of vrater depends on the force in the conduits and 

 the length of the tubes. With a pressure of 22 metres and 

 hose 320 metres long the quantity of water per metre and 

 per minute is nearly two litres. The hydrants in the grass 

 are placed about fifty metres apart^ and the wheels of the 

 trucks are of wood^ in order not to cut the gi-ass. There 

 are many modes of spreading water in use about Paris, 

 but none of them half as good as this simple method. 

 More than a mile of this kind of hose may be seen at work 

 at one time and with hundreds of jets playing. 



The hose for watering the roads is arranged on wheels 

 alsO; butj as it must be at all times under command when 

 carriages pass by, it has only one rose or jet, which is di- 

 rected by a man who moves about among the carriages with 

 the greatest ease, and keeps his portion of the road in capital 

 condition. Of course it is a much cheaper way than carry- 

 ing the water about as we do, as then we must have horse 

 and cart, wear and tear, and man also ; whereas, by having 

 the water laid on, all the men have to do in watering is to 

 attach the hose and commence immediately. In the same 

 way as much work can be done in a garden in a day as with 

 ten men by the ordinary mode ; so that in the end it is 

 much cheaper to have the water laid on. There can be no 

 doubt that to the efficient watering much of the success of 

 the fine foliaged plants in Paris gardens is to be attributed. 



As a good system of watering is of the highest importance 

 to cities and towns in every region of the earth a more de- 

 tailed and technical account of the watering of Paris gardens 

 may prove useful to some. The article first appeared in the 

 Engineer, and refers chiefiy to the arrangements for the Bois 

 de Boulogne, but the system is the same for all other places. 



The watering is performed chiefly by means of long hose 

 with a copper branch, the latter being provided with a stop- 

 cock, so that the delivery of the water may be arrested 

 instantly, without ha^-ing to turn off at the plug. The hose 



