SUPPLY OF WATEE. 



19 



States who should seriously contemplate building in 

 the borders of an undrainable marsh, contemplating to 

 use it for a park or pleasure-ground, would be con- 

 sidered a prominent candidate for a lunatic asylum. 

 Thanks to the free range we enjoy, no such acts of folly 

 are likely to occur. Yet the necessity of a thorough 

 drainage to the site, and which, in many desirable local- 

 ities, is not at first apparent, is indispensable to the 

 proper occupation of the premises. A stiff and reten- 

 tive subsoil, in our dry American climate, is not objec- 

 tionable to a building site, if it have sufficient descent 

 to pass off the drains without hindrance. "We should 

 not make it an objection, if, on other accounts, the 

 position were advantageous. — Ed. 



Supply of Water. — Water, in sufficient quantity 

 and of good quality, is another requisite which must 

 receive due attention in determining the site of a house. 

 Sometimes an adequate supply of this necessary of life 

 is by no means of easy attainment. Wells, tanks, res- 

 ervoirs with pipes, and hydraulic rams, have all been 

 resorted to, according as the natural surface of the es- 

 tate has allowed or compelled the employment of one 

 or other of these. A fountain or reservoir above the 

 level of the mansion-house certainly deserves the pref- 

 erence wherever it can be formed, though its original 

 expense may be considerable. This plan affords the 

 • greatest facilities for the introduction of water into the 

 various apartments of the house and offices, and for 

 yielding a sufficient supply in case of fire, a matter of 

 some importance in regard to the safety of the property. 

 An abundant reservoir, placed as indicated above, will 

 provide with water the fountains on the terraces, and 

 in the flower-gardens and pleasure-grounds. In some 



