and the Storage of Water. 
39 
5 to 6 feet in depth is always maintained, the surface being from 
4 to 5 feet below the ordinary level of the land. From these 
main-drains and the high-land streams which discharge into 
them the ditches are always kept filled ; in the peat soils to 
within 2 feet of the surface, and in silty soils from 2^ feet to 
3 feet. Thus, by the rapid removal of surplus rainfall in winter 
and a due supply of water in summer, soils which once were only 
a refuge for moorfowl are now made to grow splendid crops of 
wheat and roots, and yield a rent of more than 3/. an acre. 
The large crops of grass obtained from irrigated meadows, 
and the heavy rents paid for such land, tend further to show 
that water-supply is as valuable as drainage, and that it is the 
regulation of the supply that should be the guide in all schemes 
for the improvement of water-courses. 
Domestic Water Supply. 
Water for domestic and agricultural purposes is becoming a 
paramount necessity, both as a matter of economy and as an 
essential to health. The increasing vigilance of sanitary autho- 
rities will eventually compel every landowner to provide a proper 
supply for his cottages, and the high price and scarcity of labour 
will make it more economical to pay the interest on the money 
required to store or provide an adequate quantity of water, than 
to have to fetch it with a cart and ho^-se a considerable distance 
from the nearest source of supply. The facility for carrying out 
works of water-supply has been increased by the Act passed last 
Session enabling land-owners to charge their estates with the 
cost of the necessary works for storage. 
There is no difficulty as to the sufficiency of water — it is 
simply the means of storing and preventing waste that are 
wanted — sufficient rain falls even in the driest districts of this 
country to supply all the wants of the inhabitants. The quantity 
used in a house varies considerably, depending a great deal on 
the facility with which it is obtained. In cottages where the water 
has to be fetched from the village well, 2 gallons a day for each 
inmate will be the most that is used. If an abundant supply is 
provided close to the house, the quantity used will rise to 5 gal- 
lons a head, or say 25 gallons per day on an average to each 
cottage. A small farmhouse, where there are neither baths nor 
water-closets, will require about the same quantity per inmate. 
For the larger class of farmhouses, for vicarages, and for man- 
sions, 20 gallons per day for each inmate should be provided. 
In towns the quantity supplied varies from 10 gallons per head, 
where good management prevails, to 50 gallons, where great 
waste takes place. This includes all water required for watering 
