Economical Management of 3Iaterials, ^'c, on the Farm. 377 
and if it be not generally esteemed by man for drinking, and 
this chiefly, if not wholly, when it lacks that " sharpness " which 
the aerated waters of springs possess, it is assuredly not only 
the favourite of, but the most healthy drink for, our domestic 
animals. 
General glance at the neglected sources of Water-supply on 
Estates and Farms. — Under the first of the three classes I have 
named — the rain-water shed directly on various surfaces — the 
source which will at once occur to the minds of most is that 
of the roofs of buildings. And in hazarding the statement that 
the great majority will deem this class exhausted when this 
source is named, I could not perhaps give a better or more 
striking evidence of the ignorance which so generally prevails on 
the subject of this paper. But although the roofs of buildings 
when judiciously availed of is a valuable source of water-supply 
of the purest and softest kind, it is far from being the only 
source at the command of the manager of the estate or of the 
farmer. A walk has but to be taken through the fields of the 
farm to find in more than one of them, perhaps in all, a hint which, 
if followed up, will give a source of supply. A further hint he 
may derive from a consideration of the peculiarities of the rain- 
fall. Both hints point to the taking systematic advantage of 
ground surfaces as " catch-water areas." Under general cir- 
cumstances, in conjunction with underground tanks, these will 
afford stores of water of the best quality ; and it will be found 
by a little careful observation that these stores may also be 
placed in the situations most useful, as, for example, in pasture- 
fields for the use of cattle and sheep. This system of " catch- 
water areas " is capable of a great variety of modifications, the 
most useful of which, for the purposes alike of the mansion, 
the farmhouse, the farm cottages, and the farm-buildings, I 
may hereafter in proper place describe and illustrate. There 
is, moreover, a good deal more to be said on the best known 
or the most frequently thought about systems of water-shed 
surfaces, namely, the " roof catch-water areas," and to this I 
shall presently direct attention. 
Under the second class^ — rivulet and river — I shall take occa- 
sion to point out what I do not hesitate to call the extraordinary 
sources of water-supply and of loater-poiver which are at the 
disposal of the landed proprietors and the farmers in utilising 
the rivulets. These are present on nearly every farm, but those 
which are the most readily, most commonly, and most usefully 
availed of will be met with in those districts bordering on the 
hilly counties, and generally in what is known as undulating or 
rolling land. The works generally done in this class are in the 
popular mind associated, if not with heavy, at least with con- 
