577 
this requirement is more neglected than the matter of pollution or of 
abundance. Most farmers take pride in what they regard as the 
purity and abundance of their water supply. Each one in the 
neighborhood will frequently boast of his spring or well in these 
respects, but many of them will year after year haul the water up in 
a bucket out of an open well or pump the water by hand into a pail 
or bring it by hand up hill from the spring. Where such exertion 
as this is necessary in good and bad weather alike persons will resort 
to economy in the use of water for cleaning purposes at least. 
No one rule for preserving health is more important than cleanli- 
ness, the frequent bath, clean underwear, cleanliness of vessels used 
for food, particularly cleanliness of receptacles for milk, cleanliness 
of dwelling and stable. Nothing is so conducive to cleanliness as an 
abundant and convenient supply of clean water and anything which 
facilitates the unrestricted use of pure water is in itself a hygienic 
measure. 
SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY. 
Of the water which falls to the earth as rain, hail, or snow, a large 
part is evaporated and taken back up into the air. Of the rest a 
part runs off to feed the brooks and rivers, and a part sinks into the 
soil. It is mainly the portion which sinks into the ground which is 
Fig. 53.— Geological formation favorable to the obtaining of water by means of artesian wells. 
Harrington: Practical Hygiene; Phila. and N. Y., 1901, p. 321. 
of interest as a source of domestic water supply for the farm, for it 
feeds the springs and wells. It percolates through the soil until it 
reaches the so-called “water table” which is a more or less porous 
layer of gravel or sand lying upon an impervious stratum of clay or 
rock (see fig. 53). 
1414— Bull. 56—09 37 
