FARMSTEAD SANITATION. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M.D. 
“Filth" diseasesmost common in the rnuntmj; 
typhoid fever and diphtheria; their origin; 
infected and uninfected filth; environment 
of farm-homes frequently insalubrious; 
contamination of irells; the cess-pool and 
slop-hole; good drainage and clean, dry 
cellars indispensable; the barnyard. 
It is a strange fact that the virulent types 
of some filth diseases are more common on 
farms than in cities. Yet investigation shows 
■why diseases like typhoid fever aud diphthe¬ 
ria, are more likely to be found, and when 
found, more likely to put on unusual virulence 
in the farm bouse than iu the city. It is not, 
however, the farm house alone in which such 
is the case. Small or large villages without 
draiuage are also haunts of these plagues; 
and the cause, both on the farm and in the 
village, is much the same. 
Typhoid fever most commonly has its origin 
in well contamination. Diphtheria is pre-em¬ 
inently a sink-spout and slop-hole disease. 
Both of them are contagious and infectious, 
though the last is much the more so. But it 
must he understood that in both cases the ori¬ 
gin of the disease i- specific- By no means all 
foul wells, nor all sink-spouts and slop-holes, 
let them be ever so foul, will cause these dis¬ 
eases. Yet they are always liable to do so, 
for they furnish the conditions under which 
the germs of those diseases have ready and 
abundant, access to the systems of those who 
drink the poisoned water and breathe the 
poisoned air. Uninfected filth will not give 
origin to a specific disease of this class, no 
matter how foul or how ofTeusive to the senses 
it may be. There is reason to believe that 
mere dirt and stench—pure dirt and steuch, if 
such an expression can be allowed—may, iu 
mauy eases, not be capable of causing ill-health 
of any kind. Yet foul ail's and offensive odors 
are warnings of dangerous possibilities, and 
in feeble or sensitive constitutions, they will, 
unaided, indirectly, by weakening the appe¬ 
tite, and impairing digestion through the dis¬ 
gust they produce, cause serious and even fa¬ 
tal illnesses. 
The grounds of convenience upon which the 
locatiou of farm houses is commonly deter¬ 
mined, such as handiness to water and to the 
out-buildings, shelter from prevailing winds, 
richness of soil and evenness of surface, are 
often all more or less unfavorable to health. 
A house in a level, springy spot, under an 
abrupt lull or high, rocky bluff, is very likely 
to prove unhealthy. Iu faet.no spot which 
cannot be easily and thoroughly drained, and 
where the air cannot freely circulate on all 
sides, can long lie occupied as the home of 
human beings without accumulating around 
it, and within its buildings, great and con¬ 
stantly increasing dangers to health. The 
handy' well, its water within a. few feet, of the 
surface; the sodden soil, from which surface 
water can escape only by slow percolation or 
evaporation; the damp, uudrainable cellar, 
the thick and fast-growing yard trees, which 
exclude light aud air; aud the protecting cle- 
vatiou near at. hand, all tend to make human 
tenants very familiar with sickness and death. 
An experienced physician, riding through an 
entirely unfamiliar region, can yet point,put, 
with almost uuerriug precision, the houses iu 
which the most ill-health and most numerous 
deaths have occurred. The ease wi h which 
this is done seems almost miraculous to the 
uninitiated, yet the grounds of his verdict are 
covered by the above statement of conditions 
unfavorable to health. 
These damp, mi ventilated locations are the 
favorite houses of consumption. Statistical 
sanitary investigation long ago determined 
that tact beyond a doubt. When it has hap¬ 
pened that the location was not absolutely un- 
drainable and lmvc-utilative, deep and thor¬ 
ough ditching and the revioval of trees have 
made such dwellings comparatively healthy. 
The contamination of wells usually arises 
from pi ivy vaults, barn-yards and cesspools. 
Iu porous or ledgy land, liquid filth from these 
percolates, or, following seams in the ledge, 
may be directly conveyed into the well. If 
this is shallow, aud near to any such deposi¬ 
tory of liquid or semi-liquid organic matter 
in a state of putrefaction, its early infection 
is sure : but often iu such a case the water be¬ 
comes so manifestly foul as to be rejected. 
The greater danger exists when the leaching 
is so slow and through such a distance that 
neither the clearness nor the taste of the wa¬ 
ter is impaired. Bach water may be brilliant¬ 
ly clear, sparkliug aud pleasant to the taste, 
yet be extremely unwholesome, and even 
deadly. 
The farm privy is a difficult problem for so¬ 
lution. Unquestionably, so far as soil con¬ 
tamination is concerned, the common shanty, 
at a distance from the house, unsheltered by 
trees or shrubbery, in which the droppings 
fall upon the surface of the undisturbed soil, 
is preferable to any sort of vault or cesspool 
where large quantities of liquid putresr ible 
filth accumulate in the most favorable of all 
states for the infection of the soil, water aud 
air. On the whole, it seems to me that some 
modification of the earth-closet principle, 
within or very near to the home buildings, is 
best suited to the needs of a rural family. 
The slop-hole must be positively tabooed 
under all conditions. Free and unimpeded 
drainage, for some distance away from the 
buildings, should be provided for all the 
waste water of the household. The clogging 
of such drains, either by the accumulation 
of solid waste or by freezing, must be provid¬ 
ed against, and this is often difficult. The 
solid waste which cannot be utilized other¬ 
wise, ought to be burned daily. A grating 
should be so arranged as to absolutely prevent 
such matter from entering the house drain. 
If the latter is made deep enough to escape 
frost, and is carried eight or ten rods away 
from the house, with its outlet, in a gully 
which will not allow it to collect, the danger 
will be overcome. This nutlet should uot be 
made opposite to the prevailing winds, but 
the reverse, if possible, and to effect this a 
turn may be made, if necessary. 
Perfect cellar drainage must be secured un¬ 
der all circumstances,]$o that the cellar bottom 
shall be absolutely dry at all times. This 
should be attended to w hen the house is built, 
but if it has not been done no time should be 
lost iu attending to it. A flowing spring iu 
u cellar, if it. has an open and free outlet, and 
is conducted to it by a defined channel, is not 
ordinarily objectionable. 
The same sanitary rules that apply to the 
dwelling are equally applicable to the barns. 
The great thing to lie avoided is the accumu¬ 
lation of putresdfcle matter under circum¬ 
stances that admit of its contaminating the 
soil, the water or the air. Fortunately by the 
use of ordinary absorbents, by its frequent re¬ 
moval, and by otber well-known precautions, 
this is not difficult to accomplish. The barn¬ 
yard is usually the worst spot: but the wise 
farmer is the one who has the dry barn-yard, 
even if it is to be secured only ns the result of 
considerable labor. It is, at any rate, a job 
that needs to lie done but once, and pays from 
the start in convenience alone, aud aside from 
sanitary conditions. 
IMPURE WATER. 
I1ENRV STEWART, M. D. 
Scattering poison consciously and uncon¬ 
sciously; danger greatest in hot weather; 
disease gemus then most prevalent; wafer 
the chief medium of infection; sources of 
contamination; the remedy; the earth 
closet; death-dealing Jilth converted into 
l ife-gioin ij manure. 
Ik a man were to go abroad in his gardeu 
and fields and scatter Paris-green or any other 
deadly poison over the cabbages and other 
vegetables, on the strawberries and fruits: and 
in the closets in the house were to dust the 
bread aud other food with some such virulent 
poison, he would be counted a lunatic or a 
most reckless criminal. If he did not know 
what he was doing, he might be acquitted of 
criminality, but the results of Lis iguorauce 
would be no less disastrous aud deadly. 
But thousands, nay tens of thousands of per¬ 
sons are daily and hourly scattering abroad 
equally virulent poison, without, knowing, and 
some, alas! with lull knowledge, but most 
amazing carelessness, and infecting themselves 
and their most loved ones with deadly dis¬ 
eases. It is at this season that this ever-pres- 
eut and ever-increasing danger is most immi¬ 
nent, and this danger exists in the worst form 
in which it can come. viz.; in the water wo 
drink. Decaying organic matter is one of the 
worst, of poisons; it reeks with germs whose 
office in nature is to disorganize and destroy 
all matter. As regards dead and waste mat¬ 
ter, these germs, like animals which are car¬ 
rion consumers, serve a useful purpose; but as 
regards living creatures, they are most injur¬ 
ious aud destructive. Strangely, too, they 
are most abundant aud deadly iu rural locali¬ 
ties, where purity and health are most ex¬ 
pected. When taken into the animat system 
they uttack the blood, being carried there 
most easily, aud produce various fevers, 
diarrhea, dysentery (the commonly called 
summer complaint and typical of the prevail¬ 
ing danger described), and in thousands of 
cases those disorders are fatal. Friends won¬ 
der why in so healthful a locality, where pure 
air abounds, these diseases should bo so fre¬ 
quent, and honestly believe that these sail 
deaths were unavoidable—“providential” is 
the term used. Surely in many cases the 
sins aud neglects of the parents are visited 
upon the children who are the first to suffer. 
Impure water is the prevailing cause, and 
the centers of infectious are the wells. Water 
is a large part of the subsistence of a person. 
The human body consists mainly of water. 75 
per cent, of it being thus composed. All this 
part of the system is absorbed in the water we 
drink, and if the source of all this part of our 
body is impure, how can we exist? It is 
amazing, considering t .e vast amount of 
impurity taken into the stomach and ab¬ 
sorbed by the Mood, that pestilences are not 
prevailing every year, when the heat contri¬ 
butes very much to the rain'd decomposition of 
the household wastes which are cast out anil 
aeccumulate in the cesspools, slush pools, open 
drains, sinks, stables, yards, pig jiens, and 
various other centers of foulness. Where 
does it all go? The rains wash it into the soil 
and it sinks gradually deeper and deeper, 
spreading laterally all the while until it finds 
an outlet with the soil-water into the well or 
a spring from which the household supply 
may be taken. It is only a question of time 
when a new-made cesspool, a new slop-hole, a 
leaking drain, will discharge its daugerous 
and deadly contents into the new-made well. 
An expert examining the ground and the soil 
and figuring the rainfall can tell you, within 
a few months, when the danger will culminate 
and the deadly poison flow into the well. 
But you say the soil will filter the water 
and keep back the impurity, or its approach 
may be known by sight, taste or smell. No 
such thing. A filter caunot always act and 
will become fouled in time aud the stream of 
filth, like slow-moving tune, is always goiug 
to the outlet. The soil oxidizes decaying 
organic matter, hut this action makes the 
poison inure active and fatal. 
Whar. is the remedy? Abandon the danger¬ 
ous system and go back—forward is the better 
word—to that inculcated by the philosopher 
of ancient times, Moses. Read the Mosaic 
laws pertaining to cleanliness, hygiene and 
health. Cleanliness with Moses was a prevail¬ 
ing and paramount law aud a part of the 
Jews’religion. It ought to be still more so 
among Christians, aud in this age of intelli¬ 
gence aud newspapers and books. There is an 
easy remedy. Abandon the poisonous cess¬ 
pool and use the dry earth-closet, which was 
the system prevailing in the Mosaic time, aud 
is no new thing. Dry earth is a most effect¬ 
ive deodorizer and disinfectant. Its porosity 
favors a most, complete oxidation of organic 
matter, and iu practice this action is so com¬ 
plete that the earth taken from a closet lias 
liecu used over and over again after short in¬ 
tervals for rest for 10 times, and still fully ex¬ 
erted the desired effect. The same method 
should bo employed for the house and kitchen 
waste. Tho outlet of the drain should he made 
in a tight, shallow box, which is kept well 
supplied with dry earth. The earth from 
these receptacles may bo used as a top dress¬ 
ing for grass laud rand a lawn may l>e kept in 
the finest condition by the use of this excel¬ 
lent fertilizer and a little fresh seed sown oc¬ 
casionally. I have used this soil for a rose- 
bed in which 1 had 1IH) varieties of tea-roses, 
and the effect was marvelous. Fur all sorts of 
flowering plants, the soil from the kitchen 
slop receptacle will be found most useful, but 
there is, or should lie, no objection to use it in 
the vegetable garden and especially for on¬ 
ions, which delight in such a fertilizer. 
FARM HOUSE PRIVY. 
PROFESSOR A. J. COOK. 
T am glad to note that the Rural is calling 
attentiou to this subject. I have visited con¬ 
siderably in the rural districts, aud from my 
observation 1 judge that, few subjects are 
more worthy of discussion. Love of home is 
tho best safeguard that can be thrown around 
any child. Neatness everywhere promotes 
such love as few other things do. 
A privy should always be sweet, should 
be connected with the bouse, and should be 
reached as easily as any other room. Most of 
all, it should be so constructed that no possible 
pollution could pass from it to well or house. 
As ours, now used for years, meets all these 
requirements, I gladly describe it for the 
readers of the R. N.-Y. It is situated in a 
corner of the wood-shed, on the same level as 
the kitchen floor. Thus, it is reuebed from 
the kitchen without going up or down stairs, 
or passing out of doors, llow desirable this 
is, when our homes shelter either the very 
young or the very aged ! It is iu oue corner 
of the woodshed farthest removed from the 
kitchen. The floor is, like that of the kitchen, 
throe feet from the ground. The seat lias two 
openings which are covered with hinged cov¬ 
ers. The whole top is also hinged to the back, 
so that it can lie raised; and it will remain up 
till lowered, us will the special covers to each 
opening. This hinged cover to the entire sent 
makes the adding of dry earth easy and neat, 
and also makes it a convenient gentleman's 
water-closet. Just at oue end of tho seat is a 
dry-earth biu whoso floor is on a level with the 
top of the seat, and funnel or hopper-shaped, 
so that the earth is always at the door, which 
opens at the end of the seat. A slanting 
board projects down and back, inside, from 
the top of this door, and as it has close-fitting 
boards at the end which extend down nearly 
to the floor of the bin, the earth is always attbe 
door, but never runs out iuto the room. This 
screen also furnishes a neat place for a small 
shovel. A door from the bin opens outside 
through which dust is shoveled in. 
The vault is laid in brick with water-lime 
from the seat down to the earth. A solid 
stone wall beneath extends down below the 
frost-line. The opening of the vruIi extends 
a little lower thau the earth, and Is 
made not only water-tight by use of cement, 
but a close plank box is filled inside, so that 
by no possiblo means cau this pollute cellar or 
well. Were I to make it again T should use 
heavy tin or galvanized iron pails iustead of 
the vault. Au arched opening outside on a 
level with the earth makes it. easy to empty 
tho vault. This opening ts protected by a 
screen of lattice-work. We use dry road 
earth, and so plentifully that we never detect 
auy odor even in the hottest months. The 
room is plastered, contains some nicely framed 
pictures, and a framed notice on the door, 
just in front of the seat, m large type which 
reads: “Never leave this room without add¬ 
ings liberal supply of dry earth.” The very 
fact that this room is Ui the woodshed, makes 
it imperative to use the dry earth, and so all 
is kept sweet aud clean. Wo have been en¬ 
tirely satisfied with this structure. The only' 
reason why we should prefer the pails, is this: 
there could certainly be no danger of escape 
of foul elements to the well. Iu winter we 
could easily empty the pails bv pouriug a lit¬ 
tle boiling water on to the outside. 
Ag’l Coll., Lansing, Mieh. 
Rural (Topic*. 
AN IMPORTANT NOTE FROM SIR J. B. 
LA WES. 
Five hundred and fifty pounds of nitrate of 
soda applied every year to one acre of land 
for 15 years gave very' good annual crops. 
The nitrate of soda stopped aud potash, soda, 
magnesia, superphosphate applied for the 
next 30 years, the crop fell off at once and no 
unexhausted residue remained to act oil vege¬ 
tation, although uot more Ilian 300 pounds of 
the 550 pounds applied each year could have 
entered into the crop. 
Five hundred pounds of salts of ammonia 
with potash and superphosphate applied every 
year to one acre of wheat for 20 years in suc¬ 
cession gave large crops—85 to 58 bushels per 
acre. All manures were thru stopped and the 
crop fell off at once. For a few years the 
produce was rather more thau the unmanured 
produce. The evidence of these and other 
experiments of a similar nature had to the 
conclusion that ammonia and nitrate do uot 
accumulate in the soil; if they grow larger 
crops these crops have more roots and the 
decay of those roots yields some nitrogen, but 
as far as we know the nitrogen of ammonia 
and nitrates which do not form part of vege¬ 
tation is lost, and this may constitute oue-half 
or more than one-h If of t he whole applied. 
This subject is one of great importance to 
your farmers. They cau purchase nitrogen 
as uitrate or salte of ammonia at, say, 13 
cents per pound, hut, if they lost oue-half it 
cost them 21 cents, and if they lose two thirds, 
it cost them 36 cents per pound. 
fAttentive readers of the R. N.-Y. should 
remember that in our effort to raise ou poor 
land a heavy yield of potatoes three years 
ago under what we have called the Trench- 
mulch system, large quantities of potash, bone 
(phosphate) and nitrogenous fertilizers were 
used—enough perhaps to supply food for half 
a dozen ordinary crops. Iu the fall this piece 
of laud was sowu to rye aud seeded with 
Timothy. Naturally a large yield was antici¬ 
pated. But the yield proved to he no heavier 
than that of near-by land as ordinarily 
treated. We called the attentiou of Dr. 
Lawes to these facts aud he kindly replied as 
above.— Eds] 
RUMINATION. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Ensilage, has 1 think, come to stay. There 
is a loss in drying fodder no doubt, although 
how the loss occurs no one as yet has ex¬ 
plained. There is certainly a loss in curing 
silage, for the heat occurring uses up some¬ 
thing, but is this loss not much less thau that 
in dry curing f Prof. Heury (page 451), says 
had the same parties (the ensiloers), grown an 
equal crop of corn fodder and saved it without 
loss by drying, etc. etc. This is the precise 
point at issue. I have grown over 40 tous of 
greeu or coru fodder per acre, aud have had 
