1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER,' 
759 
DRAINING A DAMP CELLAR. 
Our bouse is an upright 20 x 2(5. There are two wings, 
each about 15 x 17 feet. There is a cellar under front 
part of upright with a bricic floor, and an unpaved cellar 
under all the rest of house. Plan is shown in Fig. 324. 
This cellar is about forty inches below grade; is always 
very damp. Floor is not much above level of district ditch. 
Cellar unpaved holds steam boiler for heating house, and 
an asbestos-covered pipe runs through front cellar—dotted 
lines. Windows open except in Winter. Sentiment in re- 
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DRAINING A CELLAR. Fig. 324. 
gard to the proper mode of action differs. Some says tile 
it and drain to a small cistern to be built in door to hold 
drainage. Others say tile it and drain to a cistern to be 
dug outside of cellar. Others say it cannot be drained. In 
the meantime I have been suffering from the dampness for 
two Winters and three Summers, and have concluded to go 
to headquarters. The country is somewhat flat; they claim 
there is 24 feet fall to Lake St. Clair, three miles away, 
and the district ditch is sometimes Lilly taxed to carry off 
water. The boiler pit, about 4x6 feet, is still deeper than 
cellar floor—about a foot. This Spring it was full of 
water. j. D . 0 . s . 
Michigan. 
Cellars in level and poorly drained locations fre¬ 
quently offer serious difficulties in the matter of damp¬ 
ness or surplus water. In the case here described the 
first remedy to suggest itself is to drain to the district 
ditch, which is only 60 feet away, and somewhat below 
the level of the cellar floor. But the probabilities are 
that in wet times the ditch runs full, and would back 
water in the cellar. If such was not the case, this 
obvious remedy would have been considered. As re¬ 
gards to tiling the bottom of the cellar and draining 
into a cistern it is not as satisfactory a method as would 
seem. 1 he necessity of keeping down the water in the 
cistern below the cellar level requires much attention 
in a wet time or special machinery to accomplish that 
end automatically. Then too, tiling, while effective to 
remove surplus water, will give little benefit in remov¬ 
ing the dampness complained of. If such plan is 
adopted the cistern should be outside the cellar. T 
would recommend, as the best way out of the difficulty, 
to cement the cellar walls and floor with a coating of 
good Portland cement. This, if well done, and if it 
does not crack, will be water and moisture proof. This 
job should be entrusted to an experienced mason, who 
knows how to mix and apply the material properly. 
These things depend upon circumstances which cannot 
well be taken in account in giving directions by letter 
from a distance. The only thing which might render 
this plan abortive is the outside pressure of the water 
causing the cement to crack and leak. But, from the 
fact that there is so little water coming into the cellar as 
only to fill the boiler pit in a wet spell, I think that 
there will be no trouble in this way. If there should 
be, however, the difficulty could be obviated by digging 
a trench around the outside of the cellar wall and lay¬ 
ing tile all around at about the mean depth of the 
cellar floor, and draining into a cistern as has been sug¬ 
gested. This, on the whole, would make rather an ex¬ 
pensive improvement, but it certainly would remove all 
trouble on account of the dampness and water. The 
trench above the tile should be filled with cobblestones 
to the surface of the ground nearly. This would pre¬ 
vent water accumulating and pressing against the ce¬ 
ment wall if such should prove to be the case. I think 
it will not. however. If drain should have to be made 
use 2 ^ 2 -inch round tile unglazed. Put no cement at 
the joints. Give it a grade of one foot to 100 feet. 
G. DAVIS. 
WATER SUPPLY FOR THE FARM. 
I wish to improve the water supply on my farm. The 
water comes from an excellent spring, and if all were taken 
it would fill a six-inch pipe; so there is no question of quan¬ 
tity at that end. But the former owner of the farm made 
the mistake of putting down a half-inch pipe, except for 
about 30 feet at the upper end. The spring is 2,200 feet 
from the buildings. The small pipe does not bring water 
enough. There are about 20 head of cattle, besides horses 
and pigs. How large a pipe should be laid so as to fur¬ 
nish ample water for a dairy of that size; for house use; 
for all the necessary washing of carriages, vegetables, dairy 
utensils and the cleansing of stables, etc.? I understand 
that it is advisable to lay larger pipe at the upper end 
than the rest of the way. What part of the whole distance 
should be of this increased size of pipe? The pipe that is 
in now has been down about four years. Can I take it 
up, divide it into four equal sections and lay these side by 
side at the lower end of the course and join the new pipe 
to these, and thus save the expense of getting new pipe for 
the whole distance? Will it work, and will I get more than 
four times as much water, because of lessened friction in 
the larger pipe, than the old pipe gives? The spring is 
about 30 feet above the buildings. IIow deep should the 
pipe be put down for best results? Fig. 320 shows ap¬ 
proximately the course of the pipe and my idea of the way 
to lay it. h. m. 
Pennsylvania. 
The inquirer should plan to abandon the thought of 
utilizing any considerable portion of the half-inch pipe 
in the contemplated water service. Whether in the 
house, in the barn or at the dairy it will very often be 
desirable to fill a pail of water in less than one minute. 
With the pressure that is likely to be available under 
the conditions named a half-inch stream is likely to be 
too small for all service except that of maintaining 
water in troughs or tanks for stock. The better plan 
will be to exchange the pipe for larger size, even though 
a large reduction will be necessary. If it is the ordi¬ 
nary black pipe, he is likely to find it much rusted and 
perhaps partly clogged with rust. At any rate the con¬ 
dition of the pipe should be carefully determined by a 
thorough examination as the first preliminary. If much 
corrosion is found, it will be desirable to use g^vanized 
pipe instead, or better, kalameined pipe. With a fall 
of 30 feet an inch pipe might be expected to deliver 
where no clogging occurs not far from 650 cubic feet 
of water in 24 hours when the length of the pipe is 
2,200 feet, less rather than more than the amount 
stated; not more than three gallons per minute. A 
two-inch pipe would have a capacity of about 3,600 cubic 
feet per 24 hours; and a lj4-inch pipe 1,755 cubic feet 
in the same time. In the case of a half-inch pipe 550 
RIPE FRUIT OF AKEBIA QUINATA, NATURAL SIZE. 
Fig. 325. Se Ruralisms, Page 762. 
feet long and under a pressure of 30 feet it could not 
be expected to deliver more than 230 cubic feet per 
hour. We have selected 550 feet in this case because 
his drawing appears to indicate that about this length 
of half-inch pipe is the amount it was hoped might be 
used. Of course the pressure on the half-inch pipe 
during flow would be reduced by friction in the pipe 
above so the possible capacity would be below the 
amount stated and much too small. Nothing smaller 
than an inch pipe should be used between the spring 
and the farmstead and 34-inch for distribution. A bet¬ 
ter plan would be to use lj4-inch pipe for the upper 
half of the distance. 
If water is to run continuously it is possible that a 
depth of four feet would be Safe against freezing; but 
if not five feet at least would be required. No practi¬ 
cable depth would secure cool water during the Sum¬ 
mer, as the soil temperature will rise above 60 to 65 
degrees F. If the volume of the spring is that stated, 
at the lowest stage, and if the topography is such that 
the water could be led by a uniform or slightly increas¬ 
ing grade to within 400 or 500 feet of the house, and 
still have an elevation of 15 to 20 feet, and if there 
would be no difficulty in disposing of waste water at 
that place, it would be much cheaper to lead the water 
to a small cement-lined cistern through three-inch tile 
laid four feet deep on a grade of six inches, or a little 
more, to the 100 feet. A good quality of drain tile well 
laid would deliver an abundance of water and would be 
permanent. This suggestion is made only on the con¬ 
dition that the pipe would be laid all the way under 
clean fields where there would be no sources of pollu¬ 
tion other than the very slight direct percolation of rain 
that falls directly above the line of tile, and further 
that the subsoil' is a close and nearly impervious clay, 
through which there would be but a comparatively small 
loss of water by seepage. Sewer pipe with cemented 
joints would be much better and safer, and they might 
be cheaper than the iron pipe. It would be necessary 
also that trees whose roots seek water be kept well 
back from the line of drain tile, or the roots would enter 
and clog them. It must be observed that we have 
stated the capacity of the pipe on the basis of a full fall 
of 30 feet; if, however, the fall stated makes no allow¬ 
ance for the elevation of the discharge above the level 
of the surface of the ground the delivery will be less 
than the amounts indicated above. With an effective 
head of 15 feet 2,200 feet of one-inch pipe would de¬ 
liver only about 450 cubic feet in 24 hours instead of 
650 cubic feeet. _ 
KEEPING VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE. 
The keeping of Winter vegetables can be greatly fa¬ 
cilitated by using some care at planting time in the se¬ 
lection of varieties that are best suited for long keeping. 
A list of vegetables must be selected largely from exper¬ 
ience with the different varieties on the soil and in the 
particular locality to which they are adapted. For 
celery select short-growing, hardy varieties such as 
White Plume or Boston Market; short, thick varieties 
of carrots, such as Oxheart, Danvers or similar sorts; 
parsnips. Improved White, Salsify, Sandwich Island. 
For convenient storage we prefer a deep, dry, well- 
ventilated cellar, directly under the house. 
Leave the vegetables in the garden as late as you can 
safely, and select if possible a dry, bright day for gath¬ 
ering, hurrying them into the cellar as fast as possible. 
For celery prepare a place in one corner of the cellar 
by covering the floor with several inches of fine slightly 
moist garden soil, and place a foot-wide board along 
the outside, so as to hold all into a compact mass. 
Raise the celery carefully from the trenches with a 
good, sharp spade, leaving a portion of the soil adhering 
to the roots; trim away all broken or worthless leaves, 
and pack carefully, commencing at one end of bin, 
placing the bunches closely together, and pressing the 
loose dirt well around the roots and well up the stems. 
If a little care is used in putting in and taking out a 
good supply can be had all Winter. Pull cabbages a 
few days before storage if possible and stand on head 
in field, so that any surplus water may drain away. Se¬ 
lect a nice, dry, empty barrel, throw about two inches 
of soil in the bottom, cut the heads from the stems, 
trim off a part of surplus leaves, wrapping the remain¬ 
ing ones closely on the head, and pack tightly in rows, 
bottom side up; a layer of cabbages and then a layer of 
dirt, working the dirt down well into any vacant spaces, 
so as to stop the air. Fill to the top, finishing with 
about three inches of dirt. 
Carrots, beets and turnips need about the same treat¬ 
ment. Raise carefully from the ground so as to avoid 
all bruising; cut off the tops with a sharp knife about 
one-quarter to one-half inch from the crown. Always 
be careful not to cut into the vegetable. For conveni¬ 
ence sake we generally pack these in boxes holding 
about a bushel each, commencing with a layer of dirt, 
placing the vegetables carefully in layers, and shaking 
the dirt well down among them. Parsnips and salsify 
we pack in the same way, but leave outside until they 
have become well chilled through. Pumpkins and 
squashes should be left in the field until the frost has 
killed the vines, and then after a few days of sunshine 
on the middle of some good bright day cut them from 
the vines with a sharp corn knife and handle with ex¬ 
treme care; they must not be bruised at all. Place on 
PLAN FOR A WATER SUPPLY. Fig. 326. 
shelves in the brightest and coldest part of the cellar, 
the colder the better, so they do not freeze. 
Onions should be pulled, topped and well cured in 
an open shed before taking into the cellar. We have 
had the best success with small, shallow crates holding 
about one-half bushel and not over four inches deep. 
Radishes, the large White Winter, can be kept fresh by 
packing same as beets or turnips. Potatoes we keep in 
a large open bin; they should be carefully sorted before 
placing in bins and should be housed in a moderately 
dry condition. F. b. van ornam. 
