1907. 
715 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Jr ' 
STONE DRAINS FOR SEWAGE. 
Can you inform me whether stone drains have ever been 
used for sewage? I have the stone convenient on opposite 
h.lls to bottom (not soggy) and would like to turn house 
sewage through drain. Some have advised me that I 
would have to cement the bottom to keep it from clog¬ 
ging. I would not have very much fall for about 100 
yards, but would have plenty above. Give me your notion 
of this. s. c. H. 
Oxford, N. C. 
In reply to this query I will try to give a plan that 
will be a success at the lowest possible cost. Of course, 
I cannot give all details, as they could be given if I 
knew the exact arrangement of fixtures, etc. I will 
suppose, he has closet, bath, lavatory and kitchen sink. 
Run four-inch cast iron pipe from a point three feet 
outside of foundation of house to the bathroom, thence 
through roof to vent the main sewer and allow no 
sewer gas to accumulate. Put V/ 2 trap for bath tub 
and vent from crown of trap with 1% wrought-iron 
pipe, a 134 trap to lavatory with a 1% vent at crown 
of trap. The vent to the tub and lavatory can be con¬ 
nected together at a point three feet higher than the 
top of the lavatory, then connected to'the four-inch 
cast iron, or run through the roof independently. The 
sink should have two-inch pipe for waste with l^-inch 
trap vented with a lj^-inch pipe; that will make plumb¬ 
ing in the house sanitary, and afford ventilation for 
sewer line. I would not advise laying stone in loose 
for a sewer to dispose of sewage, but would use tile 
properly laid for 75 to 100 feet to a cesspool or 
catch basin; from there to any point you may 
wish to convey the water stone would be as good 
as the tile, and much cheaper. The sewage would 
be mostly dissolved by the time it got to the 
catch basin, and would not leave much to be 
cleaned out. The stone could be used for all 
if it was laid with care and the bottom cemented 
smooth, not cementing the top, so in case of 
stoppage it could be easily cleaned. A square 
sewer is more easily stopped than a round one, 
unless a larger volume of water was used with 
the square. If the stone and cement is to be 
used six or eight inches square will be sufficient, 
as a larger one would be harder to flush out. 
The grease trap that I explained in a previous 
article should be used in the yard just outside 
of foundation, and thereby avoid grease entering 
the sewer. Provided there is no closet to be 
used in connection with the sewer the stone 
could be laid loose to within 20 or 30 feet of 
the house, taking care to have bottom as level as 
practical. I would use pipe or cement close to 
house, as, of course, the water will soak in the 
soil and cause more or less dampness that would 
not be desirable. With as long a run as indicated, 
in dry weather there would hardly be any water 
at all to come out of the end of the stone sewer. 
He should use a shield at the end of sewer to 
prevent rabbits or other animals entering. Such 
trees as cottonwood, willow, Osage orange and 
mulberry are very bad to be close to a sewer, as 
the roots from them will grow between the 
cement and pipe and clog it. Where there is not 
much water used, and grease enters the sewer, 
10 to 15 gallons of boiling water should be 
poured in the sewer once or twice a month to 
dissolve the grease and flush the pipe. Water is 
the life of a sewage system of any kind. Many 
plumbers will neglect to vent plumbing, trying to 
reduce the cost, but it is at the risk of the health of 
your family. All fixtures should be vented to prevent 
syphonage. Water will also be drawn from the traps 
occasionally by capillary attraction, and if the system 
is not vented the sewer gas enters the house. Sewer 
gas does not always have a bad smell; in fact there 
are two kinds of gas, and the most poisonous one has 
no smell, and there is no sewer so small but what it 
will create more or less gas, and provision should be 
made to carry it off into the air above the house where 
it will do no harm. 
In my previous article as to the use of stone it was 
to get rid of the water after it had gone to cesspool 
or catch basin, but if a person does not care to have 
a cesspool as stated the sewer should be reasonably 
tight to prevent the loss of water to carry what solid 
matter there is to the end of the line. If care is used 
in laying the sewer one inch to 10 feet is enough fall; 
of course, more is better. Rock laid loose will also 
answer to drain a wet piece of land the same as drain 
M. L. OWEN. 
THE TAX ON IMPROVEMENTS. 
There was a paragraph under the head of “Brevities” 
in a recent issue of your paper, that should be re¬ 
printed and repeated, for it is an important question. 
IIow do you like to “trim up” and spend time Improv¬ 
ing your grounds and then have taxes jumped up In con¬ 
sequence? They ought to remit part of the taxes when a 
man helps shine up the neighborhood. 
They (or we) certainly should. In fact there should 
be no taxes at all on the shining up, or on any improve¬ 
ment that adds to the sum total of human wealth and 
happiness. But we are a long way from such a desir¬ 
able result. Some time ago the Schenectady Gazette 
said that people there were often afraid to paint their 
houses until after the assessors had been around, for 
fear their taxes would be increased out of proportion 
to the value added, and the Gazette suggested that the 
assessors ought to fix some reasonable amount, say 
$200, within which a property owner might improve 
his buildings without having his assessment raised. 
This is a good idea, as far as it goes, though without 
actual warrant in law; but the assessors are given some 
discretion, and it would be much better if they over¬ 
looked a new bay-window or fresh coat of paint, rather 
than as is often the case, being vigilant to get the full 
value of new improvements, while exercising leniency 
towards run-down properties that are a drawback to 
the neighborhood; or undervaluing lands that are held 
out of use for speculative purposes. 
The State Board of Tax Commissioners called atten¬ 
tion to this matter of taxing improvements in their 
report for 1902, and their observations are worth care¬ 
ful reading. They said, under the heading “Subsidiz¬ 
ing Inertia”: 
One of the most repugnant features of prevailing as¬ 
sessment is that one penalizing improvement. . . . Un¬ 
der our existing law the assessors cannot be fairly criti¬ 
cised, but it is prejudicial to the State, to communities 
and to civic and individual progress and pride that imnrove- 
went to a country school where we had two terms a 
year, a Summer term and a Winter term, of three or 
four months each. At the age of 10 I began working 
out on the neighboring farms during vacations. At 13 
I ceased going to school Summers, and worked out on 
farms or wherever there was work to do, and Father 
had my wages. I got two terms in select school, and 
was as well dressed as other boys of my age in the 
vicinity. In my younger days, when Father’s clothes got 
worn too much for him to wear longer, Mother cut 
them down and made them over for my brother Sam. 
When he got through with them they were cut down 
again and made over for me. When I had done with 
them, if there was anything of value left in them they 
were made over again for my brother Charley. I think 
I must have been at least a dozen years old before I 
ever had an entire new suit of my own. A 10-cent 
straw hat in Summer and in Winter a cap, which 
Mother cut and made from remnants of woolen cloth, 
had to do for me. At the age of 17 my father “gave 
me my time” and henceforth I took care of myself— 
was self-supporting. I believe that from the time I 
was 12, as long as Father had my wages, I earned 
enough at home and elsewhere to pay him what it cost 
him to provide for me. And yet I cannot see how, 
counting board, clothing doctors, schooling, entertain¬ 
ment, etc., Father could have spent less than $1,000 to 
raise me, over and above what I did for him. I had 
a boy. He is a man now—a civil engineer. I was one 
when he was a boy. Like me he began work out 
when he was 10 years old. I then during his 
school vacations began taking him with me on 
my surveys, and kept him at work at it. Unlike 
me, he had most of his wages from the begin¬ 
ning, and later on, all of it. Otic year later than 
I he went out into the world for himself, self- 
supporting. He cost me more than I cost my 
father. He had everything better than I did, 
and for the most part more of it. Considering 
my income during that time and the way it was 
spent, I think it must have cost me at least $1,500 
to raise him. f. hodgman. 
Michigan. 
THE GOLDEN CHINQUAPIN OF THE WEST. 
REDUCED IN SIZE. Fig. 352. See Ruralisms, page 718. 
ment and advancement should be discouraged by fine. 
Could unimproved and vacant lands be the heavier as¬ 
sessed, sale of material and employment of labor would 
increase, handsomer communities would materialize, and 
the State take a long stride forward. 
The smaller rural communities are even more affected 
by the taxation of improvements than the larger cities, 
since their buildings are worth much more than the 
land they occupy; whereas in a city like New York 
the finest buildings are often on land worth more than 
the structure; and in that case the tax on improvements 
is the smaller part of the tax bill. Then, too, in the 
cities comparatively few alterations are made to the 
buildings, while in the country districts frame buildings 
are often in need of paint and repairs, and have addi¬ 
tions made to the main structure. Some day we shall 
learn not to discourage enterprise and industry by 
taxation. Meanwhile it is well to think about the 
effects of our tax laws, and consider how they can 
best be changed. a. c. f. 
COST OF RAISING CHILDREN. 
“What did it cost to raise you and put you on a self- 
supporting basis, and what does it cost you to put your 
boy or girl in a similar situation?” Nobody knows, 
but I have been figuring on it a little, and I am sure 
it did not cost $25,000 to raise me, and equally sure it 
did cost more than $500. My father was a country 
shoemaker, and I do not suppose that in his palmiest 
days he was ever worth $2,000 above his debts. His 
boys had to work as soon as they were big enough, I 
SWEET CLOVER AND ALFALFA. 
In reply to your request for experience in inoc¬ 
ulating Alfalfa with Sweet clover, page 652, I 
will say that while my experience is rather limit¬ 
ed, still I have experimented with them for sev¬ 
eral years. A number of years ago I secured a 
trial package of Sweet clover and sowed it in 
the Spring on a rather thin clay soil. It grew 
very well, but I found that it did not develop 
tubercles on the roots. After the second year 
the ground was reseeded from seed falling upon 
the ground. I his crop developed tubercles on 
the roots, and grew six to seven feet high. The 
seed got scattered near our yard and grew from 
year to year. Soil taken from about the roots 
of the Sweet clover was scattered over a plot of 
Alfalfa which had failed to develop tubercles, 
and was looking rather sickly. In a few weeks 
the Alfalfa changed to a dark green and grew 
rapidly. Upon examination I found that where 
the soil from the Sweet clover had been put the 
tubercles were thick on the Alfalfa roots, but 
on a part where there was no soil scattered from 
the Sweet clover the Alfalfa looked yellow, and 
no tubercles were found. I then inoculated the re¬ 
mainder of the plot, and could notice an im¬ 
provement in the growth of Alfalfa in about 
two weeks. I am of the opinion that the Sweet 
clover would become a pest if the soil is adapted 
to it, as stock will not eat it. It is not so 
bad as many other weeds, however, as it is a legume, 
and will naturally die out in a few years. The blossoms 
are valuable for bee pasture. My opinion is that the 
turning under of Sweet clover to sow Alfalfa would 
tend to sour the land, and would unfit the soil for 
growing Alfalfa. It would break the capillarity of the 
soil, as Sweet clover makes an immense growth. 
West Virginia. ____ A . j. LEGG> 
LATE STRAWBERRIES.—The Drovers’ Journal of Au¬ 
gust 28 says: “Strawberries are being picked daily in fields 
near Alton and growers say that they may have berries 
for the second market within a few weeks. The second 
crop usually comes just before the first frost, and the ber¬ 
ries are sometimes frozen before they can mature. This 
year they will have plenty of time and the yield may be 
heavy, as the vines are full of blooms and green berries.* The 
second yield Is the result of growers propagating a species 
of berries which manifested a tendency to bloom twice a 
year and they are being developed in the neighborhood of 
Alton in an effort to produce a species that will yield 
two crops a year reliably.” 
What do you think of concrete blocks for building hen¬ 
houses? 
The Atchison Globe says that a farmer’s wife accom¬ 
plishes more than anyone else in the world, considering 
that she has to work for her husband and children all day, 
and sit up all night with the turkeys. 
