492 
THE RURAIs NEW-YORKER 
April 23, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and aduress of the writer to insure attention. Be¬ 
fore ashing a question, please see whether it is not 
answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper.] 
FERTILIZERS FOR EARLY PEAS. 
The inquiry on page 417 about fer¬ 
tilizer for peas and method of applica¬ 
tion reminds me that I intended to 
reply to a question in a number two 
or three weeks ago about fertilizer for 
peas. In the answer it was suggested 
that as peas are “nitrogen gatherers” 
only a small percentage of ammonia is 
needed in fertilizer applied to them. 
I have seen this idea preached for years, 
and theoretically it is no doubt sound, 
but “the field is a better chemist than 
the man,” and from practical experi¬ 
ence I have learned that, if you want a 
good crop of early peas, give them at 
least five per cent ammonia in your 
fertilizer. I lost three crops of early 
peas by trying to make them on three 
per cent ammonia, and then changed to 
five per cent and had good results. For 
early crops I think one should apply 
an excessive quantity of fertilizer both 
in proportion and amount by weight. 
To grow quickly the plant must be over¬ 
fed, and besides fertilizers won’t pro¬ 
duce the same results relatively when 
the ground is cold, early in the Spring, 
as they will do later. 
As to mixing fertilizer in furrow for 
peas, my practice is to run off the plant¬ 
ing rows with a one-horse plow with 
small moldboard, sow fertilizer in this 
furrow, and throw back a furrow on it 
on one side, keeping plow far enough 
away so as to fill the furrow only par¬ 
tially, but covering the fertilizer; then 
sow your peas by hand on this and 
throw a furrow to cover the seed on 
opposite side, which meeting the first 
furrow will make a small ridge. Later 
knock the top off this ridge with a 
light board rigged diagonally across a 
plow stock, and extending on the right 
side, so horse can walk on left side of 
row. p. R. 
North Carolina. 
DISPOSAL OF HOUSE WASTES. 
G. G., Portland, Ore .—Is there any dan¬ 
ger of my well being contaminated by 
placing a cesspool 300 feet west and 100 
feet north of well? The laud has a good 
fall toward the north. There is about six 
feet of earth on top and then gravel. My 
well is 60 feet deep and the cesspool I 
intend to dig about 20 feet. 
Ans. —If the general slope of the 
country is in the direction of the slope 
from the well, and if the outlet for the 
underground drainage in some stream 
or body of water is in the same direc¬ 
tion the probabilities are that the flow 
of the underground water is away from 
the well, and if this is true there would 
be little danger of contaminating the 
water of this particular well. If, how¬ 
ever, the general movement of the 
ground water which supplies the well 
is in the direction of the well the lia¬ 
bilities for contamination would be 
great. It needs to be understood that 
a cesspool renders organic matter liquid, 
so that it flows readily through the soil, 
charging the water with organic matter 
in solution, and organic matter in solu¬ 
tion in water renders the water dan¬ 
gerous because it converts it into a 
nutritive solution in which organisms 
may develop in the same way that they 
may develop in milk, because it is such 
an excellent nutritive solution. If there 
is but little movement of the ground 
water and considerable water is used 
from the well the effect of pumping 
water from the well is to lower the 
level of water in the well and cause a 
tendency to flow from all directions to¬ 
ward the well, and in such a case the 
result would be to carry the leachings 
of the cesspool toward the well and so 
to contaminate the water. 
The cesspool is an unsanitary way for 
the disposal of sewage and ought never 
to be used. Aside from this, the cess¬ 
pool is very rarely a permanent method 
of disposal for the reason that sooner 
or later the soil about the walls of the 
cesspool become silted up so as to be 
rendered impervious to the water, mak¬ 
ing it necessary to abandon it for a 
new one. The proper method, for the 
country, where the conditions permit it, 
is surface disposal of some form, or, if 
not surface, then a subsurface disposal. 
From the statements of G. G. I should 
judge the best plan for him to adopt 
would be to construct a collecting tank 
of concrete large enough to receive all 
of the waste water from the house which 
would accumulate during five days or a 
week. This may be anywhere outside, 
with its bottom below frost line in the 
ground, covered with cement, provided 
with a manhole with a neck sufficiently 
long to permit 10 inches of soil to be 
above the cement to prevent freezing. 
Leading from the bottom of this col¬ 
lecting tank there should be a four-inch 
discharge pipe leading to the place of 
disposal. The bottom of the collecting 
tank should slope toward the outlet 
steeply and the outlet should be provided 
with a plug with a handle rising up 
above the ground, so that this may be 
opened periodically to empty the tank. 
This plug is best made of wood large 
enough to fill the four-inch outlet, some 
eight inches long and turned to a true 
taper. If the lower end of the plug is 
314 inches the upper end should be 
five inches. To make it fit the opening 
properly the plug should be put into the 
mouth of the elbow of the four-inch 
outlet when the cement bottom is being 
fitted and the cement filled in around 
the plug, properly shaping the bottom. 
After the cement has begun to set the 
plug may be carefully withdrawn, tak¬ 
ing care not to break the cement. There 
should also be provided a safety over¬ 
flow in the form of a section of four- 
inch sewer pipe rising about two feet 
above the bottom of the collecting 
tank, and connecting by means of a T, 
with the drain. This is only to provide 
for an emergency and ordinarily the 
tank should be emptied before the over¬ 
flow is reached. 
The disposal of the sewage may be 
into a trench about 214 feet deep, 50 to 
75 feet long, its bottom nearly level and 
about 18 inches wide, the sides stoned 
up to within six inches of the level of 
the ground and the top covered with 
flat stones or cement blocks if there is 
much snow to bother in the Winter or 
if the location is such as to make it 
desirable to have the surface covered. 
If the ground is not very porous and 
a considerable amount of water is to be 
disposed of it would be well to lay 
under the stone wall, or under the 
cement if stone are not available, one 
or two lengths of drain tile leading 
back at right angles from the trench, 
on the level of the bottom of the trench, 
so that the water may set back into 
the bank, placing these at intervals of 
four or five feet on each side. The 
object is to dispose of all sewage as 
nearly as possible on the top of the 
ground, where the air can get to it, and 
to dispose of the sewage periodically, 
so that there is time for the water to 
soak into the ground and then for the 
air to follow it, because with this pro¬ 
vision all of the organic matter, which 
is first rendered soluble by fermenta¬ 
tion, is completely destroyed by the 
processes of nitrification which take 
place in soil where air can get to it. If 
the trench is not covered, there is per¬ 
fect opportunity for the access of air. 
If the trench is covered a six-inch open¬ 
ing should be provided at each end, so 
that air may circulate. 
In my own experience in Wisconsin, 
where the Winters are severe, I adopted 
a purely surface disposal, the fall of 
the ground being sufficient for that, so 
that the water was discharged from the 
collecting tank into a dead-furrow mid¬ 
way between two rows of apple trees, 
where the ground had a fall in the di¬ 
rection of the dead-furrow of about two 
feet in 160. There was no annoyance 
whatever from this method of disposal, 
so far as odors were concerned. The 
only difficulty came in the Winter from 
the necessity of shovelling snow for 20 
to 50 feet along the line of the dead- 
furrow each time it would be neces¬ 
sary to shovel snow from sidewalks. 
The space between the apple trees was 
always plowed and planted in rows 
parallel with the dead furrow. The 
drain opened into the dead-furrow at 
a distance of 90 feet from the house 
and well, the dead-furrow extending 
160 feet more between the rows of ap¬ 
ple trees. The fall was such that the 
water was usually distributed, or flowed, 
along about one-half the length of the 
dead-furrow, the distance varying with 
the condition of the ground, whether 
it was very wet after rains'or dry. 
• ‘ F. H. KING. 
“ The Right Hand of Strength” 
DO YOU WISH TO LEARN MORE 
ABOUT CEMENT? 
To become informed of the many purposes for which this material may 
be used—economically, artistically, effectively ? We will gladly forward 
to you free of charge, one or more of the booklets listed below. Each 
subject, as indicated, is covered briefly, accurately and authoritatively. 
(a) Mixing,' and Placing' of Cement 
(b) Stucco (Cement) Finish 
(c) Cement Surface Finish 
(d) Hollow Block Specifications 
(e) Sidewalk Specifications 
(f) Concrete Tanks Ct Watering' Troughs 
WHEN YOU BUY CEMENT 
Remember this: * DEXTER ” stands for a definite, high, quality standard—guar¬ 
antees “every bag alike.” 
There are many so-called Portland Cements on the market—of varying quali¬ 
ties, some unquestionably poor, some few indifferently good—but there is only 
one “DEXTER.” 
For strength—appearance—economy permanence—always specify “ DEXTER." 
At least one of the six booklets mentioned above 
will prove of interest to you—write us today. 
Samuel H. French & Co. 
SOLE AGENTS. 
Established 1844. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
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CATALPA TREES 
FOR PROFIT. My Free Booklet 
tells all about the 150 acres I am growing for tele¬ 
phone poles. Beats farming two to one. Write today. 
II. C. KOOEKS, Box 111 JMechanlosburjr, Ohio. 
Dreer’s Garden Supplies 
Write to-day for our Tool Catalogue of Garden Imple¬ 
ments ; Dreer Lawn Mower, Lawn Rollers, Rakes, etc., 
also Fertilizers for Lawn and Garden. 
Henry A. Dreer, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
