expenditure of the association's funds, the furnishing of an ample
supply of water is entitled to very early consideration. Not only is the
question of public health very seriously involved in the water problem;
but as a mere beautifying element an abundance of water, to be obtained
without labor, will have a very telling effect by the facility it gives
for preserving the fresh appearance of lawns and shrubbery, and for the
cultivation of flowers and vines.
Regarded from the horticulturist's point of view, the climate of pretty
nearly the whole of this country is simply detestable. We may arrange to
withstand very well the severity of our northern winters; we expect an
entire shutting-up of all garden industries, and long cold seasons are
an accustomed matter of necessity: but we have never yet learned to
accept with patience the almost annual destruction of our lawns and
gardens and flower-beds by scathing drought. No public water supply
available for an ordinary village would suffice to overcome the effects
of a dry season over the whole of even a small homestead; but we may
hope to secure enough to keep one or two small sprinklers flowing
steadily through the hot months, and so keep a little grass measurably
green, and preserve a semblance of life and beauty in flower-beds and
delicate shrubbery. It is very rarely that it will be possible to supply
water enough in a whole week to equal in its effect a half-hour's rain;
but the difference between towns where even the small amount of water is
available for the garden and those which are hopelessly given over to
drought shows how much may be accomplished in this direction even with
limited means.
As in the case of road-making in any thing like a complete and thorough
manner, the providing of a water supply must necessarily be directed by
professional advice. Although the simpler principles of hydraulics are
sufficiently understood, and although it would be quite within the
ability of a number of the more intelligent men of any village to secure
and distribute a satisfactory amount of water, the cost of doing such
work in an experimental way by persons unaccustomed to its details, as
compared with the cost of doing it under the direction of an engineer
whose natural judgment and capacity are supplemented by experience and
skill, would be without doubt far beyond the fee demanded for his
services. In this case, as in many others connected with public and
private works, it is always bad economy to save the cost of proper
knowledge. Very likely--perhaps indeed very generally--the actual
performance of the work, the buying and laying of the pipe, and all
that, can be as cheaply done under home direction as under that of a
public contractor; but the making of the plans--the deciding upon the
source of the supply, upon the means for securing a sufficient head, the
sizes of the pipes, the location and construction of fire-plugs, and all
the minor details of the work--will be more or less economical,
according to the skill, experience, and capacity of the person who
directs it.
The sources from which water may be obtained are various. Often enough
water of the best quality may be procured by driven, dug, or artesian
wells; but, whenever this course is adopted, the wells should be located
far enough away from the village, or on land sufficiently high, to make
it impossible that there shall be any fouling of the water-bearing
strata by the filtration from barn-yards, privy-vaults, or cesspools.
Generally, water so secured will have to be raised to an elevated
reservoir by some mechanical force. If the demand is to be a large one,
and if the community can afford the cost, the most reliable plan will be
to use steam-power for pumping; but in smaller places, and where economy
is a great object, wind-power may serve an excellent purpose.
If a stream of pure water is available at a sufficient height, it may be
led directly to the reservoir, or its current may be used to drive a
water-wheel sufficient to do the pumping. In a majority of cases there
will be found at no great distance a stream capable of supplying the
water needed throughout the dryest season of the year, but not entirely
free from organic impurities. In such cases it is often feasible, by
excavating a filtering sump or pump-well at a little distance from the
side of the stream, and at a sufficient depth below the level of its bed
to secure a supply tolerably purified by filtration through the
intervening earth. The distance at which this sump should be placed from
the bed of the stream will depend on the character of the soil. The more
porous this is, the greater should the distance be. This question as to
the source from which the water is to be taken is one which, more than
any other, calls for experienced judgment.
Frequently the conformation of the surrounding country is such that,
even where there is no constant stream, it is possible by the
construction of dams to pond an amount of water, to be furnished by
surface washing, sufficient to supply the demands of the longest
drought. In this case, as in all others where reservoirs are used, it is
important to have a good depth of water, and not to allow, even toward
the edges, any considerable shallow area. So far as possible, the depth
should be everywhere great enough to prevent vegetation, and in all the
shallower parts the surface soil should be entirely removed. As a rule,
there should be a depth of at least fifteen feet of water, except near
the very edges of the pond, and as much more than this as circumstances
will allow.
The distribution of water for private use is a simple question of
construction; but, as a matter of taste, too vehement a protest cannot
be entered against the common misconception as to what is desirable in
the way of public fountains. An instance in point is furnished by the
public drinking-fountain in Newport. Some years ago there stood at the
foot of the Parade a grand old stone bowl, hewn out of a solid block of
granite, and filled by a pipe leading from a copious spring. This was a
good, sensible, substantial drinking-trough, perfectly adapted to its
use, unpretending and handsome. Later, a public-spirited gentleman,
desiring to leave a monument of his regard for the city, gave a
considerable sum to be used in providing a suitable drinking-fountain at
this point. Those who had the control of the fund lacked either the good
taste or the courage to refuse to expend it. The result is that this
granite horse-basin--one of the best of its sort--has been removed to an
obscure position; and there has been erected in its place a wretched
cast-iron combination of bad architecture and bad statuary, such as form
a conspicuous defacement of the public squares in Philadelphia, where
they serve the double purpose of furnishing water to the people, and
advertising a cheap clothing establishment. The one compensation for the
violation of good taste inseparable from these constructions is to be
found in the fact that they must, sooner or later, lead the public to
realize the absolute unfitness of cast iron for monumental and
decorative uses. With the artistic influences which are now so active in
the instruction of the American people, it is not perhaps unreasonable
to look forward to the day when all of these piles of pot-metal shall be
relegated to the scrap-heap, and when less offensive fountains shall
take their place. We may even hope to see the iron statue and its
stove-like support which supplies water to the horses of Newport
condemned to the foundry, and its solid old predecessor restored to the
position which it ornamented for so many years.
A wide margin may be allowed for the exercise of taste in the
arrangement of village fountains; and where private munificence enables
the expenditure of a considerable sum, a good amount of exterior
decoration may be admissible: but it should always be borne in mind that
so much of the outlay as is needed for the purpose should go to secure
a good artistic design. Especially should the use of cast iron be
avoided, as being from every point of view, and under all circumstances,
whether in the shape of cast-iron dogs or deer, or attempts at the
divine human form, absolutely and entirely inadmissible for artistic
uses. Better a dug-out log horse-trough, overflowing through a notch in
its side, as an ornament to the best-kept village green, than the most
elaborate pitcher-spilling nymph that was ever cast in an iron-foundry.
So far as the mere construction work of public drinking-fountains and
horse-troughs is concerned, not much need be said except in connection
with the overflow. In cold climates, there is apt to be from all such
structures a spilling of water which covers the ground for some distance
with ice. This may be avoided by carrying the overflow by a vertical
pipe descending through the body of the water by some well-protected
channel directly into a drain in the ground, at a depth beyond the
direct action of frosts. If the stream is constant, this depth need be
nothing like that to which frost penetrates into the soil,--for the
constant movement of the water will prevent its freezing, even if
covered only a foot deep, though to something more than this depth it
will be desirable to have the metal pipe enclosed in a larger pipe of
earthenware, giving a space of enclosed air.
* * * * *
Where there is no public supply of water, it is better in most cases
(considering the nearness of wells in villages to cesspools and
privy-vaults), to depend entirely upon cisterns. In our climate, where
rain is abundant during a considerable portion of the year, the water
falling upon the roof of any house, if properly collected and stored, is
ample for the whole supply of the family which that roof shelters. This
water as it falls is ordinarily free from any impurity that can affect
its taste, and from every source of serious fouling; though, after a
long-continued drought, it is well to divert and discharge upon the
surface of the ground the first ten minutes' flow of a shower, so that
the impurities of the air and the dust of the roof may first be removed.
After this first dash, lead to the cistern all that follows. Even with
this precaution, the water will be more agreeable for use if filtered.
There are numerous systems for making filters in cisterns, but no other
is so simple nor so durable and satisfactory as the separation of that
part of the cistern from which the suction-pipe leads by a wall of brick
and cement. It is simply necessary to build a wall of brick set on edge
(two and a half inches thick), so as to include about one-quarter of the
area of the bottom, sloping it back so as to terminate against the side
of the cistern at a height of from four to six feet. This wall should be
so well cemented at its joints that water can only pass through the
material of brick, and for strength its form should be slightly bulging.
A wall of this sort, measuring say six feet at its base, and rising to a
height of six feet at its highest point, will transmit an amount of
water sufficient to supply the demand of the most constant pumping that
any domestic use can require.
SQUARES AND PUBLIC SPACES.
As a rule, the open spaces in a country village are subject to no other
criticism than that of neglect; but the exceptions are not rare where an
attempt at improvement has resulted in a sort of cemetery look that
gives any thing but a cheerful, pleasure-ground aspect.
There is not much danger that persons who are enthusiastic for the
improvement of the town in which they live will err on the side of too
great simplicity. The public squares and parks of large and wealthy
cities are regulated and maintained at great cost and under skilful and
artistic management; and they cannot fail to strike country visitors as
being in all ways desirable. So indeed they are. They are a chief
element of the city's beauty, and, from an aesthetic point of view, their
influence is the best to which its people are subjected. But their
beauty and their aesthetic influence are both the result of a
well-directed expenditure of large sums of money. It is quite natural
that an enriched manufacturer or merchant, proud of his native village,
should be ambitious to perpetuate the memory of his benefaction by
providing for some corresponding decoration of its public green, and
that he should attempt to reproduce there, on the smaller scale
proportionate to the circumstances, the sort of magnificence that he has
seen in the city park. If left to his own sweet will,--as he often is if
he is willing to spend money for the public benefit,--he will, unless a
rich man of the rarer sort, succeed only in producing a conspicuous
imitation.
A park-railing of artistically-worked wrought-iron will be represented
by a cast-iron substitute of much more elaborate device; and there will
probably be "piled on," here and there, an amount of cheap ornamentation
which at the first glance will have a certain imposing effect. In the
matter of planting there may be an amount and variety of foreign
shrubbery and sub-tropical plants, which, under proper care, would be of
great value and beauty, but which, with the neglect to which they are
doomed in their village home, are quite certain to abort. In fact, we
may expect to see, what indeed we may now see, in painful degree, in
many of our smaller towns, a halting attempt at the outside show of the
city park, which, in the absence of those elements of artistic selection
and appropriateness to the conditions which are to prevail, develop, as
time goes on, into an ignominious failure.
The trouble is, that, in all expenditures of this sort, we are apt to
begin at the wrong end. In the making of a park, every step that is
taken, whether the park be large or small, is a costly one; and, if
taken in their reverse order, every step is a wasted one. The chief
reason why the final decoration of a city park is so satisfactory is
that it is only the crowning work of many processes which have had the
best and most careful attention from the outset. The wrought-iron
grille, the architectural fountain, the bronze statue, the delicate
trees and shrubbery, and the smoothly-finished walks and drives, depend
for their success upon a vast amount of costly fundamental work, and a
provision for constant skilful care, which have cost a deal of money,
and which look to a large permanent outlay. The elaborate fence must
stand on no unstable foundation; the fountain must be only the
ornamental central point of artistic and well-kept lawns and approaches;
the statue must stand amid appropriate surroundings; and all but the
simpler native vegetation must have its suitable soil, and be insured
its needed protection and care at all seasons. The degree to which these
more ornamental features may be given to the village green with any hope
of satisfaction will depend almost entirely upon the thoroughness with
which it has been prepared to receive them. Could the enthusiastic
members of the improvement association be brought face to face with the
cost that is needed for quite hidden fundamental work in order to
prepare their green for the more elaborate artistic decoration, they
would be deterred at the outset from attempting any thing so ambitious.
Could they know the cost of the mere work of grading and subsoil
cultivation, under-draining, manuring, laying the deep foundation for
foot-paths, and securing that perfect growth of grass without which all
park-like ornament is robbed of half its value, they would set their
faces resolutely against all propositions on the part of public-spirited
citizens to veneer their unprepared grounds with misplaced exterior
adornment.
If money enough can be provided to do the work thoroughly well from its
very foundation, then of course nothing more is needed than that its
direction be placed in accomplished hands; but unless this is fully
assured, if--as is nearly always the case,--economy is the first thing
to be considered, then the rule of action is fully stated in two words,
_simplicity_ and _thoroughness_.
Avoid all fantastic ornament, and all decoration of every sort, that
would be appropriate only to work of a more complete and substantial
character. Let whatever is done be done in the most thorough way. If the
ability is only enough to secure good grass, then do every thing that is
necessary to furnish the best conditions for the growth of grass, make
suitable provision for its care, and attempt nothing further. Good
lawn-like grass surfaces, crossed only by foot-worn pathways over the
turf, will be more beautiful and more satisfactory than will poor grass
and cheaply made and ill-kept walks.
If something more than securing the best grass is possible, then let the
next expenditure be in the direction of paths, applying to the
construction of these the principles set forth in what has hitherto been
said about sidewalks. In the case of level walks, with imperfect means
of drainage, it is often desirable to secure the better foundation that
is given by filling in to the depth of a foot or more with small stone.
* * * * *
Whatever may be the natural character of the soil, unless always well
drained by a porous subsoil, the first step toward establishing a good
lawn is to secure perfect underdrainage. Establish a good outlet at the
depth of three and a half or four feet below the surface at the lowest
point of the area to be drained, and then, selecting the necessary lines
for main drains, lay out parallel lines (thirty feet apart at a depth of
three and a half feet, or forty feet apart at a depth of four feet) to
include the whole area, and on these lines lay well-constructed drains
of small open-jointed tiles. Cover these tiles with the most compact
earth that has been excavated, and, after filling to a depth of one
foot, tramp or ram this earth tightly. Then fill the rest of the trench,
heaping over the lines any excess of material that may need the settling
effect of heavy rains to work it into place.
The next step is to reverse or thoroughly mix the whole soil to a depth
of at least fifteen inches. This work can be completely done only with
the aid of hand-shovelling, but the aid of the plough will greatly
facilitate it. Its purpose is to secure such an admixture of the organic
matter of the surface soil with the more compact material of the subsoil
as will make it sufficiently porous and fertile for the easy
penetration of roots. It is best that this work should be done in
autumn; and, if the land is level, that the freshly raised subsoil
should be left exposed in its rough and lumpy condition--without
harrowing--to the frosts of winter. If washing is to be apprehended,
then sow the ground thickly with rye, harrowing in the seed only
roughly. If the seed is sown early enough, the growth will be sufficient
to protect the surface from washing. During the winter, let the whole
surface be heavily covered with stable-manure,--the more heavily the
better, as there is no limit to the amount of coarse manure that may
with advantage be used for the establishment of permanent grass. In the
spring, as soon as the ground is dry enough to work easily, plough in
the manure with as shallow furrows as will suffice to cover the most of
it; then harrow repeatedly, bringing the surface to as true a grade as
possible, and sow it heavily with a mixture of Rhode Island bent grass,
Kentucky blue grass, and white clover. As soon as the seed is well
sprouted, showing green over the whole ground, roll the area repeatedly
and thoroughly until it is as smooth and hard as it is possible to make
it. As soon as the grass has attained the height of three inches, let
it be cut with a lawn-mower, and let the cutting be repeated at least
weekly throughout the season of rapid growth, and as often as necessary
until the end of autumn.
If paths are to be made, it will simplify matters to make them after the
grass has become well established, supposing only a good surface footway
of ashes or concrete to be needed; for the small amount of excavation
necessary under either of these systems may be scattered over the grass
spaces without injury. But if the more thorough system is adopted of
underlaying the walk with a foot or more of stones, then the work,
except the final dressing of gravel or ashes, should be done in the
autumn, or, in any case, before the final preparation of the soil for
seeding.
* * * * *
Concerning trees and ornamental shrubbery for parks and open spaces, it
is not possible to give detailed directions here, beyond recommending,
as in the case of roadside plantations, that, unless the work is to
remain permanently in the charge of an experienced gardener, with the
necessary appliances for the care and protection of the more delicate
specimens, the arrangement and the selection should be confined to the
more hardy and vigorous trees and shrubs which experience has shown to
be adapted to the climate and soil of the locality.
For roadsides, and largely in parks and village greens, the world offers
no tree that can compare in dignity and grace with the broad-spreading
American elm; though, for the sake of variety, and for the sake of an
earlier effect, many other trees may be added.
VILLAGE SANITARY WORK.
It is a recently recognized but an old and universal truth, that human
life involves the production of refuse matters, which, unless proper
safeguards are taken, are sure to become a source of disease and death.
The danger is not confined alone nor chiefly to that element of
household waste which is most manifestly offensive, but in almost equal
degree to all manner of organic refuse. It is true that faecal matters
are often accompanied by the inciting agent of the propagation of
infectious diseases. For convenience, and as indicating the more
probable means for disseminating infection, we may call this agent
"germs." It has not yet been demonstrated with scientific completeness
that a disease is spread by living germs whose growth in a new body
produces a corresponding disorder; but all that is known of the
circumstances of infection, and of the means for preventing it, may be
fully explained by this theory. Typhoid fever, cholera, epidemic
diarrh[oe]a, and some other prevalent diseases, are presumed by the germ
theory to be chiefly, if not entirely, propagated by germs thrown off by
a diseased body. So far as these ailments are concerned, there is
therefore a very serious element of danger added in the case of faeces to
the other evil effects which are produced by an improper disposal of any
refuse organic matter. That any one or all of these diseases can
originate from the decomposition, under certain circumstances of faecal
matters, is not clearly determined. There is, however, good reason for
believing that one common effect of the gases arising from improperly
treated matters of this kind is to debilitate the human system, and so
to create a disposition to receive contagion, or to succumb to minor
diseases which are not contagious.
The same debilitating effect and the same injurious influences often
result from the neglect of other organic wastes. The refuse of the
kitchen sink is free from faecal matter; but it contains, in a greater or
less degree, precisely the kind of organic material which has gone to
make up the more offensive substance. If its final disposition is such
as to contaminate the water that we drink or the air that we breathe
with the products of their decay, the danger to life is hardly less than
that from the decomposition of faecal accumulations.
It is proposed now to set forth, in the simplest way and without much
discussion of principles (which may be studied elsewhere), the methods
and processes by which village households and communities may be
protected against the influences that come from an excess of
soil-moisture, from damp walls, and from imperfect removal or improper
disposal of organic filth.