quantity is small, shall be stored in tanks until a large volume has
accumulated, and that it then be rapidly discharged over the soil. There
is no objection to an actual saturation of the ground, provided the soil
is not of such a retentive character as to be liable to become puddled,
and so made impervious. The tanks being emptied, the flow ceases until
they are again filled. During the interval, the liquid settles away in
the soil, by which its impurities are removed. Its descent is followed
by the entrance of fresh air, and the oxidizing action of this,
accompanied during the growing season by the purifying effect of the
growing crop, leads to an entire decomposition or destruction of all
organic matters.
The third system--the distribution of sewage through irrigation-pipes
laid at a depth of ten or twelve inches below the surface of the
ground--has its efficiency attested by numerous instances in private
grounds. I have adopted this system for disposing of the sewage of the
village of Lenox, Mass., where there was no other means available short
of cutting an outlet, at great expense, through a considerable
elevation. This method is an extremely simple one, and is available in
every instance where even a small area of land lying slightly below the
level of the outlet is to be commanded. The arrangement of the
sub-irrigation pipes is easily made: Suppose that in land having an
inclination of about one in two hundred, occupied by grass or other
growth, a trench be dug twelve inches deep, that there be laid upon the
bottom of this trench a narrow strip of plank to insure a uniform grade,
and that upon this plank is laid a line of common agricultural
land-drain tiles, say two inches in diameter. However carefully these
tiles may be placed, there will be at their joints a sufficient space
for the leaking out of any liquid they may contain; the tiles being laid
either with collars around the joints, or with bits of paper laid over
them, to prevent the rattling in of loose earth during the filling. The
excavated earth is to be returned to its place, well compacted, and
covered with its sod. Suppose this drain to have a cross-section equal
to three square inches, and a length of one hundred feet, its capacity
will equal about sixteen gallons, or a half-barrel. If this amount of
liquid be rapidly discharged into the drain, the inclination being
slight, it will at once be filled or nearly filled for its whole length,
and the liquid will leak away in tolerably uniform proportion at every
joint along the line, and will saturate the surrounding earth. The plan
adopted at Lenox, and recommended for all small villages which cannot
secure a better outlet, is simply a multiplication of these drains to a
sufficient extent.
A description of the manner in which the Lenox work is arranged will
illustrate the adaptation of the system to its circumstances. As
circumstances vary, the adaptation must be modified. (See Figure 8.)
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING MANNER OF SEWAGE DISPOSAL
AT LENOX, MASS.]
The main outlet sewer delivers at a distance of about one-half mile from
the last junction with a branch sewer. It is a six-inch pipe five feet
below the surface of the ground, and it delivers into a flush-tank like
that shown in Figure 6, but having a capacity of about five hundred
cubic feet. This tank stands at the upper side of a field having an
inclination of seven in one hundred. There is a branch from the main
sewer, above the tank, supplied with a stop-cock, by which, in case of
need, the sewage may be carried on down the hill without going into
the tank. The outlet from the chamber below the siphon leads off in
another direction down the hill, and has a stop-cock and a branch which
will allow its flow to be diverted. The discharge of this diverted
stream and the discharge through the branch of the main above the tank,
both deliver into a horizontal surface gutter to be well grassed, and
lying at the top of the land to be irrigated. By this arrangement,
should repairs become necessary in the tank, the flow may be turned into
the gutter; or, should it be desired for any reason to use the outflow
of the tank for surface irrigation, the second branch outlet will
deliver it into the same gutter, where, the outflow being uniform along
the whole length of five hundred feet, the stream will pass in a thin
sheet off on to the descending ground. The hill-side, immediately below
the gutter, is brought to a true grade and covered with grass. As its
inclination is much greater than would be admissible for sub-irrigation
drains, these are laid _obliquely_ in parallel lines at intervals of six
feet from one end to the other over the whole graded slope. These drains
are connected at their upper ends with the direct outlet-pipe leading
from the siphon chamber. They have an aggregate length of about ten
thousand feet. The method of operation is as follows:--
The capacity of the tank is supposed to equal about two days' discharge,
or about thirty-five hundred gallons; and the whole capacity of the
drains is about half that of the tank, so that the rapid emptying of the
whole volume into them will insure their being pretty thoroughly filled
from end to end. This arrangement will provide for the saturation of the
soil about once in two days, and will leave a sufficient interval
between the periods of saturation for the thorough dispersal and
aeration of the filth.
The extent to which this system will be interfered with by frost, it is
impossible to say. This will probably be less than would be supposed,
for the reason that the ground would often be covered with snow, and
that the sewage will have sufficient warmth to exert considerable
thawing influence. Whenever the discharge of the liquid through
irrigation pipes is shown to have become obstructed by freezing, it will
only be necessary to divert the flow, and turn it into the surface
gutter to be distributed over the ground.
It is possible that in this case, as in the one which has been under my
observation for six years past, there will be no interruption of the
working because of cold; but, should the interruption become serious, I
shall propose the planting of evergreen trees in parallel rows midway
between the drains. The protection that would thus be afforded, both by
the trees and by the drifting snow which they would gather, would
probably keep the ground free throughout the winter. Incidentally to the
chief advantage of this system, there will be, so long as the land is in
grass, quite an addition to its product.
* * * * *
There are hundreds of villages, with and without a water supply, where
the houses are too scattering and the street lengths too great to make
it advisable that the cost of any form of public sewerage should be
assumed. In all such villages, the public authority or the active
influence of the village improvement association should be exerted to
secure a regular and systematic adoption of some more perfect system for
the private disposal of household drainage than is usual. Fortunately,
the best system is the cheapest.
No form of cesspool, no leaching vault, and no cemented tank, should be
allowed under any circumstances. Neither should there be permitted any
form of the old-fashioned out-of-door privy with a vault. Every
household should be supplied with water-closets or well-arranged
earth-closets, to which reference will be made below.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--SETTLING BASIN.]
The foul water discharge of kitchen sinks, or of whatever form of
slop-sink is used for the water of bedrooms, should discharge into a
flush-tank, and should be led from this by a tightly cemented four-inch
drain to a tight settling basin in the ground beyond. If water-closets
are used, the soil-pipe should deliver into the drain between the
flush-tank and the settling basin. The settling basin should be
constructed as shown in Figure 9; and this, as well as the flush-tank,
the soil-pipe, and the connecting drains, should be amply ventilated.
The outlet from the settling basin should be carried by well-cemented
vitrified pipes (four-inch) to the connection with the subsoil
irrigation pipes. The flush-tank discharging at each operation of its
siphon about thirty gallons of liquid, two hundred feet of drain,
unless the soil is very compact, will dispose of the whole discharge
with sufficient rapidity. The tank being emptied, the flow ceases; and
within a very short time the drain becomes empty of its contents, which
are absorbed by the sponge-like action of the earth, and are subjected
to the combined influence of the roots of plants, and of the
concentrated oxygen contained among the particles of the soil. They will
soon have their character entirely changed, so that the earth will
become purified, and will be ready to receive the next discharge from
the tank. In the case of my own drains, after five years of unremitted
use, the gradual accumulation of bits of grease and more solid matters
obstructed the drains, and there appeared undue moisture about their
upper ends. All that was then necessary was to re-open the trenches, and
remove, wash, and replace the tiles. This operation cost, for a length
of two hundred feet, less than three dollars.
For any ordinary household of six or eight persons, where the
water-closet is not used, two hundred feet of drain of this sort will be
sufficient. If there are water-closets, it may be well to duplicate the
length; and, to provide for the necessary connections to lead the liquid
to the drains, we may assume that in all five hundred feet of length
will be required. The cost of two-inch tiles at the works, in small
lots, and where collars are furnished, is about three cents per foot;
and we will suppose that transportation will increase the cost to five
cents per foot, making the cost of this item twenty-five dollars. The
strips of board (three inches wide) will cost, at a very liberal
estimate, five dollars more, and the cost of digging and laying not more
than another five dollars; so that the establishment of this means of
disposal, under the most liberal allowance of prices, will not exceed
thirty-five dollars. Ordinarily, especially where neighbors combine to
buy their material in larger quantities, it will hardly exceed one-half
of this amount. This, be it understood, is for a complete and permanent
substitute for the expensive and nasty cesspool now so generally
depended upon in the country.
A piece of ground fifty feet square, having ten rows of tile five feet
apart and fifty feet long, will suffice for even a large household with
an abundant water supply. For the better illustration of the arrangement
of this system, I give in Figure 10 a plan for the work in the case of a
lot fifty feet wide, with a depth of open ground behind the house of
somewhat more than fifty feet. The leaching drains may safely begin at a
distance of even ten feet from the back of the house, requiring for the
whole a clear area of only fifty feet by sixty feet. With small
households, the length of drain may be very much shortened. In my own
case, where water-closets are not used, the total length of irrigation
drain is, as before stated, only two hundred feet.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
The earth-closet was invented by the Rev. Henry Moule, vicar of
Fordington, in England, more than ten years ago. Its progress in England
has been considerable, and its introduction there has resulted in a
profit to the company undertaking it. In this country it has met with
less general favor. Two companies with large capital, after expending
all their resources, have been obliged to abandon their attempts to
build up a profitable business. Having been actively interested in the
enterprise from its inception, and having given constant attention to
the merits of the system, I am to-day more than ever convinced that the
solution of one of the most difficult problems connected with country
and village life is to be sought in its general adoption. The public
reports of sanitary officers in England, who have investigated the
subject to its foundation, fully confirm every thing that has been
claimed by the advocates of the earth-closet, unless perhaps in
connection with the incidental question of the value of the product as a
manure.
The only thing which now deters the authorities of some of the larger
manufacturing towns of the North of England from adopting the
dry-earth-system as a means of relief, under the sharp exaction of the
law that prohibits their further fouling of water-courses, is the belief
that the labor of bringing into the town the enormous amount of earth
required to supply such an immense number of closets, and the labor of
removing the product at frequent intervals, would be so great as to
constitute an insurmountable obstruction.
Prof. Voelcker, in a paper published in the Journal of the Royal
Agricultural Society, shows pretty conclusively that even the use of the
same earth four or five times over, although perfectly successful in
accomplishing the chief purpose of deodorization, fails to add to it a
sufficient amount of fertilizing matter to make it an available
commercial manure. Extended experience in small villages and public
institutions seems to confirm his view, that, if the earth-closet is to
be adopted by towns, they cannot depend either on farmers buying the
manure, or undertaking the labor of supplying and removing it. It is
estimated, that, for a population of one hundred thousand persons, there
would be required seventy-five tons of earth per day, to say nothing of
heavy refuse matters which would be thrown into the closets, and would
increase the amount to be removed. Even the quantity required for a
village of a few hundred inhabitants, if it were to be brought in and
carried out, would entail a considerable cost for handling.
I have recently concluded an experiment of six years' duration, the
result of which seems to show that this objection to the adoption of the
earth-closet system may be set aside, or at least reduced to such
proportions as to make it unimportant. In the autumn of 1870 I had
brought to my house, where only earth-closets are used, two small
cart-loads of garden earth, dried and sifted. This was used repeatedly
in the closets; and, when an increased quantity was required, additions
were made of sifted anthracite ashes. I estimate that the amount of
material now on hand is about two tons. We long since stopped adding to
the quantity, finding that the amount was ample to furnish a supply of
dry and decomposed material whenever it becomes necessary to refill the
reservoirs of the closets.
The accumulation under the seats is discharged through simply arranged
valves into bricked vaults in the cellar. When these vaults become
filled,--about three times in a year,--their contents, which are all
thoroughly decomposed, are piled up in a dry and ventilated place with a
slight covering of fresh earth to keep down any odor that might arise.
After a sufficient interval these heaps are ready for further use,
there being no trace, in any portion, of foreign matter nor any
appearance or odor differing from that of an unused fresh mixture of
earth and ashes. In this way the material has been used over and over
again, at least ten times; and there is no indication to the senses of
any change in its condition.
A sample of this material has recently been analyzed by Prof. Atwater,
at the Connecticut Agricultural Station at Middletown. The analysis
shows that it contains no more organic matter than Prof. Voelcker found
in fresh earth prepared for use in the closet,--say about two hundred
pounds,--nearly all of which organic matter it undoubtedly contained
when first made ready for use. In my case, there was an addition, at a
moderate calculation of at least, 800 pounds of solid dry matter during
the six years' use by an average of four adult persons. Prof. Voelcker's
analysis showed that the unused earth contained about twelve pounds of
nitrogen. Prof. Atwater's analysis shows that my two tons contained only
about eleven pounds of nitrogen. By calculation, the 800 pounds of solid
dry matters added in the use of my material contained 230 pounds of
nitrogen.
Doubtless the constitution of Prof. Voelcker's sample was somewhat
different from the original constitution of my own; but practically,
except perhaps for the addition of a trifling amount of residual carbon
remaining after the decomposition, they were about the same; and, after
being used ten times over, the whole of the 800 pounds of organic matter
added, including 230 pounds of nitrogen, seem to have entirely
disappeared.
It becomes interesting and important to know what has become of this
added matter. That it was absorbed into the particles of the earth, is a
matter of course; and the result proves that after such absorption it
was subjected to such a chemical action of the concentrated oxygen
always existing in porous dry material as led to its entire destruction.
Porous substances condense gases--air, oxygen, etc.--in proportion to
the extent of their interior surface. The well-known disinfecting action
of charcoal--the surface of the interior particles of which equal from
fifty to one hundred square feet to each cubic inch of material, and all
of which surface is active in condensing oxygen--is due not simply to
an absorption of foul-smelling odors, but to an actual destruction of
them by slow combustion, so that the same mass of charcoal, if kept dry
and porous, will continue almost indefinitely its undiminished
disinfecting action.
The earth used in the closet is a porous material, sufficiently dry for
the free admission of air or of oxygen. The foulest materials when
covered with dry earth at once lose their odor, and are in time as
effectively destroyed by combustion (oxidized) as though they had been
burned in a furnace. The process is more slow, but none the less sure;
and it is clear that in the case of my dirt-heap the foul matters added
have thus been destroyed. The practical bearings of this fact are of the
utmost importance. Earth is not to be regarded as a vehicle for the
inoffensive removal beyond the limits of the town of what has hitherto
been its most troublesome product, but as a medium for bringing together
the offensive ingredients of this product, and the world's great
scavenger, oxygen. My experiment seems to demonstrate the fact that
there is no occasion to carry away the product from the place where it
has been produced, as after a reasonable time it has ceased to exist,
and there remains only a mass of earth which is in all respects as
effective as any fresh supply that could be substituted.
The quantity necessary to be provided can be determined only by extended
trial. My experiment proves that the amount needed does not exceed one
thousand pounds for each member of the household, and that this amount
once provided will remain permanently effective to accomplish its
purpose.
With a suitable public supply of water for the purpose, and with a
suitable means of disposal, nothing can be better and nothing is more
easily kept in good condition than well-regulated and properly
ventilated water-closets. Where these are available, with enough water
for their flushing, their use is to be recommended. Where there is not
sufficient water, there a well-regulated system of earth-closets seems
to be imperatively demanded. By one process or the other we must prevent
the fouling of the lower soil, and the consequent tainting of wells and
springs, and the ground under houses and adjoining their cellars. With
a system of sub-irrigation pipes which deliver foul matters into earth
that is subject to the active operation of oxidizing influences, we need
fear no contamination of the deep and unaerated soil. It would be
better, however, where this system is used for the disposal of the
outflow of soil-pipes, to avoid the use of wells. As a general rule, it
is safer not to use for drinking purposes the water of any well near a
house or a stable: practically, it is better not to use wells at all as
a source of water for domestic supply. Filtered cistern-water is greatly
to be preferred.
FARM VILLAGES.
"God made the country, and man made the town."
Cowper's view of the charm of country life as compared with life in the
town is a very natural one. The same view suggests itself to every
cultivated denizen of the city who finds himself in the country on a
beautiful June morning, or under a warm September sun, or during the
time of brilliant autumn foliage, or when the sun sets with a warm glow,
gilding the clean, bare boughs of November trees, or when the whole
countryside is covered with spotless snow, or when grass and leaves and
buds and birds first feel the awakening warmth of spring. The scene is
full of a charm and a novelty which appeal to him most strongly; and he
believes, for the moment at least, that nothing could make him so
entirely happy as to spend his life away from the noise and confusion
of the town, and amid such scenes of rural peace and beauty. Filled with
this enthusiasm, one builds with reference to a magnificent view, and
without regard to the practical inconveniences of the site, fancying
that true happiness requires only a continuance of the novel charms
which have enraptured him.
The cultivated countryman, too,--one who has learned to use his eyes,
and to see what nature has to offer him,--appreciates even more
thoroughly, if not so keenly, the never-ending and ever-changing
interest by which he is surrounded. His admiration and enthusiasm,
however, are tempered by familiarity with some disadvantages of country
life,--just as the romantic house-builder finds on closer acquaintance
that, magnificent though a hill-top view may be, a hill-top residence is
not without its grave drawbacks, nor free from annoyances and practical
objections which too often throw a veil over the most majestic outlook.
A blue-sided, white-capped mountain, reflected in a broad, placid,
shimmering lake, and framed between fleeting clouds, graceful trees, and
verdant lawn, is beyond compare the strongest inducement and the best
reward one can offer to a visiting friend; but vile roads, distant
neighbors, discontented and transitory servants, and all the thousand
and one obstructions to the machinery of domestic life, soon blind the
eye of the unhappy householder to the beauty which lies ever before him,
until at last the one great good thing which commands his constant
thought is that romantic and pecunious friend who shall come some happy
day to purchase his estate.
There is another class, and a very large one, whose opinion concerning
the godlike character of the country it is our especial purpose to
consider here. The farmer and the farmer's family may or may not be
cultivated persons. Cultivation does not come by nature; and the
incessant and increasing duties of farm life leave one, however well
disposed, but little time and but scant strength for aesthetic study. The
farmhouse is the centre of the home life and of the homely thought and
feeling of its inmates. The farm on which one has been born and bred is
the centre and standpoint from which he regards the world without. All
those more tender emotions which are common to our nature, and which
attach themselves to the home, find their development on the farm as
well as in the town. Sentimentally considered, it matters little whether
the object of these emotions be on the farm, in the wilderness, in the
village, or in the city. Fortunately, man is by no means a creature of
emotion alone; and the satisfaction and good of living are less a matter
of feeling than of activity, industry, and intelligence. The place in
which one lives is more or less satisfactory in proportion as it
facilitates and encourages the better and more useful living.
Just as the citizen feels the attractions of the country, which are so
novel to his town-bred taste, so the countryman finds a charm in the
novelty of the town. As one is led toward the quiet and solitude of the
fields and woods, so the other is drawn by the life and interest of the
community.