With respect to the hand machines he states that he has one of Headley’s drum machines, and three of special make, somewhat similar to those used in Paris. They are equal in point of work; and one machine will water 23,740 square yards twice a day, which, it will be observed, is very close to the amount of work performed by a cart.

“Headley’s machine cost us (he continues), five years ago when new, 31l. 7s. 3d., and the repairs and maintenance since that date have been 22l., or an average of 4l. 8s. per annum, and is just now almost past repair. The other description of hand machine cost each when new 20l., and the repairs and maintenance have amounted to an average of 3l. 18s. each year. They were in use some time before Headley’s was obtained, and they will be of use for a long time yet. The cost of labour per day by the hand machines is for two men at 2s. 10d. each—5s. 8d.—as it requires two men to work the machine properly, one to distribute the water, and the other to move the machine and to attach and detach the apparatus to and from the hydrants; add to this 7d. per day for maintenance and repairs, will make 6s. 3d. per day. The quantity of water delivered by the water carts is 0·51 gallons per square yard, and by the hand machine 1·30 gallons.”

It will thus be seen that in the case of the cart 24,324 gallons of water are used per diem, and 61,724 gallons by the hand machines, the surface watered being very nearly the same in both cases. Assuming that the water has a commercial value of 6d. per 1000 gallons, and adding this to the cost per diem in each case, the total cost stands thus:

Hand machines£110s.10d.
Carts£11s.7d.

the advantage in point of cost being in favour of the carts; but the hand machine may water better, especially in broad streets, although in narrow streets or where there is much traffic, this method would be impracticable.

In Paris both hose and carts are used for watering the thoroughfares, the former for the boulevards, the avenues, and a certain number of first-class streets.

The most commonly known method in this country for watering the streets and roads of our towns is that of carrying the water in wheeled barrels, carts, or vans, and distributing it therefrom through a perforated pipe upon the surface of the road as the vehicle is drawn along by a horse attached to the shafts.[171]

The old barrel upon wheels gave place to a cart, and now we have “Bayley’s Patent Hydrostatic Van,” which is too well known to almost all town surveyors to need much description. It holds about 450 gallons of water and takes about 9 minutes to fill (this time of course varying with the size of main and pressure of water), and ten minutes to spread the water upon the surface of the road.

With regard to the work that one of these vans will accomplish in comparison to that effected by an ordinary cart, the following table, compiled from experiments on the question, will be useful:

Cart
or
Van.		Contents
in
Gallons.		No. of
Loads
to
cover
beat.		Total
quantity
of
Water.		Time.Differ-
ence.		Gain
per
Cent.
Hrs.Mnts.Hrs.Mnts.
Bayley’s van4505¹⁄₂2475123....
Ordinary cart22511 247515002724¹⁄₂
Bayley’s van4505¹⁄₂2475138....
Ordinary cart23711 260721003225
Bayley’s van4506 2700145....
Ordinary cart29011 319021002519¹⁄₄
Bayley’s van4508 3600215....
Ordinary cart26017 442033011536