A Healthy Site
The influence of the soil on health is marked, and is more apparent
in the country than in towns, where paving and drainage tend to obliterate
the difference due to its greater or less permeability. No one associates
rheumatism and catarrhs with the now fashionable London quarter of Belgravia,
yet at one time the marshes of Ebury were scarcely habitable. Bronchitis,
pneumonia, and kindred ailments are also fostered by dampness. The most
pervious subsoils are the healthiest. Gravel, sand and porous chalk
are best; and clay and peaty land, which holds water, about the worst.
Pictures 8 and 9. This pair of small cottages was designed
to special requirements for a rural district in Sussex. A working kitchen
and a good living-room, with ample storage space were required, and
there had to be three bedrooms upstairs.
It is possible to effect great changes in the condition of the soil
by a system of ground drainage, and by the addition or removal of trees
and other vegetation. What is to be aimed at is to prevent the land,
at least at the top few feet, from becoming water-logged, as in this
state it makes the adjacent air cold and damp, and sometimes misty.
Subsoil drainage is usually carried out by means of rough, unjointed
agricultural pipes laid at about 3ft. below the surface of the ground.
The lines of pipes are from 4 ft. to 10 ft. apart, the distance varying
with the porousness of the soil.
The best possible site has the ground sloping away in all directions,
and while enjoying a free circulation of air in the immediate locality,
there should be shelter from prevailing winds. High positions are preferable
to low ones (which may receive drainage from higher levels), except
where the place is on (but not at the top of) a steep slope, in which
case the air is sometimes liable to be stagnant In an exposed situation,
tree screens are often useful on the north and east sides. They are
apt to cause dampness and stagnation of air if too close to the house,
and, as a rule, no tree should be nearer to buildings than at least
its own height.
in the country than in towns, where paving and drainage tend to obliterate
the difference due to its greater or less permeability. No one associates
rheumatism and catarrhs with the now fashionable London quarter of Belgravia,
yet at one time the marshes of Ebury were scarcely habitable. Bronchitis,
pneumonia, and kindred ailments are also fostered by dampness. The most
pervious subsoils are the healthiest. Gravel, sand and porous chalk
are best; and clay and peaty land, which holds water, about the worst.
Pictures 8 and 9. This pair of small cottages was designed
to special requirements for a rural district in Sussex. A working kitchen
and a good living-room, with ample storage space were required, and
there had to be three bedrooms upstairs.
It is possible to effect great changes in the condition of the soil
by a system of ground drainage, and by the addition or removal of trees
and other vegetation. What is to be aimed at is to prevent the land,
at least at the top few feet, from becoming water-logged, as in this
state it makes the adjacent air cold and damp, and sometimes misty.
Subsoil drainage is usually carried out by means of rough, unjointed
agricultural pipes laid at about 3ft. below the surface of the ground.
The lines of pipes are from 4 ft. to 10 ft. apart, the distance varying
with the porousness of the soil.
The best possible site has the ground sloping away in all directions,
and while enjoying a free circulation of air in the immediate locality,
there should be shelter from prevailing winds. High positions are preferable
to low ones (which may receive drainage from higher levels), except
where the place is on (but not at the top of) a steep slope, in which
case the air is sometimes liable to be stagnant In an exposed situation,
tree screens are often useful on the north and east sides. They are
apt to cause dampness and stagnation of air if too close to the house,
and, as a rule, no tree should be nearer to buildings than at least
its own height.
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