1 62 DR. R. ANGUS SMITH ON 



brought into comparison with other methods in modern times in 

 England by Mr. Smith, of Deanston, and Mr. Chad wick. Mr. 

 Chadwick's account of it in the general report of the sanitary 

 condition of the labouring classes, gave it, perhaps, the first 

 prominent place among systems, and he has always supported 

 it in the publications of the Board of Health. Smith, of 

 Deanston, published an account of his method in the first 

 report of the Health of Towns Commission. Mr. Cubitt 

 was desirous of having it brought into practice, but could see 

 no plan by which it could be made economical for London. 

 Those who have tried sewage manure are chiefly private 

 persons. It has been found to render land so productive that 

 it yields actually from 70 to 80 bushels of wheat per acre, 

 and has sometimes increased the pasture tenfold. This re- 

 markable result is enough, of course, to justify any probable 

 amount of expenditure. Mr. Wilkins, (in the journal of the 

 Society of Arts,) thinks it would be advisable to use it even 

 if £100 were spent upon an acre, his peculiar method being 

 an expensive one, considering that £10 an acre has been 

 considered a large sum for the improvement of land, only 

 justified by the success attending recent discoveries in 

 draining and manuring. That success must be enormous 

 which ventures to breathe £100 per acre. Such fertility 

 of soil would certainly allow us to build upon farms works of 

 such a kind that health and appearance might also be con- 

 sulted as well as profit. 



Smith's proposal was to irrigate meadows with the sewer 

 water, by overflowing them in the method long in use with 

 ordinary water; Mr. Chadwick recommended the use of the 

 jet and the hose to sprinkle the water over the land, and to 

 save the use of pipes and drains. 



Mr. Corbett proposed the use of pipes for the irrigation 

 near Manchester, and recommended a lifting pump at Ordsall 

 or Traffbrd Moss. Mr. P. H. Holland began the system 

 adopted by Mr. Chadwick and himself, of watering with the 



