REPORT ON THE AITLICATION OF SEWAGE. 5 



tration of Mr. Alderman Mechi, at 9,000 gallons, or, in all, 45,000 

 gallons per acre, or about 200 tons. This quantity, as I then 

 stated, has proved to be utterly insufficient, and another agree- 

 ment was made, under which 1 obtain a larger amount, but still 

 nut enough for profitable farming. 



Sixth, the Cost to the Farmer, — 



In this respect, I do not think I should have much reason to 

 complain of the £150 of rent I pay for the Sewage, besides the 

 expense of application, say £180 per annum, provided I received 

 it when I required it, and in sufficient quantity, but, in fact, I 

 have been a loser by my bargain every year from deficiency in 

 these essential conditions. 



With this preface, I will proceed at once to give the results 

 of my experience in the utilisation of Town Sewage. 



On first commencing in 1854, the Sewage was applied to the 

 land by means of flexible gutta percha hose of two inches in 

 diameter ; this hose was fixed to a stand pipe, or hydrant, con- 

 nected with the iron pipes under ground, and there was at least 

 one such hydrant in every field, from which the Sewage flowed, 

 so long as the steam engine and pump were working. Here let 

 me state that the following results of my practical experience 

 are taken from my farm books, and must be read as the jottings- 

 down of an ordinary agriculturist, rather than the accurate 

 observations of a man of science, to which indeed they have no 

 pretension. The measurement of the Sewage was made by cal- 

 culating from the time taken to fill a vessel of known dimen- 

 sions several times during the day, a rough method perhaps, but 

 sufficient for our purpose — viz., to regulate the price, which was 

 estimated by quantity. The rate of delivery varied very much 

 at times, of course, according to the level of the field, the length 

 of the hose, the working of the steam engine, and the number of 

 hydrants open, either on my own farm, or my neighbours, and 

 especially in the case of the latter, as his land is mostly at a 

 lower level than mine. These facts are worthy of note, because 

 although they do not interfere with the quantity which was 

 ultimately shed upon a field, yet they have an important bearing 

 upon the right agricultural application of a sufficient quantity at 

 the proper time. 



I now give in a tabular form the application of Sewage to a 

 dozen fields of my farm for the three years, 1854, 1855, 1850, 

 when the hose and jet system was used exclusively under my 

 first agreement. To the man of science, those tables will not 

 be satisfactory from the want of minute accuracy in the weights 

 and measurements of the Sewage and the produce, but I appre- 

 hend that the practical agriculturist will be able to derive from 

 them lessons which may be of advantage to him, if his laud is so 

 situated as to render the use of Town Sewage advisable. 



