APPLICATIOX TO AGEICULTUEE. 139 



the drinking water to towns lower down the river. Where 

 sewage can be conveyed to the farm by gravitation, the Bedford 

 farm and others, consisting of land adapted for sewage, would 

 pay their way, unless the initial costs are heavy. Where land 

 requires draining, and is very deeply drained, the liquid comes 

 from the drain mouth a brown fluid with a strong smell. Drains 

 are put in to carry off an excess of moisture from the land, and 

 they fulfil their functions, whether that moisture be rain water 

 or liquid manure, so in such soils there is a waste of fertilising 

 matter. Much depends upon the land, and also upon the level 

 of its surface ; and there are scarcely two towns alike as to 

 facilities for the discharge of sewage upon land, and its most 

 profitable application. Sir John Lawes and Dr Gilbert of 

 Piothamstead state that the direct result of the general application 

 of town sewage to grass land (by that we understand permanent 

 grass) would be an enormous increase in the production of milk, 

 butter, cheese, and meat. Many of the managers of English 

 sewage farms do not speak highly of the use of the liquid on 

 such fields, and this may perhaps be owing to the deposit left on 

 level land. The case is different with Italian rye-grass, which 

 is mowed three or four times in a season, and it must be to this 

 that these gentlemen refer. 



Situation and circumstances entirely govern urban authorities 

 in the disposal of their sewage. Some time since, we visited a 

 town having a population of about 23,000, and found that it 

 only possessed 20 acres of irrigation land. Filtering beds and 

 settling ponds with other appliances were in use, but they all 

 failed, and were inadequate for discharging a purified liquid. So 

 after all the costs which have been incurred, a great expenditure 

 has to be incurred a second time. Negotiations were opened 

 with a neighbouring proprietor, who would not treat with the 

 authorities for a ninety-nine years' lease, but sell the land at £250 

 an acre ! This kind of thing has been too common, and certainly 

 it is far from commendable, for its agricultural value is not 

 more than £40 to £50 an acre. The only course open to that 

 place is to inquire whether they cannot with more advantage 

 deal with a desiccated and inodorous compound, as in the A. B. C. 

 process, which is described in the following pages. The Native 

 Guano Company at Aylesbury are prepared to undertake the 

 work of dealing with towns so situated. 



Aylesbury A. B. C. rroccss. 



The mode of dealing with the sewage at Aylesbury has 

 commanded some attention in past years from urban autho- 

 rities. At a concession of £200 a year from the town, tlie Native 

 Guano Company have saved the borough from nuisance and the 

 risk and cost of investinf^ in a sewa'^e farm. Bv the use of 



