UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 43 



bust and healthy in proportion to its prosperity. Its vigor 

 assures a healthy nutrition equivalent to its works, which is 

 the best hygiene. 



As to the effects of irrigation, the same occurs at Genne- 

 villiers which always takes place where irrigation is practised : 

 from the moment it is made frequent, without stagnation, 

 and at regular intervals, a condition which is far from favora- 

 ble for the development of paludal influences. The deter- 

 mining causes are eliminated ; a constant activity is main- 

 tained in the vegetable life, which absorbs in its circulation 

 all its own residues and all the organic elements placed within 

 reach. Highly to the honor of the city of Paris be it said 

 that, by the perseverance of its representatives, by the sci- 

 ence and devotion of its engineers, the problem of epuration 

 of the residuum of cities and of its utilization by agriculture 

 is absolutely and definitely solved. We have no longer the 

 experiment of Gennevilliers ; we have a system permanent 

 and reo'ular for the future. 



The population of Gennevilliers has increased by farmers 

 coming to occupy the lands thirty-four per cent, in ten 

 years. 



Babut du Mares writes : It has been claimed that pro- 

 longed irrigation will produce disease by the presence of 

 bacteria in the sewage. Experience is to the contrary, as 

 illustrated in the sewage farm at Buntzlau, which has been 

 irrigated two and a half centuries, Edinburg two centuries, 

 and China ten centuries without any such results. 



SANITATION. 



From a sanitary point of view there are no objections and 

 many advantages derived from this system. At Ware, in 

 Hertfordshire, is situated the celebrated " Rye House," close 

 by a sewage farm. The summer house known as " Retain- 

 er's Hall " is separated from the ftirm only by the boards of 

 which it is constructed. The farmer, who spends but a por- 

 tion of the year at the ftirm house in the centre of the irri- 

 gated field, says the only annoyance he experiences is the 

 increased appetite of his family. At Ruthin, in North Wales, 

 the railroad track alone separates a sewage farm from the 

 station of the North-west Railroad, and the town is not more 



