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TJte Country Getitlemaiis Magazine 



treaty the man who was about to take the 

 farm could make any stipulation he pleased. 

 He could refuse it if a long lease was not 

 granted, and he could demand the right to 

 kill the vermin called rabbits, which right the 

 law now gave the tenant if he did not sign 

 away his right to all the game. There was 

 just one other matter that he desired to men- 

 tion relative to quitting a farm. In Norfolk 

 the custom was to enter into possession early 

 in October, the incoming tenant paying tor 

 the roots and hay, and also for the thrashing 



of the corn, retaining the straw and chaff. 

 Consequently, the out-going tenant grew as 

 large a crop of hay and roots in the last year 

 as in any previous year of his term, and the 

 new tenant had thus the material to feed 

 beasts and sheep, and make the requisite 

 farm-yard manure for growing good crops 

 during the first summer, the farm being got 

 into continuous and good cultivation ; whereas 

 taking possession on Lady-day and clearing 

 the land did not only make the farm unproduc- 

 tive for the first year, but injured it for years. 



THE PURIFICATION AND UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 



THE Committee of the British Association 

 to inquire into the treatment and utiliza- 

 tion of sewage, made its fourth annual report to 

 the Association at the Brighton meeting. 



The Committee, since its re-appointment at 

 the last meeting of the Association at Edinburgh, 

 has pursued the inquiry intrusted to it ; and, as 

 heretofore, its investigations have been limited 

 to such matters as have afforded promise of 

 practical utility. Among the various methods 

 of treatment of sewage brought under its notice, 

 the process of Messrs Weare, at the Stoke Union 

 Workhouse, the precipitation of the sludge and 

 its conversion into cement at Ealing, and the 

 system of intermittent downward filtration at 

 Merthyr Tydfil have appeared most important, 

 and ha/e accordingly been inquired into. A 

 process known as Whitthread's patent has also 

 been inquired into ; and, the Committee having 

 reported last year upon the farms at Tunbridge 

 Wells and Earlswood,it was thought advisable to 

 inspect them again. The observations at Breton's 

 farm have been carried on uninterruptedly, and 

 have now extended over a period of more than 

 two years. The experience thus gained from 

 the continuous records of the flow and sampling 

 for analysis of the effluent water, the application 

 of the sewage to the various crops, the result of 

 such application upon the produce grown, and 

 the degree of purification effected in the sewage, 

 will, it is hoped, prove valuable to local authori- 

 ties and others interested in sewage farming. 

 Being fully impressed with the importance of 

 these observations, the committee has paid 

 special attention to render them as complete 



as possible ; but it is felt that, in order to per- 

 fect them, especially as regards the important 

 branch relating to the effect of sewage upon the 

 crops grown, it will be necessary to continue 

 them for at least some months longer. This 

 cannot be done unless further funds are placed 

 at the disposal of the Comniittee. The large 

 number of analyses already made, together with 

 the great expense of an assistant constantly at 

 Breton's Farm, and the various other investiga- 

 tions undertaken, have now nearly exhausted the 

 special fund contributed by the towns. In re- 

 questing to be re-appointed, the Committee begs 

 to submit to the Council of the British Associa- 

 tion the desirableness of placing it in a position 

 to complete the long and anxious inquiry with' 

 which it has been intrusted. 



After this general preamble the Report falls 

 into five Sections, the first of which deals with 

 Weare's process, as found in operation at the 

 workhouse of Stoke-upon-Trent, — an establish- 

 ment containing about 750 inmates. The pro- 

 cess consists, in the first instance, of simple 

 filtration through coarse ashes and charcoal in 

 a large tank divided into two compartments, so 

 that one may be at work while the other is 

 being cleared. These compartments are each 

 subdivided into a large and a small chamber. 

 The raw sewage is brought to a small receiver, 

 and from it turned by means of sluices into 

 either compartment. The samples of sewage 

 taken by the Committee's inspector were 

 obtained from this receiver, through which 

 about 5000 gallons passed in twenty-four hours. 

 From the large chamber of the tank the sewage 



