DRINKING-WATER FROM AGRICULTURAL LANDS. 49 



vaults and cesspools, some of which overflow into the few rude sewers 

 built without any systematic plan, and themselves but " elongated 

 cesspools," or, as some one pertinently calls them, " retorts for the 

 generation of poisonous gases." A large majority of these sinks of 

 abominations have no communication with any sort of sewer, but after 

 prolonged conservation, resulting in horrible putrefaction, when no 

 longer tolerable, are finally emptied by hand into carts and hauled 

 away. Adjoining the town is the gathering-ground of the w^ater- 

 works of thousands of acres in extent, whose waters, discharged into 

 running streams in a long valley, are collected and retained in a 

 dammed-up pond at the foot, and pumped to the distributing reservoir 

 on a neighboring hill. Water-works and sewerage systems should go 

 hand-in-hand ; but in this case there is no connection — the latter, in- 

 deed, existing only in name. Even this state of things might be toler- 

 able, were it not that, in addition to poisoning the air and the already 

 supersaturated soil, the contents of these vaults are now directly em- 

 ployed to pollute the water-supply. Destitute of any official control, 

 probably more than one-half of the accumulated town filth is annually 

 spread bodil}'-, spring and fall, over a large part of the water-shedding 

 surfaces. The tank-carts employed are at all hours of the day filled at 

 the doorways of the houses, and shamelessly hauled through the public 

 streets, jolting and slopping their foul contents, marking their route by 

 a train of filth on the roadway, while a column of stench in the air, 

 that lingers long after the pestilence-breeding ox-cart has lumbered 

 away in the distance, proclaims adherence to the practices of the dark 

 ages, and defiance to the rules of decency and the laws of health. A 

 century ago, when there was no generally-known method of deodoriz- 

 ing sewage or decently removing it, this sort of thing had to be done, 

 perhaps, but it instinctively sought the cover of nightfall (as the very 

 term " night-soil " implies) ; but in this incredible case, in the last 

 quarter of the brilliant nineteenth centurj^, in the midst of a civilized 

 community, there is no attempt to disguise the abominable fact ! 



The water-slopes are thus heavily manured. What is the result ? 

 We shall see. 



These farms are very rich and valuable, made so at the expense of 

 the water they shed for domestic use. But this sort of fertilizing must 

 not be confounded with what is known as " sewage-farming," a system 

 of irrigation which is declared by the highest authorities to be the 

 best, cheapest, safest, and most inoffensive mode of disposing of all 

 excrementitious and other waste matter, ^^ provided its efiluent water 

 does not get into the domestic water-supply." The scope of this article 

 will not admit even a brief description of this mode of irrigation (not 

 manuring), with its appliances of brick, concrete, and earthenware con- 

 duits, its valves and sluice-boards, and its trained and careful administra- 

 tive corps of workmen efficiently supervised. Those interested in this 

 subject (and which is a side-issue here) can consult the " Conditions of 



VOL. XIV. — 4 



