346 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



To Robert Angus Smith and Alexander McDougall 

 a patent was gi-anted, Jan. 20, 1854, for improvements 

 in deodorizing and disinfecting sewage by employing, 

 alone or togellier, a combination of magnesia and lime, 

 with sulpliurous acid and carbonic acid, " either in an 

 acid or alkaline state" [142, 3d ] 



The date of the (socond, third, and fourth) patents 

 granted to Thomas Wicksteed, is January 2Cth, 1854. 

 Tlie first of these is for moulding the fertilized matter 

 of precipitated sewage into perforated bricks or 

 blocks, in manner similar to that employed in ordinary 

 brick-making— the hollow perforations facilitating the 

 drying of the bricks. The second of these three 

 patents refers to a method of precipitating the fer- 

 tilizing matter of sewage by mixing it with lime and 

 finely-divided charcoal : the two substances are mixed 

 in water, and a stream of it is made to flow into the 

 sewage-water, by means of a pump — another pump 

 supplying the sewage-water. The third of these patents 

 refers to the construction of reservoirs for the deposi- 

 tion of the precipitate from sewage-water. These are 

 arranged so as to cause an equal flow from all parts, 

 with the exception of a portion at the bottom which 

 receives the precipitated matter. The velocity is regu- 

 lated so as not to prevent the subsidence of the preci- 

 pitate. The water is thrown off the precipitate from 

 the bottom of the reservoir into a well by means of an 

 endless screw. The precipitate is raised by means of 

 an elevator or Jacob's ladder, in such a way that the 

 precijiitate is raised without contact with the super- 

 natant liquid [192, 3d. ; 193, 3fl.; 194, Is. Id.] 



The date of the (second) patent granted to John 

 Thornton Herapath is March 17th, 1854, and it claims 

 the employment of coke obtained from the so-called 

 Boghead coal or Torbane-hill mineral, " either before 

 or alter the aluminous ingredient^ of the coke shall 

 have been extracted by an acid or other chemical." 

 This coke to be used cither for drying up precij)itated 

 sewage, or using a stratumof it, through which sewage, 

 &c., is allowed to pass or percolate [638, 3d.] 



The date of the (second) patent granted to James 

 Alexander Manning is March 27th, 1854; and is for 

 "improvements in the treatment of sewage," The 



sewage is to be mixed with the " soft sludge" from the 

 alum works : the contents of the reservoir are to be 

 agitated, and during agitation powdered caustic or iin- 

 slacked lime and animal charcoal are to be thrown in. 

 This alum "sludge" is the deposit during the first 

 boiling down of the rough liquor obtained from alum 

 shales in the manufacture of alum, and which deposit 

 consists essentially of basic and other sulphates of ii'ou 

 and alumina" [709, 3d.]. 



George Anderson, on December 23rd, 1854, obtained 

 a patent for purifying sewers from noxious exhalations; 

 and tills he proposed to effi;ct by using a pump, fan, or 

 other exhausting apparatus, to force the vapours in con- 

 tact with deodorising materials. The materials named by 

 the patentee are, "lime as used in the gas works, peroxide 

 of iron or other metallic salts, or dilute acids, or acids 

 held by peat, coke, gravel, charcoal, sawdust, or other 

 matter." The product obtained to be used as a manure, 

 or applied to other useful purposes [2,715, 3d.]. 



The date of the (third) patent granted to James Alex- 

 der Manning is August 7, 1855, and is for the employ- 

 ment of " alum slate, alum shale, alum schist, alum 

 ore, and other aluminous minerals and earths, as a 

 precipitatory and clarifying agent for cleansing sewage 

 matters. The method to be employed in preparing the 

 shales is desci ibed. In addition to this alum liquor, 

 powdered lime and charcoal are employed. The sew- 

 age is stated to be greatly improved in value for agi-i- 

 cultural purposes by the addition of the alum shales." 

 [1,786, 3d.] 



Having thus reviewed very briefly, the various 

 patents taken out for the deodorizatiou and utiliza- 

 tion of our town sewage, we shall be prepared to enter 

 into tlie consideration of the relative values of manures 

 prepared by some of the processes described, and the 

 chances— favourable or otherwise — of their being em- 

 ployed on the large scale. This consideration we pro- 

 pose to take up, in conjunction with the future 2>r as- 

 pects of the application of town sewage to agricultzirnl 

 inirposes, in noticing two important reports recently 

 published, and to which we referred at the commence- 

 ment of the present papers. 



"LOIS-WEEDON" WITHOUT THE SPADE. 



Lois-Weedon wheat-growing ! How many years has 

 it been known to the public, and how many agricultu- 

 rists have adopted its advantages ? In seeking answers 

 to these inquiries, we have been compelled to reflect that 

 one of the farmer's chief faults is a scepticism in regard 

 to offered improvements, when they involve fundamental 

 changes in his practice ; and pioneers in farm mechanics, 

 or discoverers of new systems of husbandry, should have 

 fortitude almost like that of brave Bonnevard, of 

 Geneva, in order to "possess their souls in patience," 

 through years of distrust, neglect, or opposition. Why, 

 can it be believed, the reverend Mr. Smith's pamphlet, 

 detaiHng his practice, its cost and profit, appeared eight 

 years ago ! and he had then sufKcient experience to war- 

 rant his recommendation of the plan to others ; for he 

 had thrashed his third harvest, grown year after year on 

 the same acre of land. 



The first wheat crop on the now world-renowned 

 "clay piece" was sown in 1846; yet it was not until 

 November, 1849, that the talented and assiduous culti- 

 vator felt (with that modesty characterizing all his 

 works) that he would be justified in publishing his suc- 

 cess. Thus prolonged and tedious must agricultural ex- 

 periments necessarily be ; So long has the husbandman, 



who sows new seeds in hope, to wait ere the fruits of his 

 thoughtful ingenuities in preparing the soil, and his pru- 

 dent nurture of the rising plants, reward him with more 

 than promise ! The first harvest was not measured ; 

 the second and third gave each thirty-four bushels per 

 acre. 'With wheat at forty shillings a quarter, and 

 straw at forty shillings a ton (for being grown without 

 manure the straw was sold), the tenant's profit was 

 found and proved to be at least four pounds per acre. 



Now, it will be remembered that, in 1849, the gene- 

 ral feeling among farmers was that, under the circum- 

 stances of the times, it was impossible to grow wheat 

 crops that would pay : and, again, there were a great 

 many unemployed labourers dependent on parish sus- 

 tenance ; and the new method of wheat culture by the 

 spade offered not only profit to the farmer, but to the 

 workmen employment and support. These consideta- 

 tions prevailed upon Mr. Smith to break silence with his 

 simple and attractive " Word in Season;" " impelled," 

 as he says, " in fulfilment of a duty which all owe to 

 their fellows, to make known, I trust not presumptu- 

 ously, what is no longer experiment, but experience, of a 

 most profitable system of growing corn." When we 

 infer a hasty conclusion from a single experiment, and 



