22S 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



THE APPLICATION OF SEWAGE TO LAND. 



BY MR. P. A. HALKETT. 



Mr. MecH purposes to introduce a discussion upon 

 the sewerage of towns, as it affects agriculture, at the 

 London Farmers' Club, on Monday the 6th February, 

 by reading a paper upon the question. Being a mem- 

 ber, I would be happy to draw the attention of some 

 of t'je gentlemen composing that club, which numbers 

 in its list engineers, chemists, land agents, draining- 

 engineers, landowners, and agriculturists, to some im- 

 portant points of the subject scattered here and there in 

 the vast amount of discussions and reports which have 

 been published during the last few years, together with 

 some new and important facts, detailed in the last and 

 in the preceding number of the " Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society," by Dr. Voelcker, and also to some 

 by Mr. Bailey Denton, which, as I hope in this letter 

 to show, bear upon the point, and plainly prove that 

 the question is at present one very nearly approaching 

 a perfect certainty of solution, and that it only remains 

 for some commercial men, or public boards interested 

 in the riddance of the refuse of the metropolis, to apply 

 themselves to the point. What I shall here suggest 

 vyill also apply to many other large towns in the King- 

 dom, and should enlist the careful consideration of their 

 inhabitants. 



The question of the profitable application of sewage 

 matters, is also still occupying much of the public 

 attention: and at the Civil Engineers' Institution, the 

 matter was proposed for consideration by the president, 

 Mr. Bidder, a few weeks ago. It is in this, the mechani- 

 cal view of it, that I propose to point out a way of 

 dealing with the subject, that will be exceedingly inex- 

 pensive, and, if successful, will yield a profit that will 

 go far towards paying back the annual rate which must 

 be incurred by the metropolis for the construction of the 

 sewage works. 



In one point of view the system I propose is not new ; 

 on the contrary, it has in the main been adopted before, 

 with more success than any other, and for the longest 

 existing periods. It is to the mechanical way of arriving 

 at the same agricultural result, that I wish to direct the 

 public attention, as obviating many of the objections 

 appertaining to other proposed systems. In fact, it 

 very nearly resembles the one proposed by Mr. H. 

 Austin, C.E., but in some important points it differs 

 from it. 



The system I propose is, the application of the sewage 

 matters to the production of grass crops — not a new pro- 

 position, certainly, nor one, on the other hand, that can 

 for a moment admit of a doubt of its complete efficacy, 

 if only it can be done economically, and without a cer- 

 tain number of objections, which it will be my duty to 

 mention, and to answer. It is upon the point of the 

 objections that I wiil chiefly biing the scientific facts 

 which I have mentioned, to bear. But before doing so, 

 I will detail the mode which I consider should be 

 adopted. 



I propose that at various places along the line of the 

 large intercepting or main sewer, which is to proceed 

 nearly parallel with the banks of the Thames, the sew- 

 age shall be taken out from the main sewer by small 

 steam engines, of power proportioned to the breadth of 

 land proposed to be irrigated ; the sewage to be forced 

 up an iron-pipe to the level of the highest portion of the 

 land, and from thence to be distributed over the rest of 

 the land by gravitation ; with the aid of under draj 



aUHU; 



it would then percolate through the soil without the 

 possibility of stagnating on the surlace ; the water thus 

 filtrated being led back by the drains in the direction of 

 the steam-engines, to be again pumped back into the 

 main sewer, and so out to sea. The above refers to 

 those lands rising from the main sewer ; whilst in those 

 lying below, or falling from it, the sewage would be 

 gravitated yV'OW the main; and after percolating through 

 the soil into the drains in the direction from the main, 

 would be led back and forced into it by the pump. 

 Such lands as are nearly level, would be treated in 

 either of these two directions ; but in all cases, the plan 

 should be to pump direct from the main sewer, at once 

 distributing it over the portion of the land which that 

 day is to be irrigated, allowing it to percolate through 

 the soil and the drains, divesting it of all its fertilizing 

 matters, and so far purifying the sewage in its course 

 towards the Thames. I would require by my system 

 no apparatus or means for precipitating the solid parts 

 of the sewage, to be afterwards conveyed, at the trifling 

 amount of its value, on to the surface of the land. 

 These systems are all expensive, and, if desirable, may 

 be adopted at any future time. But I would recommend 

 a sieve or grating to be placed where the pipe enters the 

 main sewer to prevent substances too large for the smaller 

 pipes to pass. The system of conveying the liquid by 

 gravitation over the field, would not involve the necessity 

 for open ditches or gutters, so that no deposit would 

 take place to cause any effluvia ; and always on the 

 cessation of distributing the sewage over the lands the 

 pipes would be flushed with fresh water by the last turn 

 of the force-pumps. 



This system would also require no costly reservoirs to 

 contain the sewage, involving a large accumulation when 

 the works are at rest (it would then pass away in the 

 main sewer), neither would extra pipe-room be required 

 for irrigating on occasions of heavy rain-fall, nor space 

 to contain it till wanted. In fact, the present sewage 

 works having been accepted by the nation as necessary 

 and proper, that question is decided. 



The distribution of the sewage would be conducted in 

 each case upon the plan most suitable, according to the 

 formation and style of the land to be irrigated, but in 

 all cases, whether in panes, as in the Edinburgh mea- 

 dows, or upon other plans, it will be imperative to have 

 pipes instead of open ditches. In the plan recommended 

 by Mr. Austin, pipes are proposed in connection with 

 the small gutters of Mr. Bickfield, which being cut only 

 two or three inches deep, can never form any source of 

 annoyance, more than any other part of the surface of 

 the land. In Mr. Edward Ellis's account of various 

 works executed upon Mr. Bickfield's system, the cost 

 for cutting the gutters does not amount to 1?. per acre. 

 The largest amount of pipe-work over the field would 

 evidently be laid in their descending inclination, and 

 these would be of earthenware. These were originally 

 tried with jet and hose ; but although suitable for con- 

 veying water by gravitation, they are not so when water 

 has to be pumped with a pressure froni the jet, nor are 

 they adapted for forcing water up any considerable 

 elevation. 



The cost of the system for one block of land of 300 

 acres would be as follows : Value of land at 30 years' 

 purchase of rental at £b per acre, j^l50 ; thorough 

 draining per acre, £6— total, £\bQ. 



