THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



227 



Large iron pipe, to convey water to highest point of 

 land, laying down ditto, &c., £400 ; engine of 10-horse 

 power, pump, and building, £000. The system f8r dis- 

 tributing the water would be according to circumstances, 

 and differing in cost ; but the whole may be taken, on 

 an average, at £15 per acre. 



Annual interest for capita! : Rent of land and interest 

 on drainage, per acre, £5 8s. ; interest at 7h per cent, 

 on works, and 15 per cent, on engines, £1 48. — total, 

 £6 12s. 



Tlius £1 4s. represents the increased annual outlay 

 upon land contiguous to the main sewer. For land 1 

 mile or \^ mile distance, the annual increase — consider- 

 ing the general flat character of the district proposed to 

 be operated upon — would be no more than 6s. and 9s. 

 per acre respectively, the increased charge being upon 

 the greater lengths of the miin pipe and the larger en- 

 gine. What the extent of land is which would eventu- 

 ally be required for the purpose is not at present the 

 question. Our object should be to ascertain whether 

 any beneficial use can be made of the sewage, and whether 

 any money can be returned, irrespectively of whether or no 

 the whole sewage can be so used. This is our first point ; 

 and the cost of making the experiment is so little, that 

 there should be no hesitation in making it. The land 

 may be hired at £b per acre : five acres will be quite 

 sufficient. One steady man at £60 a year, a portable 

 engine of four-horse power, and pump, a portable shed, 

 and the piece of land well drained and divided by a ditch 

 from the surrounding land, would all be done for, and 

 the experiment be carried out for three years, at a cost, 

 including outlay and annual charges, of ^£'400. Or if 

 the confidence of scientific men is obtained in the pro- 

 posed system, ten, or fifty, acres could be laid down 

 without any great risk, in comparison with the benefits 

 to be obtained by the public, if the results are successful. 

 Independent of the advantage of purifying the sewage 

 running into the Thames — an acknowledged important 

 object — what would be the profit of the system ? 

 According to the Edinburgh experience of sewage (the 

 analysis of which is not, in any particular, different 

 from that of the London sewage), rather less than OJd. 

 is returned in value of crop for every Id. in value of 

 ammonia, phosphates, &c., in the sewage. 



The quantity per annum put upon the Edinburgh 

 meadows, in those parts where the most is used, is at 

 the rate of eight to ten thousand tons per acre ; the 

 value of the fertilizers of which, at 2d per ton of sewage, 

 is ^66 and £83 per acre ; and the produce of grass for 

 the year sells for £2b and ^^35 per acre, and in weight 

 is equal to 70 tons and 80 tons of grass, being about a 

 ton, it will be perceived, of grass to every sovereign's- 

 worth of fertilizers in the sewage.* At Milan — in a 

 climate more likely, it might be thought, to produce 

 larger results than the cold climate of Edinburgh, and 

 where about 10,000 tons also are applied per annum 

 upon an acre — the results, instead of being greater, are 

 less per acre, being only 22 tons of grass (besides the 

 feed, which perhaps may equal 2 tons more, equal to 

 24 tons), but are better in regard to the appropriation 

 by the crop of the fertilizing matter in the sewage ; for 

 it must be understood that the liquid is comparatively 

 weak, 160 gallons of water being mixed with the sewage 

 per head. The value must, however, be even less than 

 one-fifth of that of London, which is mixed with 30 

 gallons per head of population, because the solid parts 



* When we consider that an application of 2 or 3 cwt. of 

 artificial manure, costing about £2, or that 20 or 3U tons of 

 farmyard manure, costing £4 or £5, is expensive manuring, 

 how amazing does this £83 worth of manure upon one acre 

 appear ! No wonder that marvellous results are obtained, 

 and have been maintained for more than half a century upon 

 the same land. 



are excluded, and something may be deducted for the 

 diftVrcnce of the food and living of the people. The 

 value, at one-seventh that of London, would give 

 rather more than one farthing per ton of sewage, or for 

 10,000 tons ;£ll per acre in one yearj while the re- 

 turns — if the Edinburgh value of the grnss be consi- 

 dered for our purpose, namely, 10s. per ton — would be 

 £12 per acre, which shows us, as I have said, a rather 

 better result for the manure than in Edinburgh, though 

 not so very much better as appears at first sight : for 

 these reasons — a certain amount of the grass is due to 

 the natural production by the soil, and a certain 

 amount to the water, as plain water, all hough it must 

 be remembered that all waters in their natural state are 

 not beneficiJ to grass. How much is due to these we 

 at present have no means of tellinsr : but venturing a 

 sujiposition — if we take it that 7 tons of grass is due to 

 the land, and 7 tons to the water, it would leave in the 

 Edinburgh case 64 tons, equal to ^^32 returned for 

 £"'83 worih of ammonia, &c., in the sewaue ; and in the 

 case of Milan, it would leave 10 tons, equal to £5 re- 

 turned for £■'11 worth of ammonia in the >ewage. The 

 above computation, for want of more knowledjse of the 

 facts of the two cases, can only be suggestive ; but the 

 first-mentioned statements, that 80 tons of excellent 

 green food have been raised from sewage containing 

 £83 worth of fertilizers, and at Milan 22 tons from 

 sewage containing £11 worth of fertilizers, are un- 

 doubted facts. 'I'he reason why I have gone into the 

 question of the value of the ammonia, &c., in the ma- 

 nure will appear further on ; for the present, I will 

 proceed to answer the question of what the profits an-? 

 ticipated are. 



If we take the Edinburgh returns as our guide, while 

 it must be remembered that the evidence of those upon 

 the spot is, that the utmost amount attainable has not 

 been reached, but that the "fertility is invariably in 

 proportion to the quantity of sewage used," and that 

 the produce on the land in question will be as good as 

 in the meadows in the north, some of which are upon 

 "hard clay," some upon " sandy " land, and otherwise, 

 and which is a point that can only be decided by trial, 

 £30 or £40 may be expected for the crops of grass per 

 annum. And at this price an immense sale may be an- 

 ticipated in food for cows so near the metropolis, with 

 a population fifteen times larger than that of Edinburgh ; 

 whilst at meat-feeding prices, which I purposely reduce 

 to 5s. per ton, £20 per acre would be realized. The 

 average may be taken at £30, and the amount stands 

 as follows : 



Valueofgraaa £30 



Deduct annual rent and interest for 



capital laid out £6 12 



Fuel, labour, &c 2 0). 912 



Superintendence and contingencies 



£6 12 01 

 2 0^ 

 1 oj 



8 



Clear profit. .. . £20 



It is impossible to obtain such profits upon the sys- 

 tem of jet and hose, or upon any other systems which 

 have been brought forward. I am not inimical to the 

 system of jet and hose for farms; but in farms the 

 commercial points are quite different. SuflSce it to say, 

 that with reference to the hose and jet, according to the 

 amount of several farms on which it is used, one ton is 

 delivered for 2d. This is an expense irrespective of the 

 rent of the land, outlay for pipes to convey to the farm 

 the liquid, which, for the large quantity mentioned, 

 namely, 10,000 tons, would, with rent and interest of 

 about £6 added, be £89 per acre per annum ; and if it 

 be done for Id. per ton, it will be £47 ; if at 0|d. per 

 ton, £26 per acre. It is evident that with these charges 

 there can be no comparison made with the system I 

 »se, putting on this quantity at £3 12s. per acre, 



^^>s 



