958 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



urine contains 3 per cent, of dry solid matter, you will 

 no doubt be surprised when I tell you that this liquid 

 excreta contains 104 tons of dry solid matter, or 50 per 

 cent, more than is contained in the so-called solid faecal 

 excreta. These excretal matters are mixed in the closets 

 and sewers with about 214,000 tons of water, the re- 

 mains (after evaporation, t*vc.) of the daily supply of 

 80,000,000 gallons to the population. The rain- fall 

 would be a large addition to this. The quantity de- 

 posited by the 60,000 horses and other animals in Lon- 

 don cannot be so accurately ascertained, but enough has 

 been stated to show how suitable is the fluid condition 

 to its transmission to any distant point, and to its sub- 

 sequent entrance into the soil and subsoil as food for 

 plants. This is consistent with the facts on my own 

 farm, where, after applying to the soil, by hose and jet, 

 large quantities of animal excrement, mixed with water, 

 there is no perceptible indication on the surface of any 

 solid matter having been applied. Mr. Lawes, in a very 

 able and voluminous paper on sewage, read before the 

 Society of Arts, March 7th, 1855, suggests that not less 

 than 20,000 acres of grass land should receive the whole 

 sewage of London, and that 10,000 tons per acre might 

 be applied with advantage. This would be equal to a 

 rain-lall of 4 years, or 100 inches. He also anticipates 

 a rental for such land of £20 or £30 per acre. His 

 paper is well worth reading. At Edinburgh, as much 

 as 6,000 tons per Scotch acre are applied ; and I believe 

 it is less diluted than the London sewage. In such ex- 

 tensive dressings there must be much waste and nuis- 

 ance ; besides, it is highly desirable than over an ex- 

 tensive area, irrigated land should be occasionally broken 

 up, and thus afford ample and frequent cereal crops. I 

 consider, however, that Mr. Lawes has miich under- 

 valued town sewage, and that the area of distribution 

 should be far greater than he recommends. He appears 

 to have placed no vaiuR on the water alone, as a fertili- 

 zing element. 



Hoio many Acres would the London Sewage fer- 

 tilize 1 — Cost of Application — Prospect of Remunera- 

 tion to a Company. — Before this question can be 

 answered, we muit settle whether we are to manure for 

 a rotation of ordinary farming crops, or to produce 

 enormous crops of Italian rye grass, pasture, root, and 

 other green crops, for the production of meat and dairy 

 produce. These green and root crops would absorb an 

 enormous supply of sewage — probably as much as 1,000 

 to 3,000 tons per acre ; but, in preparation for the alter- 

 nate mode of ordinary cropping, 200 to 300 tons would 

 be a more suitable dressing. 2,000 tons would probably 

 be equal in value, for green crops, to one ton of guano ; 

 and, at one penny per ton, would cost only half its 

 price. I am aware that Mr. Lawes and Dr. Gilbert 

 have estimated it at a lower value than this, but they 

 took no account of the bulk as rain-fall. Now 2,000 tons 

 per acre are equal to an additional rain-fall of 20 inches 

 (nearly a year's supply) ; and we all know the value of 

 moisture for green and root crops, and we also know 

 that guano, or any other manure, is valueless without 

 water. It would be, doubtless, much to the advantage 

 of the company to supply large quantities on a limited 

 area, as demanding a shorter length of mains and 

 branches, although they must be of a larger diameter. 

 If treated on the rotation principle, one million of acres 

 would not be too large an area, as only the half not in 

 corn, or 500,000 acres, would require, annually, an irri- 

 gation of 300 tons; but, on the forcing green crop 

 principle, about 80,000 acres, at 2,000 tons per acre, 

 annually, would take the whole London sewage of 

 500,000 tons per day. Mr. Telfer, of Cumming Park, 

 Ayr, tells me that he applies 500 tons of water per 

 Scotch acre, at five dressings, to bis Italian rye grass, 

 with 500 cwt. of guano at each dressing, making a total 



annual application of 25 cwt. of guano per Scotch acre 

 (one-fourth larger than the English acre.) In addition 

 to the guano, the excreta of his 40 cows are mixed with 

 the 500 tons of water. This is high farming, but then, 

 with only 50 Scotch acres, Mr. Telfer keeps 40 dairy 

 cows and grows ample produce besides — and makes it 

 pay zvell. What a small proportion his rent must bear 

 to his produce 1 In considering where the sewage 

 should be applied, I should select poor and barren dis- 

 tricts, which, under its influence, would, like the once 

 barren Edinburgh meadows, soon become fertile dis- 

 tricts ; and it would be well to choose places beyond 

 the reach of the returning dung-carts. But it is to be 

 remembered, that much of our grass land, in the vicinity 

 of the metropolis, would be enormously advantaged 

 by liberal supplies of fluidized manure, during the 

 spring and summer, particularly where the cows are 

 grazed. 



The cost of application, within a radius of 30 

 miles, should be one penny per ton. To cart it by road 

 that distance would cost one pound per ton. A grass 

 farmer requiring 1,000 tons per acre would thus have 

 to pay £4 3s. 4d. Had he my experience of sewage, he 

 would rejoice in the results by a more than a doubled 

 hay crop, and abundant feed. 



Would it pay a Company to deliver the Sewage 

 at One Penny per Tonl — In order to arrive at sound 

 approximate data on this point, I have minutely in- 

 vestigated the Blue Books containing the detailed work- 

 ings of our nine metropolitan water companies, and find, 

 that in 1849 their consumption of coal for pumping was, 

 for the year, about ^^10,000, and the quantity of water 

 delivered, nearly 18,000 millions of gallons. This year 

 the probable supply of water will be double that quan- 

 tity, say 36,500 millions of gallons, or 100 millions of 

 gallons per day ; and the cost of coal for the year about 

 £18,000. Now, if the Sewage Company are to deliver 

 this water supply (minus one-fifth for evaporation, &c-), 

 and, in addition, a considerable portion of rain-fall, 

 equal in total quantity to 500,000 tons a day, their 

 coals for pumping would cost them £100 per day 

 (£36,500 per annum), or one-twentieth part of a penny 

 per ton, leaving 19-20ths of a penny per ton for other 

 expenses, and profit on investment. I have allowed for 

 a liberal supply of coals, seeing that the Company 

 would have to employ greater force, to convey the sew- 

 age to the distant districts. 



Assuming that they supplied 500,000 tons 

 of sewage daily at Id. per ton, it would 

 amount annually to £760,416 



Deduct coals for pumping 36,500 



Leaving , £728,916 



to pay working expenses, and interest on investment. 

 From my knowledge of piping and pumping, I can 

 safely say that it would leave an ample profit on the 

 necessary investment, if judiciously and economically 

 managed. An investigation of Appendix No. 1, 

 General Board of Health Report on the supply of water 

 to the metropolis, published by Clowes and Son (1851), 

 would reveal the astounding number of stand-pipes, fire- 

 plugs (one company alone has more than 10,000 of these), 

 of trunk and other mains, branch mains, side services, 

 and services for small streets and courts — together 

 between 4,000 and 5,000 miles of piping — forming an 

 intricate maze of obstructive angles, compared with 

 which the delivery of sewage to farms would be child's 

 play. The quantity of engine power used and kept in 

 reserve by the London Water Companies is about 7,800 

 horse. This large supply is not always in use, but 

 meets the contingency of fluctuating demand, varying 

 with time of day and season. To a certain extent, the 

 same principle will apply to a sewage company, even 



