SOILS KKKTILIZKRS, 



nil 



Investigations on the purification of Boston sewage, (". E. A. Winslow ami 

 10. I'.. I'HKLi's (U. aS'. (JcoJ. Stirrcj/, Wdtcr-Siipiil!/ tii\tl /nig. Paper No. 185, pp. 

 J(hi. /irj.s. .LI). — This paper t-oiitaiiis a liisloi'v (jf tlic sowajio disposiil problem 

 and reports the results of exi)eriuients made at the Sanitary Research Lab- 

 oratory and Sewa.tce Exiieriniciit Station of the Massaclnisctts Institute of 

 'l"cclniolo.i,'\-. 



It is stated that actual practice in Europe, outside of Enj^dand, is still largely 

 confined to chenncal treatment and irrigation. In England the tendency has 

 been largely toward the use of rapid processes of treatment. 



In the I'nited States sewaj^e disposal ])ractice differs widely in different 

 localiti(>s. In New Eii;,daiid intermittent filtration Ihrouj^h sand has been 

 lartiely used and found very satisfactory. West of the Appalachian Mountains 

 the ncwrr Inolou'ical processes are being rapidly introduced. In the extreme West 

 the use of sewage for irrigation is often favored. 



In the exi)erinients in the ti'eatment of Boston sewage very satisfactory 

 results were obtained by the i)rocess of purification by trickling over beds of 

 coarse material. It was found in these experiments that the sewage could be 

 " successfully filtered througli a 2-ft. bed of sand with an effective size of 0.14 

 mm., at a rate of 0.4 million gallons per acre per day, divided into 4 doses in 

 the 24 hours. Such high rates should not be expected in actual practice, but 

 it is believed that with care in construction and operation the sand filter may 

 lie efficient at higher rates than have been generally advocated. . . . Crude 

 I'.oston sewage may be treated in single-contact beds of fine stone (one-half inch 

 in diameter) at a rate of about 1.2 million gallons per acre per day." A 

 bibliography of 110 references is given. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



The value of poultry manure, E. and W. Brown {Jour. Bd. Afjr. [Lo)ifloii], 

 IS (1907). .\o. 1:^. pp. 77.0-7;.^7).— Observations made at the poultry farm of 

 University College. Reading, on the amount of manure produced by different 

 Ivinds of fowls under different systems of feeding, on the composition and 

 lelative value of the manures, and on metliods of caring for and using poultry 

 manure are rei)orted. 



The results of observations on the jirodnction of niamu'e wer(> as follows : 



I'nxiKcfioii (if inainirc hij (Hffcroit /r/»r/,v of fowls. 



Similar but less comjilete obserxaf ions were made with ducks, geese, and 

 turkeys. A 7-lb. duck ])i-oduced lbs. and lOj oz. of manure per week, a 17-lb. 

 tnrk(>y 4 li)s. and 1 ', oz., ;ind a goose 10 lbs. and 1 oz. 



5871— No. 12-07 2 



