Toion Sewage. 493 



mittee of 1862, he stated, very emphatically, that his great error 

 had been the piping of too much land ; that he required 5000 

 tons per acre for 10 acres of rye-grass ; and that, applying the 

 remainder to 35 acres of meadow, he had none to spare for 

 wheat. In other words, although the abandonment of one acre 

 of rye-grass would set free sewage enough for nearly 40 acres 

 of wheat, if applied only at the rate which yielded the large 

 gross return per ton of sewage so frequently quoted, yet his 

 Lordship's practical experience had led him to prefer the appli- 

 cation to the one acre of rye-grass rather than to the nearly 

 40 acres of wheat. Further, his Lordship gave it as his opinion 

 that sewage would not be profitable to the farmer unless he 

 could have it at from \d. to ft/, per ton. 



In reference to the application of sewage to corn crops, it may 

 be stated that, in an experiment made by the Commission at 

 Rugby, with oats, a very high gross money return per ton of 

 sewage was also obtained. The experiment was made in the 

 unusually productive season of 1863, and with sewage of about 

 double the average strength of that of the Metropolis, applied 

 during a period of very dry weather. The results were, there- 

 fore, quite exceptional, and cannot be taken as affording any 

 indication of what might be expected from the application of 

 small quantities of sewage to corn crops generally, on different 

 soils, and on the average of seasons. There carmot, indeed, be 

 a doubt, that to obtain a maximum gross value of produce from 

 a given amount of sewage, it should be applied in small quan- 

 tities per acre, and in dry weather. But sewage is produced in 

 large daily amount at all seasons, and must be disposed of as 

 soon as it is produced. It must, therefore, be applied in winter, 

 when of comparatively little value, as well as in summer, when 

 of more, and it would frequently be quite inapplicable to arable 

 land. Moreover, to obtain an increased gross money-return per 

 ton of sewage by using it on a comprehensive scale lor corn and 

 other ordinary rotation crops, would involve the extra cost of 

 main distribution over a ten-fold, if not a twenty-fold area, and 

 require the aid of pipes and hose and jet, instead of open runs. 



At Malvern and Tavistock the application of sewage to grass- 

 land has now been carried on for some years, but at Worthing it 

 has only very recently been commenced. 



From this short review of the experience of practical men 

 who have undertaken the utilization of sewage with a view to 

 profit, it appears that, wherever arrangements have been made 

 for the application of small quantities over large areas, to corn 

 and other rotation crops on arable land, and by means of pipes 

 and hose and jet, the undertaking has either been entirely 



