494 Town Sewage. 



abandoned, or the area greatly limited, and the application con- 

 fined almost exclusively to meadow and Italian rye-grass. On 

 the other hand, the undertakings which have been the most 

 successful from the agricultural point of view are those in 

 which the arrangements have been adapted for the almost exclu- 

 sive application to grass, and the application to other crops is 

 only exceptional. 



Geneeal Pkactical Conclusions. 



The practical conclusions deduced from the whole inquiry 

 may be briefly stated as follows : — 



1. It is only by a liberal use of water that the refuse matters 

 of large populations can be removed from their dwellings with- 

 out nuisance and injury to health. 



2. That the discharge of town sewage into rivers renders 

 them unfit as a water supply to other towns, is destructive of 

 their fish, causes deposits which injure their channels, gives 

 rise to emanations which are injurious to health, is a great waste 

 of manurial matter, and should not be permitted. 



3. That the proper mode of both utilizing and purifying 

 sewage is to apply it to land. 



4. That, considering the great dilution of town sewage, its 

 constant daily supply at all seasons, its greater amount in wet 

 weather when the land can least bear, or least requires more 

 water, and the cost of distribution, it is best fitted for applica- 

 tion to grass, which alone can receive it the year round. It may, 

 however, be occasionally applied with advantage to other crops 

 within easy reach of the line or area laid down for the con- 

 tinuous application to grass. 



5. That, having regard both to urban and rural interests, an 

 application of about 5000 tons of sewage per acre per annum, 

 to meadow or Italian rye-grass, would probably, in the majority 

 of cases, prove to be the most profitable mode of utilization, 

 though the quantity would have to be reduced, provided ex- 

 perience showed that the water was not sufficiently purified ; and 

 it is pretty certain that the former would not pay fc?., and it 

 is even very doubtful whether he could afford to pay \d. per 

 ton, the year round, for sewage of the average strength of that 

 of the Metropolis (excluding storm-water) delivered on his land. 



6. That the direct result of the general application of town 

 sewage to grass land vi^ould be an enormous increase in the pro- 

 duction of milk, butter, cheese, and meat ; whilst, by the con- 

 sumption of the grass, a large amount of solid manure, applicable 

 to arable land and to crops generally, would be produced. 



