74 Me. Smith on Sewage Water of Towns. 



country on any of the main lines of pipe, apart fi-oni the town and the 

 dense population. The removal of the sewage water in its original fluid 

 condition by pumping, and its conveyance in pipes to the spot where it is 

 to be applied, obviously afford a simple and efficient mode of dealing with 

 it. It has been ascertained by careful calculation that sewage water can 

 in this manner be taken up and conveyed a distance of ten miles, and be 

 thrown upon the ground in most equal distribution, at a cost of 3d. per 

 ton; containing all the elements, unchanged and undiminished, and be 

 presented to the great chemist Nature, to be dealt with by the never- 

 ceasing and costless labourers of the vegetable kingdom. The pumping, 

 conveyance, and distribution had been tested at several places on a suffi- 

 cient scale to demonstrate its perfect practicability and efficacy. The 

 first experiment of the pumjnng, conveyance in pipes, and distribution by 

 hose, was made at Clitheroe, in Lancashire, under Mr. Smith's direction, 

 by Mr. Henry Thomson of the extensive print-works there. The liquid 

 consisted of the sewage of a village of the ordinary character, with that 

 from the works, which contained, of course, a greater amount of soap suds 

 and alkaline matter ; this was thrown into a tank containing the di-ainage 

 from a farm-yard. The pumping, conveyance, and distribution by the 

 hose, answered admirably. The experiment was made on some old 

 meadow land. This liquid was applied to a meadow at the rate of about 

 eight tons per statute acre, whilst farm manure at the rate of fifteen tons 

 per acre was applied to a corresponding extent. The grass from the 

 liquid manure grew considerably more luxuriant than that from the farm- 

 yard manure ; but, unfortunately, the relative weights produced were not 

 ascertained on cutting. The next experiment was made on a farm on the 

 estate of Possil, near Glasgow, by Mr. Robert Harvey, of the Port- 

 Dundas Distillery, who, in the most enterprising and spirited manner, at 

 Mr. Smith's suggestion, laid down pipes for conveying liquid manure over 

 his whole farm, consisting of upwards of three hundred acres, and had the 

 liquid manure from a dairy of upwards of five hundred cows pumped to 

 an altitude of more than seventy feet. The distribution of liquid manure 

 has been carried on on this farm for more than four years, very little 

 solid manure being used except for comparative purposes. The distribu- 

 tion is chiefly on what may be termed the low pressure system, as instead 

 of being jetted with force to form an artificial shower, it is simply allowed 

 to be discharged upon the surface (by tin-plate pipes of about an inch and 

 half in diameter, and four feet in length, fitting into each other with slip 

 joints, and these can be led to discharge the liquid at any point within 

 their range, which can be extended to a length of two or three hundred 

 yards, if necessary). In this manner, one man can distribute the manure 

 over from one to two acres per day. The manure is thus applied to pas- 

 ture land, to gi-ass for cutting, for house-feeding, and for making hay. It 

 is applied also to stubble land, and to fallow, and has uniformly raised 

 magnificent crops of grass, potatoes, turnips, wheat, beans, barley, and 

 oats, on land not of the best quality. These men are employed during 



