TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 405 



eight indicated horse-power each. They are run with a con- 

 sumption of about 31b. of coal per I.H.P. per hour. The 

 pumps are four in number (two to each engine). They are 

 double-acting, and of the usual type for sewage-pumping. 

 Each pair is capable of throwing 3,500 gallons per minute. 

 The boilers are three in number, of the usual Lancashire type, 

 and fitted with Galloway tubes. It is usual to work only one 

 engine and one boiler at a time. The working pressure is 501b., 

 and the vacuum generally stands at 27in. The cost of working, 

 including coals, general stores, wages, and repairs, is, say, £730 

 per annum. 



In times of excessive floods the sewage is sometimes pumped 

 to the estuary direct, for the sake of economy. It is then, of 

 course, largely diluted with subsoil - water and rainwater, 

 which gets ni through the ventilators and house-connections 

 in low-lying localities. 



The iron main to the sandhills is a mile and three quarters 

 long, of 24in. diameter. It has been laid with turned and bored 

 joints, which have never shown any sign of leakage. The mean 

 lift is 30ft. 



At the end of the rising main the sewage enters a wooden 

 flume for a short distance, and thence goes into a settling- 

 pond; thence along an open carrier, about a mile in length, and 

 through a second settling-pond, before it is distributed in the 

 branch carriers and applied to the land. A large quantity of 

 sewage sludge, which proves injurious to the land by choking 

 the pores, is caught in the settling-ponds. These are cleaned 

 out periodically. 



Having arrived at the farm, the sewage is distributed by 

 carriers over seventeen paddocks laid down with English and 

 Italian rye-grasses, and there treated by surface irrigation. 

 The liquid has not only to pass over the surface, but must 

 percolate through the land before it is caught by the effluent- 

 water drains, through which it is discharged into the estuary. 

 The area of land prepared for irrigation is at present only 36 

 acres, and consists of a very sandy loam. It has not been 

 found necessary as yet to provide subsoil drains, owing to the 

 extremely porous nature of the soil. The growth of grass is 

 very prolific. Only two cuttings of hay are made each year, 

 as it is found more profitable to feed cattle and dispose of them 

 in the shape of beef. 



None of the grass paddocks have as yet been ploughed 

 since they were formed ; but this may shortly be found neces- 

 sary in some of those at first laid down, owing to a tendency 

 to rankness in the grass and the presence of Yorkshire fog. 

 They are formed level on their longitudinal section, and slope 

 each way from the branch carrier, with a fall of 1 in 150. 

 Each paddock contains about two acres. 



