AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 321 



per (lay, at the expense for labour of less than half a cent per ton. Two 

 of his men distribute a very heavy dressing of liquid manure on ten acres 

 per diem. 



Trial was made of the distribution of liquid manure, by a steam engine 

 on a barge belongiiig to the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, in a 

 canal in London. It appeared that within a quarter of a mile from the 

 baaks, 100 tons were distributed at a rate of expense of 41 cents. One 

 hundred tons would cover an acre to about an inch in depth ; a good shower 

 would cover it to about the depth of an eighth of an inch. The removal 

 of manure liquified, is a removal in a form in which it may be applied at 

 once ; whereas the removal by hand labor and cartage of the solid or semi- 

 fluid manure, from the town to the suburb, or from the barn to the farm, 

 is a removal in a form requiring a troublesome and oflFensive manipulation. 

 The offensiveness of night soil, is one great reason why it is not more used. 

 The convenience in the application of guano has diminished and lowered 

 the demand for this valuable substance. If this could be diluted and dis- 

 tributed hj pipe in the form of sewage, it wovild have the superiority m 

 convenience. 



The cheapness of lifting and removal on a large scale, by the power of 

 steam, renders the question of levels much less important than it has gen- 

 erally been considered. The expense of raising 45,000 gallons a hundred 

 feet high, by a twenty-five horse power engine, is only two shillings. 



Whatever be the manure, it must be carried to the height of the land, 

 and wheresoever solid manure is carried, liquid manure could be raised at 

 a. far cheaper rate. 



There appears to be some misconception in relation to the power of 

 pumping, and apprehensions are often expressed that mixtures of common 

 dung would clog the pipes, and could not be pumped. This is a mistake, 

 as thick mud, filled with fi.brous matter, has been pumped through a hose 

 twenty-four hundred feet long. I believe that the dirt in our streets might 

 be made to cover the Central Park, through pipes by means of a steam 

 engine, at the rate of six shillings per inch of depth per acre, (equal to 134 

 cubic yards,) which could not be carried and.^ spread by man and horse 

 power for less than six dollars per inch of depth per acre. 



The distribution of liquid manure may be accomplished through flexible 

 hose with lateral openings, like the eyelet holes of a lady's stays, very 

 rapidly, and with much less power than is required to discharge by the jet, 

 and at a less expense, with more equal distribution. One man and a boy, 

 with the aid of a twelve-horse power steam engine, would be enabled to 

 distribute more liquids in a given time than twenty water carts, each re- 

 quiring a horse and driver. 



While the method with the engine is available at all times, the water 

 cart cannot be got on the land without injury, and at some seasons it would 

 be impracticable to use a cart at all. At such times, if the liquid were 

 carried on by the method in use in Belgium and Germany, the labor of two 



[Am. Inst.] 21 



