52 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



ratio. If we do not devise some plan by which this waste 

 can be prevented, we shall by-and-by be forced to do it. 



Col. Henry W. Wilson of Boston. Mr. Chairman, — The 

 paper is a very creditable performance, and from the speaker's 

 standpoint, and with the purpose he has had in view for 

 many years, having given much attention to such subjects, 

 he has presented, as fully as it could be done by anybody in 

 the time allowed him, a summary of what has been suc- 

 cessfully accomplished in this direction. I wish that he had 

 also indicated some of the admitted failures. We often- 

 times learn a great deal more by the failures of other men 

 than we do by their successes. Such are the varying condi- 

 tions in different places, that what proved to be a failure in 

 one case might be a triumphant success elsewhere. 



I hardly know where to begin to discuss this question, 

 because it is so extensive, and its ramifications are so inter- 

 woven with domestic life. It has its sanitary aspects as well 

 as its economical phases, and they are so intermingled that 

 it is almost impossible to separate them. 



As I understand it, this discussion to-day is to be, and 

 ought to be, restricted exclusively to the economical ques- 

 tion of the utilization of sewage in agriculture, and conse- 

 quently, I shall throw aside at once, all those considerations 

 which are concerned with the epuration of sewage, so called ; 

 that is, the purification of it to prevent its creating a 

 nuisance. 



The very first consideration is to be sure of our facts. 

 You remember the old story of Dr. Franklin. When the 

 savants of Paris wanted to know why, if a fish was put into 

 a pail of water, the water would not weigh any more with 

 the fish than without, and they had discussed the question a 

 good while without discovering a satisfactory reason, they 

 finally referred the problem to the doctor for solution. He 

 heard their statement of the case, and then said : " Gentle- 

 men, suppose you try the experiment, and see whether that 

 is the fact." Now that is the question to which we must 

 direct our attention. Before we attempt to discuss the util- 

 ization of this material, we should know whether it is what 

 we want when we get it ; if it contains what we need ; if we 



