

THE Ac, i: re "ULTrilAL GAZETTE. 





bi 

 I 



1 t!ui 



per toy, or millions *t«r g per an 



part* if I eofeehire it is the «*tom to value the 



manure at half e eoel f the oil-cake consumed On 

 this principle, wl h appears to be a sound one the 



* r»f the manure from tins 3* milli 



ions 



I* 



d attentively Profewor Wav'a 



In the i rain oi an. 1 • 



or water in L« will take il out sga in ; 



aeeordii^ t i Way mud other chemist 



inhabitant will nlr add We* tons in I 



to the quantity of water. 



^n«*uieuri»te »tu 

 able pawr on Town Sewage (we Royal Agricultural 

 Sodety'«J<mre»J, vol. 1>, pari l,j>»g# »»). " lt " l!d 

 tea t them a great and proAtal tion. They w dd 

 learn that of all the man made by human befogs 

 (and I have no doubt 1 animal 1 '2 parts out of I • in 

 wettfht escape ma urine, on!; l-Uth part being solid ! 

 Well may farmers I- e the sheep- (o , and well may 

 they d lore yard feeding, where tl raina from the 

 n .trough* I roofa may, in too many instance*, thua take 

 away nearly all their manure. Mr Way, will us usual 

 ea» and exactness, ha* found tha taking the average 

 of l w« o, and children, each ii ual of the 



population will in the rourae of 24 hour* contribute to 

 the sewage of a town one quarter of a p of solid 



and three pond* < paid excrement. A kaowbdge 

 ofthaee faeta shows u* how trivial i* the question of 

 •old manure, for at a quart* f a pound each daily the 

 total • manor* 1)00 people in this metropolis 



will only wei^h 270 tea*. 



According to Mr. W*}, the ex ement f each person 



i ted wah or distributed through M gallons or 



1 100 tinea it i w 'ht of water. Itmnst ap^ar 



ainguU a disinterested observer that whilst farmer* 



seek eagerly after every new manure, and are sub- 



ected to much impoaition *uch purchases, they 



appear to be apathetic on the question wn sewage. 



1 think much of this neglect must arise from the fat 

 of its bring in a fl 1 state, for to the distance f 100 

 mile* * London tl 1 mature of the metr- 



s purchased I y agriculturist* at an expense of fron 

 -U.C tobj. per tot me-balfof thin cost » ng, of course, 

 for f '-age, mid then another 30 to ) per cent, must 



>e add'il for cartage to lite ii' s with a further charj 

 for turn % over, xpreading, ploughing to, ftc, Oinlt- 

 tio| the sanitary c< ideration, there tan be class so 

 deeply interested in the < -stion of town sewage a the 

 r.n h farmer. Those sewers carry away to our river* 

 all the | ruct* which he ha* at 80 much care and cost 

 produced For the I of the p« pie. To repair the 

 e\l .*tion caused by theso supplh rushes to 1 ru 



for birda dung, at an expense f some million*, whilst 

 the very grave-yards of foreign nations are taxed to 

 anpply bone* for hi* Turnip*. The rapid increase of 

 water closets and new sewers, with a more abundant 



Water supply, are daily lessening the supply of human on my fai , or on any of those of others who are 

 DSeretas in a solid form, diminishing:, in fact, jwe (unto, practising the same process. What J want you to 



the ordinary channel of suppl that shortly we may believe is, that town sewage is liquid guano, applicable 



expect that < y the stable manure and ashes of London to every soil and every crop, and worthy of your 

 will be availble for agricultural purposes, whilst the utmost attention. It is true that undrained land, 

 weekly supply of tiOOO or 7000 bui ks, 40,000 sheep, requiring drainage, such as heavy clays and spring soil, 

 and ail the other vast solid and thud consumeables of must undergo that operation before they can derive the 



benefit of such an application ; but there are extensive 

 tracts of chalks, sands, and hot gravels, almost praying 

 to be fertilised by the sewage of our towns. 



Although I apply my liquified manure on the surface, 

 pur | ose | I am quite convinced that during the summer season 

 therefore this evening to go into statistical details with a and amongst the growing crops, it would be far more 

 view to ventilate the question, and to prove how easily advantageous to apply it subterraneously, as effected bv 

 «uch an operation may be successfully carried out with Mr. Wilkin* last year at W« ingbam, and this year at 

 Individual and ge ral benefits. Water alone is manure: Heading. By this means the openness and tillage of 

 who can doubt this 1 Look to the . rtly water meadows the surface is undisturbed ; the rays of heat andlight 



in various parts of the kingdom, and what farmer who are employed in warming the earth, and evaporattng 

 ha* - ~-»- » *- *■ -- - - " -* -• ■ - r & 



m. Now in i that the new company has laid down its main ijrr . 



pipes for country distribution, where will \oufJ 

 the 3/. per acre for the net-work of iron ' ** 





agricultural value of the m 



of food ought to be s. rhh very considerable, to I 

 Both 2 of the food consumed by the animals of the 

 metropolis. The rubb _ , washing, and agitating which 

 the solid excrement receives in passing through miles of 

 tortuous »ewers, cause it to be dissolved and pass away 

 in a fluid state, which we may any da; prove by an 

 examination of the sewers' mouths at low water. 

 I think farmers cannot be aware that all the solid 

 and liquid manure of men and animals is hquinable 

 by solution or suspension, and can be applied in a 

 shower, sinking deeply into the subsoil of drained 

 land. Perhaps I may be here? permitted to explain 

 why I consider this mode of application far superior 

 to "the solid form. I! you make a transverse cut or 

 < ng in the soil, you will find that the British 

 ae. ultural \ crust is only 5 to 8 inches thick. 



Fhe slip* and railway cuttings plainly reveal this humi- 

 liating fact. Below "this thin crust we see a primitive 

 s , bearing most unmiatake able evidence of antiquity 

 and nnalterabtlity. The dark shades of the cultivated 

 and manured surface have not been communicated to 

 the } ale subsoil ; and we have evident proof that solid 

 manure ploughed in, in the ordinary way, exercises little 

 influence on the subsoil. Nor can this be wondered at, 

 when the plough sole has I D ; lulling and solidifying 

 the floor at the same depth for the last few centuries. 

 Now, when 1 apply liquified manure (which means all 

 the solid and Tup 1 excrements of the farm animals 

 mixed with water), it soaks deeply into the subsoil to 

 the depth of the drains, which I have seen, on the very 

 strongest clay*, discharging the liquified manure at a 

 depth of and 5 feet. Ii» re, then, is the secret of my 

 great crops on a miserable soil. The manure vitalises, 

 warm*, and chemically changes the miserable subsoil ; 

 the roots of the growmg crops know this, and send 

 down their fibre* or mouths to appropriate and elaborate 

 the subterranean I sures now for the first time placed 

 at their disposal in an available condition. I could 

 show you 2 o loads of rich oilcake bullock pudding, or 

 manure; I wot I mix it with water, apply it in a 

 shower, and you should search the surface in vain for 

 any proof of it* whereabout. It has gone down to 

 do its work. I will not drag you through all the 



letails of the modus rypcrandi of this method of 

 manuring ; you may see it all any clay you choose 



the metropolis, from tea to turtle, will be floating down 

 the sewer* unh 1 and unsolicited. 



This cruel neglect can only arise from a disbelief of 

 the vahie of such manure, or from a doubt of the 

 possibility of applying it economically. I 



a wattr meadow doe* not appreciate its great value from the leaves, the subt* rranean supply of fluids which 



. '" *cres naa proved mat nuid vol ving considerations of cost, but most certainly pro- 

 applications of manure are far the most profitable, and duction is vastly increased and stimulated by the new 

 that their influence is quite a* important and ad van- method, 

 tageor to cereal as toother crops. 



I have threshed some fields of 



In proof of this 



One important reason for the superiority of liquified 



^ _ , . t ^ heat > P r °dticing over solid manures, is, that water is the mat arrester 



<5 quarters per imperial acre ; Oats, 18 quarters; and 



Barle; « quar rs, which latter is 1 quarter more than 

 I estimated in my balance sheet. Now such produc- 

 tions a* these on a naturally wretched soil j >ve 

 ire than volumes of argument, and 1 have no hesi- 



and conveyance of ammonia, that invisible and truant 

 ; spirit which is ever escaping unseen from reeking 

 j dung- heaps. It is this ammonia which dissolves the 



silica of the soil, and makes the kernel of our Wheat 

 : and the lean of our flesh ; and it is for this ammonia 



answer 



do w n 



my purpose to lay aown j es, err 

 an engine, make tanks, erect pumps, and so on, for 

 the mere purpose of applying the manure made on 

 my farm in a fluid state with a large si water 



from my spring, surely it must equally and more 

 certainly pay a farmer to receive back his 

 bullocks, sheep, and other productions after they ar 

 j 00 * with at a very much fmaller cost ; for their 

 ▼cry essence will return to him accompanied by all 

 ^JF*** things that metropolitan luxury can command 



every foreign part. If we go into a statistical 



will cot corn as well 

 bow too much seed. 



»iici we fcueepuau, ana you 

 straw, that is, if you do not 



orn 



You must give up all 1 pes of obtaining town sewage 

 in a solid form, for Professor Way's able paper (which 

 very agriculturist should read), in the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Se ety*« Journal, and other evidences are con- 

 clusive on that point I understand upon good authority 

 that the commissioners of sewers have decided that a 

 main tunnel on the south side of the Thames shall 

 receive the sewage of 1,200,000 people, convey it to 



inquiry of the w**kt« * n ™U «# i^a • * <r Plumstead marshes, whence it will be pumped in a 



J^;!^ U L^ reservoir, and at high tide pass away with the flood 



WAt»r #vf *ll« Tkamnn *l.„* Z» It T> •.• 1 . 



fr 



% Urp 



requisite on every iarm. n appears to me that 

 the eapital is required it may be readily obtain* 

 the Lands Improvement Company or Land D__ 

 Company, and that the annual charge which eLj 

 liquidate principal and interest in a few years m! 

 leave a large margin of advantage for both landlord^! 

 tenant. To those who desire to see the mode of an!? 

 ing town sewage may be quoted the instance of (Jg 

 Walker, Esq., who" takes the town of Rugby, 4^. 

 — Worsley, Esq., of Rusholme Park, near ManckeaJ 

 who uses the sewage of a neighbouring district. In b*5 

 these cases, steam-power is applied, although I tl^ 

 Mr. Walker's pipes of 3-inch diameter are hardlvW 

 enough for the diameter of his pumps. 



Of course if the London sewage is used, I a,pprehajj 

 it would be pumped to elevated ^ district reserve ■ 

 whence it would flow from main pipes connected 1ft 

 mailer ones on the various farms, so that theyworfj 

 be always charged with a sufficient pressure to caoae 

 a jet ; this would render unnecessary any steam eugim 

 or tank on the farm. A register of quantity lft e k 

 gas meter would enable the company to make their 

 periodical charge. I annex the following statistical 

 account with which I have been favoured by Edwin 

 Chadwick, Esq., C.B., our greatest authority in t 

 matters :— 



" The gross daily quantity of nater pumped into the metre; 

 was in the year 1850, 44 million gallons. It may have hea 

 increased somewhat since that time, but I should expect thr 

 would still be within 50 million gallons per diem. I proved* 

 that time that about three-fifths of the quantity pumped in i u 

 wasted on account of the intermittent methods of distribute. 

 The actual quantity consumed for domestic purposes, or that j* 

 could estimate for sewage as containing house refuse, or luss 

 manure in suspension or solution at times when there is norta 

 applicable as manure, would not be more than 20 million gtlkn 

 per diem. I say house manure because rain and storm witm 

 bring as surface washings dung from the streets, andsoctai 

 birds' dung from the roof of houses. You may judge of the fa 

 quantity visibly by the fact, that 45 million gallons would H 

 delivered in 24 hours by a brook 9 feet wide and 3 feet day, 

 running at the rate of 3 feet per second, or a little m* 

 than two miles per hoar, and three sewers of 3 fm 



ameter, and of a proper fall will suffice for the renwnl 

 (for distribution) of the same volume of refuse or a! 

 water. The total weight of this annual supply of water ■ 

 nearly 72 millions of tons. The daily cost of raising the wke 

 supply by engine-power 100 feet high (for distribution) would 

 about" 25 J., or 9000/. per annum. Supposing the supply wn 

 equally distributed, i €., the 44 millions, it would be aboutSOjuij 

 lull for each house, and would weigh about 13 cwt." 



sugar 



power' invofv^lntT "oSmion TuTl^ ?*"' **"*?*, *£">*>* - ** 1-ded , r^-ie- 



«d granite.! .«Mion, o i™ 1 nlvl.nt l"" Vv^ € *7 '" te " 8ted .parties joining with town 



juration and ^fJ^JSXrSX2 "' - ^^ "*" ^ ^^^ ™« 



nave alt a considerable value. 



The 



mere wear and tear of ^leather has its 



w - - ©-—- ** **v~,i miv pavement 



I apprehend that the daily coat of feedi 



hollo 



!*f5L? grjnde down the pavement into 

 Irtdual in tbi. i-tro^^^^ 



opportunity to open up a country with general benefit 

 Let the same be done with sewage. Depend unon 

 without this co-operation no town capitalists will be 

 miscalculating as to place their capital at the mercy Tf 

 local prejudice or neglect. It therefore remains with 



Those who doubt the cheapness at which water 

 be raised may be assured by visiting the Croyda 

 Water-works, where 050,000 gallons are forced to i 

 mile distant, and elevated 150 feet, at a cost of \Z\ c? 

 of dust coal per diem of 24 hours. With regard tothe 

 mode of conveyance, it appears to me that our railwij 

 lines might be availed of to lay down lines of pipes, hit 

 of course all such questions would be easily arrange 4 

 by competent engineering authorities. Perhaps it wi 

 be as well to state, that 15 yards of 3-inch iron pipe 

 per acre, will be all that is required, or about o\ cwtof 

 iron per acre ; this is the quantity on my farm, Ibiu 

 1 70 acres piped. Amongst numerous papers that I 

 have written on this subject, I beg to refer to one uu<ltf 

 the head Sewage, in " Blackie's Cyclopaedia of Agrici 

 ture." The value of London sewage has been variously 

 estimated ; but Professor Way, in his usual careful wt. 

 has calculated it by its ammonia at two millions sterling 

 He has made no valuation of the water alone ; I appre- 

 hend that 50 millions of gallons daily, or 224,000 t«s 

 would have, even when unmixed with manure, a c* 

 siderable irrigating value. 



In order to ascertain whether this application rf 

 sewage will pay the farmer a profit, and leave a su£" 

 cient interest for the capital invested by a company, & 

 us calculate 72 million tons of sewage at one pennyp* 

 ton, would be 300,000/. Now, take the pumping * 

 raising this quantity at the exaggerated sum of 50, f 

 annually, there would remain 250.000/. as interest • 

 capital invested, which, at six per cent., would be ft* 

 the exaggerated sum of 4,000,000/. sterling. 



I have assumed the sum of one penny per ton as * 

 presenting that which would leave the iarmer and to* 

 lord a very large profit on their pipe investment. I** 1 

 confirm this by my own practical experience. Bu 

 must be obvious to any one who reasons that as 100W 1 

 of water per acre represents a rain fall of 24 nouft 

 this alone, without ther saturation of manure, must* 

 worth one penny per ton, or 8s. 4d. per acre, and * 

 deed in dry weather for Grass crops very much m° 

 As to the quantity required per acre, Mr. Tel^, 

 Canning Park, Ayr, tells me that he applies 500 ' 

 of water per Scotch acre at five dressings, to his Ift^ 

 Rye-Grass, with five cwt. of Guano at each drew 

 making a total annual application of 25 cwt. of G °S 

 per Scotch acre (one-fourth larger than the m 

 acre). This is in a naturally moist climate, therer^ 

 we may estimate the water- absorbing power oi 

 barren sandy wastes in the neighbourhood of the rot 

 polis far more considerable. That those wastes *^Jj 

 he rendered highly productive after the application 

 town sewage cannot be doubted. ^ 



The experiments of Mr. Wilkins, who gre* * 

 crops of Hemp and Flax in one season at Wokio| 



\0 



it, 

 so 



Md poor, young and old, would not be STthil Iff ! T^l n*" t? de , termine "**• this interesting 



i ««« man Wd. [ queauon shall receive its proper so ution Tint «,*v^: * 



Inst 



year, settle the question. Now, if y i,n J^ 

 500 tons per acre you will only require 152,Ct4J ^ 

 to absorb your 76 millions of tons. As 640 acres 

 a square mile, you would at that rate * € 9 0,r ^ 

 square miles, or a square area whose diameter ^ 

 be about 15 miles. I have a strong conviction 



proper solution. But supposing a very much larger quantity of sewage, eay 



1000 1# 







