508 



JOURNAL of hokticultuee and cottage gaedenee. 



[ December 27, 1S61. 



in time could probably with, honest treatment be brought 

 back to what it was at first, a sound gravelly loam. About 

 3 feet deep a natural clay presented itself, and this made me 

 decide at once for drains. It is now seventeen winters since, 

 reckoning in the present, a re-arrangement of the ground 

 took place and it was drained ; plain-trenched I cannot say 

 that it was, for what with new fruit-borders, shifting walks, 

 and so on, a great body of soil was removed to new positions. 

 Care was taken to keep the bottom spit down as much as 

 possible. Sotting wood and d&ris, the accumulation of 

 several years, and famous as a preserve for rats, were cleared 

 out of the back yards, and added as the completion and 

 planting went on, and this was all the manure afforded. 

 Just before sowing-time next spring soot and salt were | 

 applied as a top-dressing, and the greater part of the ground 

 was cropped with Potatoes. The result was upwards of 

 two hundred sacks per acre, of a sort of Kidney much 

 grown about here at that time, excellent as a cropper but 

 worthless to eat. 



This example serves to show the beginning of a principle 

 upon which old gardens can be renovated, and let me add, 

 all holdings, be they great or small, agricultural or horti- 

 cultural. For my own part rather than allow the excuse of 

 want of dung to distress me, I would delve into and break 

 up the most uncongenial subsoil as a means of compen- 

 sating for the want. I had no liquid-manure tanks here, 

 neither from the state of affairs with which we had to con- 

 tend for some years would the idea of making them have 

 been entertained ; but as time rolled on hard cropping began 

 to tell once more on the soil, and the knowledge that the 

 nourishment which it required was running daily away to 

 pollute the river, caused the masons to be set to work to 

 form a tank. From one, in due course, we advanced to two, 

 and also two large soft-water tanks, which catch the rain 

 that falls on the roof of the house and outbuildings ; and, as 

 if human nature were never satisfied, I want another of each 

 kind. The ground here has never shown any signs of ex- 

 haustion since I have used the sewage ; of course it also 

 receives the decayed vegetable matter, tree leaves, and other 

 rubbish annually collected on the premises, with the addition 

 of the decayed manure of a two-light hotbed judiciously 

 applied, occasional dressings of lime rubbish, or a few 

 bushels of quicklime, and the sweepings of chimneys. Still 

 these additions would not be nearly sufficient to keep the 

 soil productive without the application of the sewage. 



Having arrived at this point, I will now try to describe 

 the manner in which I apply the sewage to the land, and in 

 order to do so intelligibly, I have taken measurements, and 

 made calculations, the results of which will, I hope, come 

 within the comprehension of the least informed of my readers, 

 and meet the wants of the smallest operator. 



I will take as my basis an area of 44 square yards of turf, 

 covering the roots of our largest Apple tree. Our largest 

 sewage tank holds 850 gallons (not including the unpump- 

 able sediment), which would weigh about 4 tons. Our hand- 

 waggon holds 30 gallons, and by this I have been enabled 

 to know the exact quantities I have allowed for the above 

 space. Three hundred gallons of sewage to the 44 square 

 yards is as much as this soil will carry, and I avoid driblets 

 as I would the plague. Except with light, sandy, and gravelly 

 soils, Gne can pretty well judge when the ground is tho- 

 roughly saturated, for then the water will run from the sur- 

 face. 



I withhold sewage from fruits and vegetables till such 

 time as they most require it. I give it to the Cabbage 

 family, and all succulent plants at periods from their young 

 strength up to production ; to the pod-producers from their 

 midgrowth up to the last gathering ; to fruit trees in the 

 open ground as soon as the fruit is set and established 

 upon the trees, and again when it is half grown ; to Vines 

 from the time of the berries setting up to the first indications 

 of colouring; to orchard-house trees in pots from the fruit 

 being well established up to the first signs of its ripening. 

 I give a good soaking once a-week ; and this applies with 

 me to flowers in pots, even up to the time of their ceasing 

 to bloom, and to Eoses, evergreen shrubs, and deciduous 

 trees down to the Filberts, or to any spare ground during 

 the winter, and according to the amount of sewage manure 

 at command. For fruit-borders, previous to the application, 

 I slightly fork over the surface, and for turf under Apple 



trees I ply up the surface with the same implement gently, 

 to allow of the sewage sinking in, and prevent its running 

 off by the surface. 



On the supposition that 300 gallons of sewage have been 

 given to our Apple tree a week or so after the falling of the 

 blossom, and that the Apples are beginning to swell, when 

 they sorely tax the tree for nourishment, then apply 300 

 gallons more, and so that the extremities of the roots may 

 receive the greatest share. The quantity will then, in two 

 waterings, have amounted to 600 gallons to the 44 square 

 yards of ground, and that is the proportion which I allow, 

 whether the space be large or small, using judgment, how- 

 ever, and having regard to the thorough saturation of the 

 soil, of course, making allowances when this is in a wet state. 

 I water with the sewage in a dry time if possible, and on the 

 third day I work over the surface of the soil with a scratch- 

 trident, for if this operation were neglected the moisture 

 would be rapidly evaporated. Though we may be sure that 

 the soil would not part with any of the manurial particles 

 added to it by the sewage, let it filtrate downwards, or 

 evaporate upwards, still the condition in which its nutritive 

 properties are most available to the spongioles of the roots 

 is when the soil is kept open, warm, and moist. 



Now, as 44 square yards are to 4840 (the number of square 

 yards to an English acre), so are 600 gallons to 66,000, or 

 310 tons llcwt. 3 qrs. 20 lbs. — say 310 tons 12 cwt. From 

 chemical analysis 1 learn that 1250 tons of London or Edin- 

 burgh sewage are equivalent to 1 ton of Peruvian guano, 

 the present market price for which would be, I believe, 

 ,£13 12s. 6d. per ton. Then, according to the above calcula- 

 tion, 310 tons 12 cwt. of Woodstock sewage would be equal 

 to 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 20 lbs. of guano, and in value to £3- 7s. 1<2. 

 per acre, presuming the Woodstock sewage to be equal in 

 strength to that of London or Edinburgh. I have no reason 

 to believe that it is less so ; for the sewage of this house- 

 does not become intermixed with waste water, every drop 

 of which is made use of for some household purpose before 

 it enters the tanks, which also receive the excreta from the 

 closet, and soapsuds. The quantity of sewage from this 

 small establishment that I have distributed to the garden 

 in the last twelve months has been 8250 gallons, weighing 

 3S tons 16 cwt., calculated to be equal to 2 qrs. 13 lbs. of 

 guano, worth 8s. 4ci, which cost rather staggers one by its in- 

 significance, when the immense results that we have derived 

 from it are taken into consideration. It is quite evident 

 that there must have been other manurial agents at work 

 in the sewage, besides that equivalent in guano in a liquid 

 state, fit to be absorbed by the young rootlets of the plants 

 and trees. At any rate I consider the system is paying us 

 fifty per cent., notwithstanding that our sewage waggon has 

 recently had a new bottom, and the pump-bucket and hose 

 require repair. 



As respects deodorisation, I require but little assistance, 

 as the sewage here is seldom allowed to remain long enough 

 to become offensive; and I generally, during the summer 

 time, give my sewage-waterings in the evening, and by next 

 morning I find that the bad smell has almost disappeared, 

 in consequence of the gases being absorbed by the soil. 

 Connected with one of the tanks, however, there is a drain 

 leading direct from the scullery, and, there being no stink- 

 trap, I generally use a disinfectant, for the house-servants 

 complain of the effluvia in the kitchen; and, what is worse, 

 they complain of Mr. McDougall's disinfecting powder, which 

 I have for a long time been in the habit of using; they 

 declare it has a pitchy smell of its own worse than that of 

 the sewage. I used the box of powder which was sent to 

 me from your office early this spring as a disinfectant for 

 the tank and drain in question, and it immediately took 

 away all bad smells, and left none of its own. I really 

 wish I could find out whence it was obtained, in order 

 that I might procure some more. I think you informed 

 me that Mr. Fish had a box of this powder sent to him. 

 Did he try it ? A half-peck or so, qualified by a bucket of 

 water, as we do soot or lime, to be stirred into 800 gallons 

 or so of sewage a few hours before making use of it, and 

 then the utensils dusted with the powder through a coarse 

 dredger after they were used, completely destroyed the bad 

 smell. I use McDougall's powder now in ths manner de- 

 scribed, and I do not know of its equal for the purpose,, 

 excepting the powder above mentioned. Mr. McDougall, for 



