1807. 1 Agriculture. 11 



lands 'with the drainage water, which thus becomes clarified before 

 reaching the river, and yields a valuable produce during the process. 

 The other plan consists in the substitution of earth-closets for 

 water-closets in our houses. It only needs that a storage of dry 

 earth be provided for use in this way, and occasionally replenished ; 

 that the prejudices of servants be removed or overruled ; and that 

 frequent removals of the boxes be provided for. A well-arranged 

 system of scavenging would then be easily carried out with perfect 

 inoffensiveness, both in the house and out ; and we should have a 

 most valuable manure, which might be carried, load by load, to farms 

 all round our towns, where loads of top soil for similar use would be 

 readily obtained in exchange for it, the difference in value being paid. 

 The difficulty of displacing the existing system would, however, be 

 very great ; and, committed as we are by an enormous expenditure 

 to the plan of keeping our towns clean by washing into drains, it is 

 not at all likely that the earth-closet system will be adopted, except 

 in detached houses or small villages. Meanwhile, at Croydon, at 

 Barking, Eugby, and elsewhere, evidence is accumulating that 

 the irrigation of grass lands with filthy sewage water, is both a 

 perfectly inoffensive and a profitable process. 



A meeting of gentlemen interested in the Utilization of Sewage 

 was held in Liverpool in December, and owing probably to the 

 presence of Lord Eobert Montagu, who delivered an admirable 

 address on the subject, the attendance was very numerous, and 

 included the elite of the town and neighbourhood. There the 

 advocates of the Earth-Closet were in a decided minority, for the 

 reasons stated — viz. that the system is not suitable for large towns, 

 where the quantity of earth to be carted would be enormous, and 

 because arrangements have already been entered into between the 

 Liverpool Corporation and the Sewage Company, which promoted 

 the meeting, for the utilization of all the sewage of the town. 



Most of the statements made by Lord Eobert Montagu were 

 repetitions of what is already known to agriculturists, and has been 

 announced from time to time in these pages, but it may be of 

 interest to our readers to know that in Liverpool it is intended to 

 intercept the sewage at the outfall of the sewers, and at first to 

 experiment with it upon the sandy soil skirting the Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire line from Liverpool to Southport. There is a large tract 

 of country all about the north side of Liverpool, which is at 

 present a mere sandy waste, but no doubt the application of sewage 

 water will render it fertile and suitable for the growth of rye-grass, 

 and if the promoters of this sewage scheme can at the same time 

 fertilize waste land, and render the most unhealthy town in England 

 more healthy, they will confer a double favour upon society. They 

 have our very best wishes for their success. 



Professor Yoelcker has lately given a lecture on the application 



