690 



Town Refuse as Manure. 



[Nov., 



is thus obtained, containing one or more per cent, of nitrogen. 

 One of the best illustrations in England is furnished by Gates- 

 head, where the vigorously managed Cleansing Department 

 is taking full advantage of the various available wastes. 

 The Superintendent of this Department sends the following par- 

 ticulars of the fertiliser made by the town authorities from the 

 refuse. The tins, bottles, glass, etc., are removed, stable manure, 

 slaughterhouse refuse, earth-closet material are added, and the 

 whole passed through a pulverising machine and broken up to 

 pass through a g- grate. As 90 per cent, of the houses in Gates- 

 head are of the old earth-closet type the house refuse contains a 

 considerable proportion of human excretions. It is not surprising 

 therefore that the manure finds a readv sale. 



The material is offered at Gateshead at 2s. 6d. per ton. It is 

 delivered in 5 tons lots, and on a farm 5 miles away, with the 

 occupier of which the writer has discussed the matter fully, the 

 price works out at 5s. 6d. per ton, the steam wagons taking the 

 material where possible into the actual field which is to be 

 treated. It has given good results on roots, and it improves the 

 physical texture of the soil though it still remains to be seen 

 whether the material lasts as well as farmyard manure. On the 

 farm in question farmyard manure is estimated to cost 14s. 

 per ton. 



An actual test was made at Cockle Park in 1921 to compare 

 town refuse with farmyard manure. Both were applied at the 

 rate of 15 tons per acre to a swede crop : the Gateshead refuse 

 gave 21 J tons of swedes to the acre, and the farmyard manure 

 gave 25 J tons. The season was dry and therefore more favour- 

 able to farmyard manure than to town refuse. 



The enrichment of the refuse is shown by the fact that the 

 nitrogen content runs as high as 1 per cent., whilst the samples 

 of unfortified town refuse contain only about 0.5 per cent. It is 

 understood that some 30,000-85,000 tons of the material were 

 sold to farmers during the past season and that deliveries were 

 effected as far south as Thirsk. 



An even richer fertiliser is now being prepared at Halifax 

 (Table I) where it is understood the Corporation are contem- 

 plating the erection of special mixing plant. 



Another instance of successful enrichment is afforded by 

 Dundee, where cattle market and slaughterhouse wastes and offals 

 are incorporated with the refuse, and this circumstance, together 

 with the favourable railway rate largely explains the high con- 



