Observations and Experiments on some English Pastures. 95 
any certainty of success ; and the introduction of silos has made 
the growth and disposal of such herbage comparatively easy. The 
rapid growth of roots and vegetables can be enhanced by sewage- 
irrigation ; but the sewage had better fertilise the ground during 
the winter than be applied direct to the plants, except in dry 
seasons. To grain of all kinds, the flow of sewage invariably 
does much more harm than good. In the rural districts, there 
ought seldom to be any great difficulty in obtaining land for 
sewage-irrigation, though many owners, as well as their tenants, 
have a strong objection to parting with an acre or two for this 
purpose. 
There are serious impediments in populous urban localities 
to sewage-irrigation, the securing of suitable land at a mode- 
rate cost being generally the crowning difficulty. In these 
localities, the different modes for precipitating, deodorising;, and 
clarifying the sewage, by the aid of settling-tanks, chemicals, 
&c, may be the only means for preparing the sewage-effluent 
for its reception into the nearest river or stream. But, the less 
that is done with sewage in purely rural districts before it is. 
applied to the land, the better. It may be well to take out the 
floating rubbish and the heavier solids by means of a small tank 
and grating ; but even this is not necessary for a village filter-bed 
where osiers or ash-poles are the crop grown. It is necessary 
to keep the sewage moving, allowing none to stagnate for any 
length of time — and then there is little effluvia from the roughest 
irrigation. "When once a proper system of sewers has been 
approved in a rural district by the Local Government Board, 
the employment of skilled engineers with elaborate plans, 
sections, and clever inventions, generally leads to a heavy ontlav, 
without much corresponding benefit. A competent, practical sur- 
veyor, who can take levels, lay a drain, and make good a roadway 
with a strong gang of skilled drainers, will be all that is required 
for sewering most villages, and even some small towns. 
Clake Sewell Bead. 
OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS ON 
SOME ENGLISH PASTURES. 
The results of Dr. Bream's investigations into the composition 
of the herbage of old grass lands, as recorded in the number 
of the Journal for October 1888 (Vol. XXIV., 2nd Series), were 
so important that the Council of the Society, at the recom- 
mendation of the Seeds and Blant Diseases Committee, resolved 
