Seioage- Farming. 
401 
that tlie slope of the beds should vary with tl)e character of 
the land, a sharper fall being obviously needed on loose soils- 
than on more retentive ones ; — these are principles upon which 
competent authorities may now be considered agreed. But 
there are still many subjects which, nevertheless, are warmly 
disputed by the ablest and most experienced men. Taking 
results, however, as his measure of success, the tyro in sewage- 
farming will do well to devote himself to the consideration of 
the systems practised upon the most noteworthy farms ; and 
keeping in mind his own special case will consider the 
economy, the scientific practice, and the results of these systems 
in all their details. 
Perhaps no sewage-farm in England offers a better example 
for the study of this subject than Mr. Hope's, near Romford. 
That gentleman may indeed be considered one of the first who, 
recognising the vast importance of the question, set himself to 
work out its practical solution with an earnestness and intelli- 
gence which have greatly advanced our previous knowledge o£ 
the subject. For ten years Mr. Hope has thrown all the energy 
of an active life into the working out of the problem we are con- 
sidering, and for the same period he has never hesitated to do 
battle on behalf of a cause which he has espoused with such, 
hearty zeal, with all comers who, in his opinion, violate the 
principles — engineering, scientific, or economic — upon which 
sewage-farming should be conducted. In Breton's farm the 
student may not only see one of the most successful examples of 
sewage-agriculture, but may acquire more exact knowledge 
of the quantity, quality, and details of application of sewage, 
than he is likely to obtain from those who have not made such a 
special study of its varied and peculiar details. 
By Mr. Hope's kindness, I am enabled to give a plan of this 
farm ; and, as the system upon which it is laid out embodies the 
experience and observation of several years, those interested in 
the subject cannot fail to derive from its consideration the know- 
ledge of many practical points which deserve attention. 
Mr. Hope is an advocate of narrow beds or lands, and the 
whole of Breton's farm is laid out upon this system ; the beds 
being 15 feet wide on each side of the central carrier, or 30 feet 
over all. The advantages which are offered by the adoption of 
this plan are various and considerable ; but 1 will allow Mr. 
Hope to tell in his own words his reasons for, and his mode of 
carrying out, his own principles. 
"I took," says Mr. Hope, "a lease of the sewage of the town 
of Romford, together with a farm of 121 acres. The town had 
already purchased the farm, constructed the outfall sewer to it, 
and erected pumps and engines. 1 entered on the farm in 
