Sewage Farm Competition, 1879. 
71 
The farm-manure from the sheds and folds is used on that part 
of the farm which is not irrigated, and on the market-garden. 
Sanitary. — Ninety-four persons reside on the farm, including 
thirty children, and, in addition, fifty-four persons are at present 
engaged at work upon the farm. The number of persons, how- 
ever, working on the farm a few years back, when market- 
gardening was more in vogue, was still greater. 
Mr. J. Parrott, the present farm-manager, reported that no 
form of epidemic disease has ever manifested itself on the farm 
during the period that he has had the management of it. 
One death, an infant one month old, is all that has been 
recorded as having taken place on the farm, and that was 
reported as " delicate from its birth," and one death from con- 
sumption had occurred among those working on the farm. Mr. 
Parrott stated that the health of those engaged on the farm is 
" remarkably good." 
The Female Orphan Asylum at Beddington is contiguous to 
the Croydon sewage farm, and contains a large number of 
inmates. The matron wrote, in reply to an inquiry made by 
the farm-manager, as follows, "6th August, 1879. — During the 
last two years we have had about 170 orphans in the school, 
and twelve or thirteen adults. We have had no illness of a 
serious character, and not one death amongst the girls since 
the 1st September, 1876. The orphans are taken in from all 
parts of the country, and many of them are the children of 
delicate parents." 
Mr. George Horseley, who managed this farm for some years, 
both under the Farm Company and the Local Board, reported, 
12th September, 1879, that "the health of the men engaged on 
the sewage farm at Beddington during the time I had the 
management was very good. I do not remember any of them 
having any illness of any kind to prevent them from coming to 
their work. Peade, the waterman, had been fourteen years on 
the farm, and had never had a day's illness during the time. I 
have some men working for me at the present time who state 
that they never had their health better than when they were at 
work at the irrigation farm ; in fact I consider an irrigation 
farm as healthy for the workmen as any other farm. With 
regard to the deaths, three occurred during the period I was 
there. The first was Bedlow, Mr. Marriage's old foreman. He 
died from some inward complaint, and had been ill for some 
time. Another was a child who died of scarlet fever. In this 
case it was clearly shown that the child had the fever when it 
came on to the farm. It had only been on the farm a few days 
when it was taken ill. The father of the child had been living 
near the barracks at Croydon. In the next house to that in which 
