THE LONDON SEWAGE COMPANY. 
131 
by the ' Water supply, Drainage, and Towns 
Improvement Company,' it may be worth 
while to enter further into detail, with refer- 
ence to the statements on which these opinions 
are founded ; and if, in doing so, I may find 
occasion to mention any individual by name, 
it is solely for the sake of distinguishing 
clearly the statements or opinions on which 
I may be commenting, and not with any in- 
tention to make personal allusions." — Pp. 5, 6. 
This relates to the first crude notions of a 
projector ; but Mr. Wicksteed, in a pamphlet 
printed for the new Company, goes at once 
searchingly into the merits of the scheme, 
which was, it seems, put forth a second time 
for the avowed purpose of showing the matured 
plan, and forming a company, to be. called 
The Metropolitan Sewage Manure Company, 
with a capital of one million five hundred 
thousand pounds, for distributing manure water 
by pipes and machinery. In the prospectus 
of this concern, the name of a Mr. Smith 
appears, as consulting agricultural engineer, 
and therein it is stated, that 
" A plan was long since formed, which has 
undergone the consideration of practical and 
scientific men, and the result is, that a complete 
scheme has been matured for conveying the 
sewage water of London, by means of a system 
of pumping-engines and pipes analogous to that 
of the great Water Companies, and thus dis- 
tributing the fertilizing fluid over the land, in 
such manner and proportions as may be best 
adapted to the various kinds of field and garden 
cultivation. 
" The average quantity required for agri- 
culture is estimated at 80 tons per acre, which 
can be supplied within about 20 miles round 
the metropolis at less than a quarter of the 
cost of stable or farm-yard manure, and at 
one-tenth of the expense. 
" The contents of these sewers will be 
raised by powerful steam-engines, and dis- 
tributed by pipes over an extent of sixty 
square miles, through the gardening and agri- 
cultural districts to the ivestward. A sum of 
300,000Z. only will be required to carry this 
part of the plan into effect. 
" A careful and moderate calculation has 
been made of the annual outlay and income, 
from which it can confidently be stated, that 
the undertaking will realize a net profit of at 
least 15 per cent." — Pp. 7, 8. 
Among the authorities mentioned in behalf 
of the practicability of this plan is Dr. Arnott, 
who states, that " engineers who pump from 
the Thames many miles above London, to 
supply pure water to the inhabitants, could 
as easily, by pumping away to any desired 
distance the fluid from the drains, supply the 
most valuable manure yet known, &c." 'how, i 
Mr. Wicksteed disputes a great many of the 
facts as to the conveying, the cost, &c. ; but 
we begin at the beginning. As to the liquid 
manure capable of being pumped and sent 
miles through pipes, we deny that it is the 
most valuable manure yet known. It is not 
nearly so valuable as the solid manure from 
the same source. However, Mr. Wicksteed 
shall deal with this matter himself; for it 
must be recollected that Mr. Smith's plan is to 
disperse the water by means of service-pipes 
to every forty acres, those to be laid, out in 
ten-acre fields, and a hose three hundred and 
twelve yards long to this service-pipe is to do 
the business ; and now we leave the rest to 
Mr. Wicksteed, who says, speaking of the 
projector : — 
" He also gives the following data : main 
pipe, one mile for suburbs, and two miles to 
cross the square, or three miles total length ; 
diameter twelve inches, and the service pipes 
four inches .... 'which is very ample, as never 
more than two or three jets will be playing from 
one service pipe at the same time.' The quan- 
tity of water Mr. Smith proposes shall be 
raised is 45,875,200 gallons, the height 200 
feet, and the power of the engine thirty horses. 
As Mr. Smith does not state for what period of 
time he intends the engine to be employed to 
distribute the quantity of w r ater, the only way 
in which that can be ascertained is by cal- 
culating what an engine of the power de- 
scribed by him can raise : thus, a 30-horse 
power engine will raise 79.2 cubic feet of 
water 200 feet high in a minute, and 57,024 
cubic feet, or 355,373 gallons, of water in 
twelve hours. If the farmer does not manure 
his land on Sundays, then it would take 21 1 
weeks per annum, working 12 hours per diem, 
or 10j weeks per annum, working night and 
day, to distribute the 45,875,200 gallons. 
" The quantity of sewer water to be sup- 
plied is equal to 17,920 gallons per acre pl- 
atinum, one-third of which Mr. Smith says 
can be delivered in one hour, or 99.55 gallons, 
or about 16 cubic feet, per minute. At this 
rate the engine would supply five jets only 
at a time. Mr. Smith provides for 64 jets, 
and eight lines of services, each two miles 
long, which gives eight plugs to each line of 
service pipes. Mr. Smith says he never in- 
tends more .than two jets to be playing at one 
time on a service. But if, instead of the jets 
playing lor an hour over an acre, they are 
playing i'or rather more than three hours; 
then two jets on each service, or sixteen jets, 
may be playing together, and the engine will 
supply them. This is the most favourable 
view of the case for Mr. Smith, as affects the 
cost."— Pp. 13, 14. 
TT>' "ocs on to demolish the scheme I v dis- 
K 2 
