Vol. LXIV. Mo. 2896. 
NEW YORK, JULY 29, 1905. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
SEWAGE TURNED INTO MONEY. 
How a Western City Does If. 
That a sewer system can be and is being operated with¬ 
out expense to a city, and not only that, but bring in a 
handsome profit as well, may read like a fairy tale, but 
it is being done to-day in a western city, which is prob¬ 
ably one of the cleanest and best sewered cities in this 
country. Ever since science has demonstrated the 
necessity of cleanliness as a means of keeping down the 
mortality ratio in our cities the question of sewage 
disposal has been a problem perplexing in a degree sec¬ 
ond only to that of providing a water system. If the 
city is situated on the banks of a swift, everflowing 
stream this question is simplified greatly, but if it 
springs up inland, as many of our western cities do, 
with no streams near enough to be utilized as outfalls 
for the sewage, then the problem becomes one of utmost 
complexity. Especially is this true of cities of tropical 
or semi-tropical cli¬ 
mates, for at all sea¬ 
sons of the year they 
must be kept scrupu¬ 
lously clean. There 
mt. lln vc alfornativoc * 
the sewage may be 
burned, a process alike 
wasteful and expen¬ 
sive ; it may be con¬ 
verted into fertilizer, 
a process far from 
satisfactory; or na¬ 
ture, in the form of 
earth and sunshine, 
may be called upon 
to destroy the disease 
germs which lurk in 
the cast-off mass, and 
convert it into plant 
food to be utilized on 
the spot. It is the 
latter, when the re¬ 
quisite quality of soil 
and quantity of sun¬ 
light can be secured, 
that is coming to tile- 
front, not only as an 
efficient, but as a 
profitable means ot 
sewage disposal. 
In 1887 the city of 
Pasadena, Cal., situ¬ 
ated nine miles from 
Los Angeles, being 
too far inland to se¬ 
cure an outlet for its 
sewage, purchased 300 
acres of unimproved land, and thought to try the exper¬ 
iment of disposing of its sewage by means of cultivating 
it into the soil. 1 hen protests began to arrive from 
neighboring property owners, and especially from the 
village of Alhambra, through which the outfall sewer 
must pass. Even many prominent citizens ridiculed the 
idea as folly. In the end the city won, after one of 
the most bitterly contested civil suits ever witnessed in 
southern California, and in 1892 the outfall sewer to 
the farm was finally completed. The outfall is of salt- 
glazed vitrified pipe, varying from 16 to 20 inches in 
diameter, and on account of the grade, which ranges 
from one foot to 3.51 feet per hundred feet, is capable 
of taking care of the sewage from a city of 20,000 peo¬ 
ple, and will be large enough for some time to come. 
The farm is 4J4 miles from the center of the city, 
and in the long journey papers and nearly all solids 
are dissolved, and those which are not, consisting mostly 
of rags, coffee grounds and corks, are taken out at the 
settling tank located at the entrance to the farm, The 
sewage, which varies in color from nearly clear in the 
morning to a soapy appearance in the afternoon, is dis¬ 
tributed throughout the farm by two 12-inch pipe lines, 
having outlets every four or five hundred feet, con¬ 
trolled by gates. By means of these outlets the sewage, 
which in the Summer months fills the twofold purpose 
of fertilization and irrigation, can be taken out and dis¬ 
tributed as needed by means of head ditches with lat¬ 
erals from two to six feet apart. Nothing is grown 
for food which in anyway can come in contact with the 
raw sewage, but quantities of barley and wheat hay, 
pumpkins, corn and walnuts are grown, there being 117 
acres of walnuts. Alfalfa was formerly grown, but on 
account of its being a matted low-growing crop it pro¬ 
duced unsatisfactory conditions, although the yield was 
extraordinary. 
To one who has given but little thought to this 
method of sewage disposal it may seem impossible that 
odors can be kept down, but surprising as it may seem. 
WALNUT ORCHARD ON A CALIFORNIA SEWAGE FARM. Fig. 236. 
one can usually approach the streams and stand on their 
very edge without realizing that they are sewage. The 
secret of the farm’s success from a sanitary point is 
the dry climate and abundant sunshine of the locality, 
and the thorough and constant cultivation to which the 
farm is subjected. I he sewage is allowed to run upon 
an area from four to 10 days, depending upon the dry¬ 
ness of the atmosphere, and as soon as it is sufficiently 
dry to work it is thoroughly cultivated or plowed. A 
thorough stirring of the soil only is necessary. During 
the Summer the sewage is used in the open fields, expe¬ 
rience showing that it is unwise unduly to saturate the 
ground while the trees are in foliage, as a heavy wind 
might uproot them. About December 1 the sewage is 
turned : oto the groves, where it is kept until the leaves 
begin to come out in April. Usually the 117 acres will 
easily take care of the Winter supply, but during exces¬ 
sively wet seasons it is used on other parts of the farm, 
or the neighbors take it, an opportunity of which they 
eagerly avail themselves. Unless the season is a»l ex¬ 
cessively wet one only one man is required to care for 
the sewage, and then only in the daytime, he being able 
so to arrange the flow during the day that it will care 
for itself at night. Other than the caretaker the farm 
requires but little more labor than an ordinary farm, 
and on account of the fertilizing value of the sewage 
the crops are abundant. 
Last season there were produced 56,625 pounds of 
walnuts at 11 cents per pound; 304 tons of hay at $15 
per ton ; 1,500 bushels of corn at $1.35 per hundred, and 
275 tons of pumpkins at $2.50 per ton. The farm fur¬ 
nishes the hay and grain used by the fire and street 
departments. A quantity of hogs are grown. Horse 
raising is soon to be taken up to supply horses for the 
fire and street departments, and a field is set apart for 
flowers which will supply material for decorating on 
public occasions. A proof of the farm’s success from 
a financial standpoint is shown by the fact that last 
season, on account of the rapid growth of the city, it 
was decided to in¬ 
crease the size of the 
farm. Accordingly 
160 acres adjoining 
were purchased at 
$150 per acre, the en¬ 
tire amount being 
paid from the profits 
of the farm without 
bond issue or tax 
levy. The total re- 
ccipts for 1904 
amounted to $11,- 
643.57, and the total 
disbursements $6,310.- 
91. Fig. 238, page- 
567, shows some farm 
products; Fig. 236 
irrigating ditch in 
walnut grove. 
w. J. WRIGHT. 
R. N. Y. The com¬ 
mon custom of run¬ 
ning sewage, factory 
waste, poisonous 
chemicals, etc., into 
the natural water 
courses, where ac¬ 
cessible, is to be con¬ 
demned. Contagious 
diseases are thus scat¬ 
tered, and fishes driv¬ 
en from their natural 
breeding places. Some 
modification of the 
plan described by Mr. 
Wright might well be 
tried in many other 
towns in sections where the Winter is not so severe as 
to make such work impracticable. 
CLOSE CULTURE IN GARDEN AND FARM. 
I have planted peas in rows a little farther apart than 
usual, and then set tomato plants in rows alternate with 
the peas, so that when these were picked the tomatoes 
could have the whole ground. In this way I have gath¬ 
ered a full crop of tomatoes and nearly as many peas as 
if no other crop had been grown on the land. The 
large-growing tomatoes should have about five feet of 
space to do their best. Even at that distance my 
ground was covered too thickly. I find that goose¬ 
berries and currants do quite as well in an orchard of 
pear trees as they would in the open by themselves; 
indeed the gooseberries are safer from sunburning in the 
partial shade of the trees. By putting sash over a bed 
of rhubarb I gather one crop early while the price is 
high, and then a second crop In midsummer, Of course 
