New-York daily tribune., 1865-12-26
sEvaGE AND ITS UTILIZATION.

luf sewage have thus liN Deen ptet'y h"on OVn
fined to sandy Soils and the general impression
among those parties who testified before the
English Parliamentary Conm!ftee--as referred
to in a previous article on this subject-was,
that nothing but sand is we'll adapted to treat
pent with sewage. Prof VceIcker, Professor
Of Chemistry to the Royal Agricultural Society,
considers that "light, porous, sandy sol'
tbroueh which the sewage can percoiate
or penetrate, at any rate TO some depth'
would have the most advantages OF me-
chsuical condition for bringing into play the
(ertilzing matters which are contained Ill the
Sovage;" and on the better sands he would
use from o.CO0 to 1900 tuns per acre, ana o'ooc
or 10. 900 on the poorer. Upon tho sea-shore
sands. if properly drained, he has not the slight
est docLt that "grass, Italian rye-grass. and
probably also what farmers call gram crops
mangold.wurzel. tlrnips ard cabbages, may be
erown." Mr.. Loves, a member OF the Royal
Commission on Sewage, when asked whether
vegetation would grow just as well on sands
made from granite rs on sands composed partly
Of clay and other substances" replies in the
affirmative "prOvidod you have supplied plenty
of sewage II thus appears that, according 10
this testimony, tie sand only serves rnechan-
ical purpose. Professor Way, Consulting Chem
ist to the Royal Agricultural Society, and
member of the Commission above-mentioned,
states that "thc sewage contains al! the elements
uece..a AIRY for tho growth of plants, and that ii
the Maplin sands had nothing mechanically to
affect them the application OF seWage-"ater ID
sufficient quantities would grow grass crops
there" Thus tie sand is 10 act merely aS hl-
ter; and the extent TO which this filtration
takes place Is indicated in ,he statement OF the
Chairman of the Metropolitan Board, referring
to the CROYDON experiments, that after the
seTage had been applied to field A. and col
leoted in a channel and applied to field Is. and
then 70 field c, till il ran off perfectly pure water
that is TO say, so far a. the sight and taste
would .ndcate-tLere might be still in solution
properties that one would not quite like to
drink, but a, Ill events it did appear to the eye
10 .. ueIf,u tiy clear, aud. far the taste was
| concerned, one had a difficulty in detecting the
'pre.suco of sewage" In regard TO tho most
profitable quantity 20 be appled, Professor
WAy testified that ",he experiments at Rugby
denote that you do not get any increase Of pro-
duct in direct relation 20 the quantity Of sewage
lpu, on, but in a progressive decieare, that Is TO
.ay, ifyou put on 5000 tuns per acre, you get
say, - tuns Of gras.; # you put on 900 tuns,
4 .y.y ,.f
thing Ike il, but ~ AID il you put on 1900
ltuns. you get ~ tuns Of eraSs; consequently,
beyond a certain quantity. what !s pat on pro-
drcc, q less result than tLst which IS put on in
smaller quenttie.."
A. TO the actusl lnonoy value Of sewage,
there IL yet quite Z vide range Of opinion. Mr.
Loves would give ri. por tun FOR tho sewage
OF London In such quantities and At such timos
as lie required it. but not a hal!penny per ,un
for the whole year. Professor Way finds
that DRY weather samples of London sewage
contain from - u "a grains of ammonis per
gallon, and he believes the average for the year
to be between folr and FIVE; one sample, ex-
amined in the middle OF the day, contained ~
grains, and would be worth double what
,it would be- If the whole day was taken
into account; and if il were possible
10 to utilize il at that time, of course
an equivalent value would be given
rl for it," Mr.. Ellis, tie competitor of
: Messrs. Napier and Hope in the scheme of
utilization, refers to some analyses (which
enabled Messrs. Hoffman and Weitt TO arrive at
, lO,. Ici. per aunum as the value Of the excreta
. Of each person in a mixed population. This
. estimate cannot be. considered excessive; as it
is a well known fact that, in Belgium. where
excreta is carefully preseryed, i! is sold at the
rate OF about : / per person per annum. Now,
=. the population OF the north side Of the Thames,
q drained by the new main sewers. exceeds
. OOO, 600, and, taking the value Of the excreta
f at only los. per person per annum, We find our.
selves in the presence Of the fact that tho ex'
e creta Of these people is worth fl,ooO,ooo per
!. annum.'
. The Chairman of the Metropolitan Board ol
Works stated that the land at Edinburg. upon
q which experiments bad been tied, was "a mere
(, sand, which We understood was not worth hal
+, crown per acre prior to the application Of the
sewage. We found IL now rated for parochia
purposes at something Ike f2 per acre
Z and that the produce is sold every year at from
f2G to Gao per acre" The manager Of ,h'
Craigen,ely Meadows. near Edinburg. gave
= testimony far more minute and practical
n These meadows are 2G0 acres in extent, ant
a have been under sewage cultivation for A,
years. The lower meadows arc nearly pure