New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-11-24
WHAT KNOW OF FARMING.
BY HORACE GREELEY.
XIV.
SEWAGE.


became a focus of luxury and CONSUMPTION. @raiI'
Meat and Vegctables-the fat of the land ana the
spOis of the sea-were constantly absorbed Dy1 III
enormous quantities while nothing or, at BEST very
little was returned therefor TO the continually eH-
hausted and IMPOVERISHED soil. Thus, few ages on
at most few centuries, suffced to divest 'aa
surrounding district first, II Its fertility uitlina19!
of its capacity for production. And 10 Nme'eb
Tbehes Rabylon succcssiyesy ceased TO be capitals
and became ruins amid deser-s Rome Impoverished
Italy south Of the Apenninos; then Sicily; and 81
last. Rgypt: her scepter finally departing because
her millions eouId no longer be fed without dlspe-
sion.
That some rseans must be devised Whereby 10
return to the soil those clements which the removal
of crop after crop inevitably eNhausts' rs uuth
which has but recently begun to be clearly uhder-
stood. Unluckily, the difficulty OF such RESTORATION
il seriously augmented by the fact that cities and
all considerable aggregatiOns Of human beings tend
strongly in our day 70 locations by the seaside In
valleys and by the margins of rivers. Anciently,
rites and villages were often built hill-tops
at considerable elevations because fOes could be
Guided or repealed from such locations more surely,
aud with smaller force, than elsewhere. From such
elevations it need not have been difficult TO difuse,
BY of water, all that could be gladly spared,
which would aid to ferthze the adjacent farms and
gardens A kindred distribution Of the exuvia of
eur ElOu6Tn ClItS Il mort anu COSTLY
undertaking. and involves bold and skillful
gineering.
Yet the problem, though difficult must be solved,
or our great cities VIII be destroyed by their own
physical impurities. The growth and expansion Of
cities, Throughout the present century, have been
wholly beyond precedent; and thus the difficulty Of
making satisfactory disposition of their ofial has
been fearfully augmented. The sewerage of our
streets and houses modifes the problem but does not
solve it. Desoating epdemics like the Plague, yell
low Fever and the Cholera viii often visit great
cities, and deculate their people, unless means can
he found to cleanse them wholly and necessarily of
whatever tends 10 polute and render nOisOme their
atmosphere.
SEWAGE is the term used in England to desg-
nate water which, having been slightly impregnated
with the feeulence and ordure of city or village ls
difnsed over farm or farms adjacent, IN order to i'm
part at once fertility and moisture 10 its soil To
secure an equable and thorough dissemination of
sewage it is essential that the land to which it if a
Piled, if not originally level nearly so, shall be
brought into such condition that the impregnated
water may be applied to it's entire surface and shall
thence settle into moisten and ferilize each cubic
inch of the soil. This involves a very cOnsidera-
bic initial outlay but the luXuriance of the crops
fnilingly produced, under the influence of this
vivifying irrigation, abundanty lustihes and re-
wards that outlay.
As yet, the application Of Sewage is in its infancy
SINCE the perfect and total conversion of all that
great city excretes into the most available food for
plants, requires not only immense mains and res
eTyOirs, with costly network Of distributing dykes
o bitches, but novel appliances in engineering and
large investment Of time as well as money. Years
must yet elapse before all the excretOns Of great
city like London or New-York can thus be trans
muted into the means of fertihzing whole counties
In their vicinity. But the work is already well be-
gun and another generation will see il all hut com
peted. Meantime, many smaller cities, more eligiMy
located for the purpose, are already enriching by
their Sewage the rural districts adjacent which they
had previously tended strongly TO impoyerish. Ed
inburgh the capital Of Scotland, is among them
The little village of Romford, England is among
those which have recently been made to contribute
by Sewage to this beDefcent end and visit OF IN
spection paid to it, on the 18th of October last by
the London Board Of Works elected accounts Of the
process and ts results in the London journals, which
afford hints for and indictments to similar under
iakinqs in this and other countries. The DG'iy
Ners Of Oct. nth, says:
Bretons Farm consists Of III acres Of eht and poor
gravelly soil; and receives the Whole available
sewage of the town Of RomOrdthat Is, OF about 1000
persons This conveyed TO the land by an ron pipe OF
is inches in diameter, which s laid under GROUND, ana
discharges its contents into an open tank FROM ms
tank me sewage IS pumped TO hight of 20 feet ana IS
trsuehs or carriers lifted with suices and TAPS so
that the amount Of sewage applied t. any gwen portion
Of tie field he regulated with the greatest ldly
and ncay 10 insure the regular aud even low OF tne
ewag when discharged from the carriers !. was meets
tsry t. ay out the land with mathematical accuracy
and IL been eyeled and formed by te teodohtc no
rectnc beds OF a uniform width OF 80 feet, sshtS
,nrliu,nc from the center, along which the sew
age 4. applied. The carriers, OF open rOuehs, .py
y, n~b these beds or Strikes and at the bottom
there in every good road, by meaHs OF Nhgn
i,e he nSe Of which is in contempation-to
every bed ana crop, iu ~ ,oEsi ~ eo1 trees and
ot length of heavy fences the filling up Of number
well the complete unoSt-a id Vi vc ore
whole farm were mainly eh &c ann l"I $50 that
MI Hope received any of this sewage from the 0who
Romford and not until the following nohtH uat nc oD
tanned both the day and night supply Sauhfacl'fy,
therefore as have been the results Of the present sea-
sons operations they have been obta ned under 9sd
1rds3g complete evidence Of the benefits which may
he derived the application OF sewage 10 even DOOR
I'm one of those who had attempted 70 cult
yate IT, To mention only one draNDdGk Will Nh aIoao
xSs Art received Mr. Hope had not the advantage 81
being able to apply IL TO his seed-beds ana Iu
not All hs plants were moi Iea iO sonn of the cron
suffered in consequencethat Is 10 say, haNe vi
iered in comparative sense sPeaklhk tnP2
sny that couIl have b5eB grown upon the same l'Ad
yit'ort -. "cc Of sewage, but than any "A'eH =. y,
lS,t.' j f.l :A.,a SUPERIOR .',.. ~ 80 ,- t NC
- "a 80. - :, ~. { tLo farm. are al divCrs1 char
are-; hu ,,th a the methOu OF cGuFailou " iiiia,
"a been al GUIDED with almost eqnal succ"s5 l'S
rye grass BEANS peas mang6ids, carols DIVc-
JeTsey RS and Indian corn have all grown with
wonderful rapily and yielded abundant lar eFSs uue
seS ne Sors of Saturday last as they tramped
aver the farm under the guidance OF lts enerSeo V
,reor had an opportunity of witnessing the abundance
sIrsordnary size II was noticeable the plants were
RsIlec