New-York tribune., 1871-06-14
SEWAGE UTILIZED.

WHAT 1T WILL DO FOR THIS COUNTRY.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
SIR: The vast importance OF defeating and
utilizing the sewage OF cities and towns has been fully
recognized by the most practical as well as the purely
scientific men of Europe We have given little attention
to the subject In this country and have consequently
lost largely in some respects In others we have gained
nv the delay nasmuc as we can avail ourselves Of the
knowledge elected by the scientific investigations and
costly experiments of foreigners. In England several
Parliamentary Commissons-"The Sewage OF Towns,
"The Health Of Towns" "The Rivers Pollution, ana
others--have been for many years investigating
the various methods which have been tried,
such as hidden Pits, Filtration, Precipitation
Deodorzation Ash Closets Dry Earth Closets, lntern
tent Irrigation &c. They report almost unanimously
that the Irrigation system is the only one which effects
perfect publication Of the whole liquid refuse OF ato"n
and Yields profit over and above the COST Ihey say
that 1t reduces to great extent OF renders enurey u
necessary the usual amount OF artincl mahures Vi All
kinds by supplying a especially adapted, from
i+s comnle, constitution for the nourishment OF crops
suppying It, moreover in state OF soution-that Is 10
sav in the most readily absOrbable conditon-and sup
plying at the time, that most necessary aiu W
vegetation water by which the value OF manure during
greater part OF the year is almost doubled that ny
its use the farmer is rendered almost entirely nde
pendent OF the weather. that no can DC PI"0uoai9 '
tain OF his crops" &c.
The proofs which the Commissioners give OF ts great
agricultural value numerous and surprising INC
lowest average value capita estimated from care
full experiments 6s 3d. or about 81 G6 and from that
nm 70 81 and more Lebig estimates the value OF
the sewage of London at aI0 i3O about s2O4Ooooo
which gives nearly So each person At this rate the
sewage Of NewYork would be worth about s6OOoG Dut
supposing il worth only onequarer OF that amount ~
would pay large profit the cost OF utilizing Ihe
Commissioners report that 'the Cragtlnny Meadows,
near Edinburgh winch formerly let at from tO 10 go per
Scotch acre. now let annually nj from 500 10 Wv anu
that poor sandy soil the shore. which might nave
been worth 60 cents per acre now lets at an rent
meadows which Is sold at auction every spring 10 the
Leith and Edinburgh cow.keepers brought last yeaht yh
a de Reg 9Sfe to g
per acre and as the means are perfected 1or
the sewage more evenly and the subsoi drainage OF
ereasns eHs ans 9PFfys! Year o brings down
SO that the poor sea sand as fertile the rest.
The same report states "that on the Bedngton Mead
and from four to Ave cuttings year obtained aver
aging from to 10 ns each per acre ana tnat kg t g
solid matter contained in their food when req on sew
age grass than on ordinary grass pie 70 te ; nIut
Of sewage was used in consequence Of its being more
highly charged with nrogenous substances. Inc c0i-
missoners say, that with an application OF 1000 tuls
sewae per acre per annum to meadow land an average
odnc Of than S s sIe Of E & Sr S NeW
York would not be less than $3.50 Phillips Miles ESQ,
doabsS tSe Gs,Ns Value S1e ntnS
sewage OF Is S g PeSs yeS for each persons The
Erl o Essex tried on different crops with equal salts
faction At the Lodge Farm Barking "3s different kinds
of vegetables have been grown, beginning with cereals
including maize grapes, root crops or all sOrts Iu IN
the shape OF strawberries, rasperTes, currants, and
gooseberres The Strawberries produced last year were
the finest in Coyent Garden Market ana fetched & tae
crown on the Lodge Farm, when sewage was uscd
yielded from to per cent more sugar thah thoSe grown
There is considerable prejudice in neghborhoods
against the use sewage the land but this has dis
ihtead Of proving nuisance or detrimental to hcath
there is superabndance Of evidence that when used
on properly underdrained land there ls no enuylu ,
arising from it, aud that II has not only lowered the
Of towns adopting IT. but herS Rn also bas
been applied 70 the land. Dr. Chrsison OF EdinDurg IN
his testimony before the Commissioners, says aa an
satisfied that neither typhns nor enterc ieVer nor
terry, cholera is 70 be encountered IN or around
them he irrigated felds) whether IN epidemic OF non
epidemic seasons, more than In any other @
trct Of the neighborhood" Dr. buchanan says ibIthm
Ie Msa ySS IN s midst s Of the rrgned district far from
suffering, has actually improved" Previous 10 the
age death-rate is to 1000. The first year after
it was reduced to Is, and the second year to H. . ~
town the medical officer says, a. continuance of west
wind IS always accompanied with diminished amount
of ordinary Sickness" These facts are not surprising
in OF the sreat power know that earth possesses
of absorbing and deodorzng all pntrescent mater ~
has impaired. In view OF the more recent discoveries
that the leaves Of growing plants evolve ozone aud re-
store more oxygen the air by day than they consume
by night Dr. Daubeny, Professor OF Botany and Rura
Economy at the University OF oxford SAYS: xegeaDle
the injurious effects Of the animal creation upon the air
we Breathe not merely by restoring TO 1t the oxygen
which the latter had consumed, but also by removing
through the agency OF the ozone IT generates those nox
ious euyia which are engendered by the various pro-
cesses OF putrcfactOn and decay"
There are between 30 and cities and towns in En-
gland where the is wholly or In part utilized
At several OF them il has TO be elevated by pumps before
it can flow of but it has proved successful in all cases.
At Bedford they have two 2hOrse power engines capa
BILE OF raising 1900 gallons each per minute hight OF 20
feet one great advantage OF sewage as fertilizer is
that il be used on any SOIL sand, oa clay or pea
and since large crops be produced by 1t on pure
blowing sand as on the richest soil large tracts OF
sand beach have been dvked in from the sea and are
now producing immense crops -. ,.
The Commissioners concluded their report by recon-
mending Parliament to pass law making IL penal 1or
any town city TO allow its sewage 10 flow into any
river before II is purified, and general law
empowering corporations and individuals to take pri
vae property for the construction OF cuyerts conduit
S for yns OF nSa
which their works may pass the right to take on pay
uniform, without regard to distance, on the penny
postage system" Prof. Dunkelbuy has recommended
Continental Governments moving in this matter
Milan, Italy, has utilized portion OF ITS sewage for
many years By OF canal called the VGdb6id,"
which, with ramfyng or smaller canals, rrigaes over
1000 acres, on what is known as the "narelte method
is collected in ditch and made to rgate another plot
times after which the eiuent water passes into the
River Lumbro about ten miles from the city. Any one
seeing many meadows irrigated with pure water by this
process upon which the cows Craze from whose milk Is
made the famous strachno Cheese which Is much supe
rior the stiltOn or Roquefort Cheese.
IL we to preserve our land from impoverishment
andour rivers harbors from sitting upwe must
throwing away the liquid and solid substance OF all We
consume and return II TO the land. Let NewYork set
the example, 1t has opportunity and let all other
follow practicable. conduit over the
East River Bridge could be made to tap the present
system Of sewerage OF wYork at point that would
drain large portion Of the city and yet be of sf
cent elevation to shoot the sewage without pumping
(probaby) many places Long Island and especially
10 the sandy plains and barren beaches on the southern
slope and shore, from which the efuent waters would
run into the Two main drains, diverging in aV
shape from the point where the conduit would strike
the natural land, somewhere the City Hail. would
cut and take the sewage Of all the transverse pipes,
leaving and arranging them 10 take any or over
ia In of