The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-09-08
9irh,l,oltd 1ispat flI,
r1rnYEsp,AY. I. SEPTEMBER 9, 1870 9 .
rrrom tho New York TmeSs
y. xesnNx.e nt Fault.

Tao II
,..u0sa coo find announced the completion OF
~, a. The greatest engineering works OF The
resent time. Nearly twenty years ago it
WAS resolved 10 provide for the metropolis OF
Ion(ion a system Of drafGage that should be |
efficient la itself, and that should at the same
time leave the waters Of the Thames pure
md ancontaminatea> During seventeen |
years, aud at cost OF more than TWENTY-FIVE |
millions OF dollars, the works bave been 10
progress, aud 1t Is only two weeks ago, OF
fhercabouts, that their ultimate completion
was announced. The sewage OF one iarge
section Of London, covering au area OF nearly 4
one hundred aud twenty square miies, IS now
carried away ia the most perfect manner, anu
provision is made by which, for ioog tnne
10 cone, and making ali allowance loc ue
continuous growth Of the city, the drainage
will remaiE complete.
But great as the WORK AIS V ~, ana sue
,ccssfi,l as Il Is in Erecting tae purpose Tor
which n has beea executed, tne whole
scheme must, fron another point f view,
he regarded as standing acknowledgment
of The failure of saerce to work out an adj
mjttc,l and very copamoR~sense principle.
The great value of the sewage of q large
Sity IS fully Acknowledged. That Of Lon
dep, with its dense population OF four mil-
lions. Represents vast annual amount Of
money. Yet & Is nut utilized ia any de.
gree. BY the great system 81 sewers now
completed i. is carried underground to the
mouth OF the Thames, and there made to
How into the German ocean. Every bsdy
admits thss there IS great loss resulting
from suoh ON arrangement; everybody is
ready TO fell of the nstional gain that would
result IL that sewage were utilized upon the
.aud; bu: nobody has yet been able 70 devise
a mesns fly which n;practice 1t can be done
In the case of smaller cities and towns the
problem is easier, and we believe that IN
mapy instances it might be solved in this
country, much TO the advantage OF farmers
and the people generally.
A few wears ago O. accompany was formed in
London for utilizing in this way the sewage
north of The Thames, but the idea was then
novel one. At any rate, the pab!ic bad not
been educated up to an appreciation OF its
value. ind it fell through for want of CAPT.
tai. It is 10 befeared that the public here
as we'll es there is still in need OF education
In the same direction, but there lis evidence
10 be had which will heIpit. In one,of the
midland couoties of England one Of the
local boards of health in 1870 took on
lease for seventeen years plot Of twenty.
eight acres of land with the intention
of Utilizing the sewage from their own
district, which contains population of
about tive thousand. The farm was q
clay soA, badly cultivated, and inefficiently
drained. The expenses have been heavy,
but still the profits of the experiment are
more than encouraging. At first the receipts
fell far short of the expenditure. In 1870
the income was only 81 ,035-bareIy enough
30 cover the rent. But every year has shown
marked Improvement; and when the &C.
counts were made out for the twelve months
ending March, 1875, the receipts were found
to be 5000, US against S2,995 expended.
Such return on q farm Of less than thirty
acres is conclusive proof thpt there must be
some virtue in this method of culture.
Near bennington. in Warwickshire, SIM
liar experiment has been tried, but there,
the farm being in private ownership, it is
not so easy to arrive at the results. 1t is
acknowledged, however, by the Earl OF
Warwick, to whom the place belongs, that
the profits are very large. The Earl pays to
the Town Council of bennington s2,250 q
year for the town sewage, and he has per.
fected arrangements for receiving and dis.
tributipg it over the farm, which is 400
acres in extent, as occasion may require.
IL Is applied 10 almost every description OF
crops, from cereals aud roots to beans and
peas, cabbage, celery, rhubarb, and even
results. Rye grass irrigated with the sew.
age has been already cut five times, and it is
expected that at least two additional crops
will be secured. 7 he root crops are described
rs simply enormous; turnips are Obtained il
perfection continuously through the season
and mapgolds have produced as much Il:
eighty.two tons per acre. It is also worthy
of note that the water which flows of thi:
farm is bright and sparkling, absolutely fret
from all fungoid Srowtbs, and quite tit Il
drink. The farm, the soil Of which Is rict
losm with gravel sub.soil, has been under
experiment four years.
This must not be regarded as exclusively Il
fsrmer's question. 1t is one that concerns
The authorities of cities and towns quite as
much, and is affecting the produce Of the
soil 1t has national importance. Every
village in the land has source Of revenue
ut lis disposal which is now being wasted
If it were made available the adjoining
farms would be more valuable, aud the
whole community would reap the adyant-
age. II is not too much to say that the sew
age which is every year allowed to flow into
the rivers from this city would suffice to
make all the land In the neighborhood
for miles around, including the now barren
flats of New Jersey, highly productive. II
means were taken to utilize it the city would
1ind new source of revenue, and provi-
Sions OF many kinds would be cheaper. l,
Is hardly likely that the system now just
completed in London will always be contin.
ued, for science must come to the rescue oil
the people there ia due time; but here VT
have not the same difficulties TO contend
with, and the sutject every where deserves
the SprinsfS attention of Y1reefical