Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1900-07-28

HcrIin's Irrigation Schemc-VaIuc
In Waste Products.
\ number of English cities run cor
poratiOn farms in connection with their
garbage works, divcrting there to re-
claim useless land all the material that
cannot be proiitably disposed of in 9TH
or ways. In still other instances even
the sewage is utilized for this purpose,
and it furnishes some potent facts as
to the resources of seemingly useless
land when scientifically treated. These
sewage and other corporation farms Of
fer a most interesting study of thrift
and fruGalty in the management Of
natures resources, and the whole sub
jcct is one that will appeal to every
student of municipal conditions.
Leicester. Liverpool and Nottingham
are the most prominent examples of
English cities which find profit in the
utilization of the sewage of their com
munitics. Leicester uses the sewage
of about 100000 of its population in
this way. The city owns n tract of
LOO acres adjacent to the limits. 1t Is
about 10 feet above the level of the
city, and as the sewage Is pumped to
1t it is distributed over 1850 of the
LOO acres by Il system of broad irri-
cation. Under the stimulus of the fer
tilizlng elements in the sewage the
farm grows immense crops of all kinds
and supports some LOO bullocks and
1G0 horses and provides work during
the summer months for about 100 men.
All the other refuse collected in the
city that has any fcrtilzing value is
sold.
Liverpool operates two sewage farms,
a section of the city having Il popula-
ton of $1,000 Is diverted to these
farms. and the system used is that of
broad irrigation. The crops grown are
rye, grass and vegetables. and the cost
of maintenance is returned as sd 900
per annum. No figures are given con-
corning the returns. The farms have
been in operation for about - years.
Liverpool operates number of
creamatorics for the destruction of
garbage and makes a point of saving
all the tin cans and bottles found in
the refuse. The cans bring 36 cents
per ton and the bottles = cents per
dozen. All refuse having Il manural
value is disposed of to the farmers.
The imperial city of Berlin irrigatcs
nearly $1,000 acres of land with its
sewage. 1t is sent to the corporation
farms by force pumps and applied to
the land mainly in horizontal bitches,
which allow the sewage to overflow
the entire surface. The irrigated land
is all undcrdrained, and as the water
filters through the soil it enters the
drainage bitches and finds its way to
the natural water courses. 1t is then
clean and tastclCSS and, it is claimed.
entirely innOcuouS. AS evidence of
this. it is stated that a number of
ponds are fed from the undcrdrains
and that various kinds of fish, includ-
ing brook trout, thrive in them and
become Il source of revenue to the city.
Most of the land irrigated is cultivated
by the city. and on some of the farms
are located homes for convaleSccnts
from the city hospitals.
The facts as reported from Berlin
regarding this venture are that it has
converted nearly $4,000 acres of for
mprly very poor land into rich fields
and garden land, the tilling of which
becomes annually more lucrative. At
the same time it has made Berlin one
of the clcanest and hCalthicSt cOmmu-
mites among the large cities of the
81, hn,
ever, only after immense expense. The
cost of the land included in the present
sewage farms, with the undertaking
and other improvements, was, in round
numbers, $7.OO0,OOO.
The city Of Barmcn Germany, hay
ing a population of 100000, takes n
back seat to none of them in the mat
ter of utilization of "unconsidercd
triflcS" of Il city. There the vegetable
refuse is all saved to feed cattle. Tin
cans are melted or made into cheap
toys. These cans, with tin clasps,
cOrkS, bottles. old pens. postage stamps
and all the other odds and ends, are
sent there to an institution for cpilcp-
tics and used there for their benefit.
Bottles found in good condition are en-
ploycd again. Rro4;n glass is sold to
the glass factories at the rate of about
u cents per 100 pounds Clean ashes
are used for making mortar and filling
out floor spaces in new buildings. Clean
boiler ashes are all saved and sell read
lily for from 30 to 20 cents per wagon
load. Paper waste, old books, letters.
rags etc, bring 81 cents per 100
pounds and are used in the manufac-
ture Of paper. Bones are mctamor-
phoscd into glue, and old wooden rags,
stockings, etc, into shoddy.
They are n very thrifty people in old
Amsterdam, and nothing having any
commercial value is allowed to escape
them through the medium of the city
garbage. Old shoes, rags, tin cans and
iron, zinc, bones, coke and all the other
miscellaneous items that 20 to make
up the garbage in great city are re-
lgiously winnOwcd out from the other
stuff and made to yield more or less
revenue to the city. 1t is astounding
what vast quantities of each of the
above item" II be collected in the
course of n OF bones the average
Of tin plate, 114 tons; of glass, AGO tons;
Of leather and old shoes, II tons. The
revenue from the above sources and
the other waste material collected and
sold is about 100000 a year. This is
exclusive of the large sum earned year
" fhrnttnI nj - 10,