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 L I B RA I^Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVER.5ITY 
 
 or ILLI NOIS
 
 THE 
 
 UTILISATION OF SEWAGE, 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 44 
 
 ABC" PROCESS. 
 
 KEPKINTED, BY PERMISSION, 
 
 FROM **W^t StanflarQ'' newspaper. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY E. NEWMAN, 9, DEVONSHIRE STREET, BISHOPSGATE. 
 
 1871.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 General Eeview 5 
 
 Crossness Works described 9 
 
 piesults from native guano in sussex 17 
 
 Bolton Works described 23 
 
 Leeds Works described 29 
 
 History of the " A B C " Process at Leamington 33 
 
 PiESULTS from Native Guano in Warwickshire 36 
 
 Advantages of the "AB C" Process as comtared with Irrigation 46 
 
 Chemical Value of Native Guano 49 
 
 Index 55
 
 The Directors of the Native Guano Company (Limited), 
 observing that the following articles, which appeared in the 
 Standard during the past and present month, contained a good 
 description of their "ABC" Works and process, applied for 
 permission to republish the same, a request w^hich was readily 
 granted. 
 
 It may be right to explain that the information laid before 
 the public in these articles was collected by a gentleman on 
 the staff of the Standard, deputed by the conductors of that 
 journal, on public grounds, to institute a special inquiry into 
 the subject referred to, now universally felt to be one of great 
 national importance. The valuable evidence, gained directly 
 from the farmers of Warwickshire and Sussex, as to the 
 beneficial results accruing from the use of Native Guano, will be 
 of particular interest to the shareholders of the Company, besides 
 affording information of a useful character to all who are 
 desirous of seeing the sewage of towns made available for 
 agricultural purposes. 
 
 fSignedJ 
 
 C. RAWSON, 
 
 General Manager of 
 
 ^he i;i-4tibe (Gitvtiia (E0mpn;ns. 
 
 1, St. SwWiin's Lane, London, 
 Wth November, 1871.
 
 ■s 
 
 .. uiuc Z
 
 THE UTILISATION OF SEWAGE. 
 
 (Leading Article, from the ' Standard^ of November 6, 1871. j 
 
 The imiDortance of the subject — not only locally but nationally — 
 will be beld to justify the degree of prominence we have long given to 
 the question of sewage utilisation. At the jpresent time there are 
 writers and speakers who argue as if the whole controversy were about 
 to be finally set at rest, and as if all the difficulties were virtually at 
 an end. By one bold legislative stroke — something as sweeping and 
 u'resistible as a Eoyal Warrant — it is expected that every town will be 
 interdicted from discharging its sewage into the streams and rivers, 
 and that as a consequence the sewage will be applied to the land. 
 That sewage ought not to go into a river or any kind of water- course 
 is clear. That sewage would be highly serviceable as a manure is 
 equally certain. But, for all that, there is an obstacle in the way 
 which is exceedingly formidable. Strange to say, the farmer is that 
 obstacle. Speaking of him as we generally find him, he does not care 
 for sewage ; he does not ask for it ; he does not come forward to buy it. 
 The agriculturist knows very well that if he is to make use of sewage ; 
 he must prepare his farm for its reception. To avail himself of this 
 agent he must lay out his land in a particular way, he must di*ain it 
 effectiially, and he must have a system of pipes or sewage-gutters 
 ranging round his farm — all of which necessitates expense. Why 
 should he do it ? His fields are not sterile. Peruvian guano is not 
 yet exhausted. Artificial manures are abundant, and apparently 
 answer his purpose well enough. Again, if the farmers are to take 
 the sewage of towns, they must take it always. In this case the 
 demand must be brought up to the supply, which is in direct contra- 
 diction to one of the leading canons of modern political economy. 
 The towns might insist, as part of the bargain, that if the farmer 
 took the sewage at all he should take it always. But let the bargain
 
 6 
 
 be shaped as it may, the farmer cannot be compelled to enter into it, 
 and for the present his choice seems to run in another dhection. He 
 is, indeed, gravely warned by Baron Liebig that unless the refuse 
 matter of towns is returned to the land the country must ultimately 
 become barren. Peruvian guano may arrest the catastrophe, but this 
 resource is an uncertain one. It may be intercepted by war, and will 
 certainly be exhausted by time. If the material which is taken from 
 the land does not go back to it, the soil will at last become exhausted, 
 and the once fruitful fields " wiU be turned into a desert waste like 
 the Koman Campagna." It is not a little startling to read such words 
 as these: — "The sewers of the immense metropolis of the Ancient 
 World engulfed in the course of centuries the prosperity of the Roman 
 peasant, and when the fields of the latter would no longer yield the 
 means of feeding her population, these same sewers devoured the 
 wealth of Sicily, Sardinia, and the fertile lands on the coast of 
 Africa." 
 
 With a sort of sanitary crisis impending over the whole nation, and 
 one of an agricultural character looming in the distance, we cannot 
 afford to disregard any facts which promise to open a way out of the 
 dilemma. Most persons who know anything of this subject are aware 
 that a Company exists, having for its object the carrying out of what 
 is called the "ABC" iDrocess for the treatment of sewage. By means 
 of alum, or sulphate of alumina, together with blood, clay and char- 
 coal, a compound is formed which, on being mixed with a small 
 quantity of water and a considerable volume of sewage, has the effect 
 of purifying the latter and throwing down a deposit which is said to 
 possess valuable manurial properties. To make the deposited matter 
 portable, it is dried and is subsequently sold under the attractive title 
 of " Native Guano." The Eivers Pollution Commissioners gave some 
 attention to this process about three years back and at subsequent 
 periods. Rather more than a year ago the Commissioners published 
 a Report bearing solely on the "ABC" process, a ckcumstance 
 which might be held to indicate no ordinary importance as attaching 
 to the subject. But the Report was utterly condemnatory, and we 
 can only suppose that if the Commissioners had been substantially 
 correct in their conclusions, the Company working the "ABO" 
 patent must have been speedily extinguished. Nevertheless the 
 enterprise stiU goes on, and is more vigorous and active than ever. 
 It is obvious that the commercial success of this undertaking is 
 essentially dependent on the actual value of the " native guano" as a 
 manure. Feeling the great importance of correct information on this 
 point, we have caused inquiries to be made in various parts of 
 England to ascertain the agricultural results accruing from the use of
 
 the new fertiliser. The facts thus discovered, and various incidental 
 circumstances, have been narrated in our columns in a series of 
 articles which have just come to a conclusion, and which we trust 
 have thrown considerable hght on a subject which has been keenly 
 controverted. 
 
 That the value of the "ABC" manure should be disputed by 
 Chemistry, but affirmed by Agriculture, is a paradox we need not 
 stay to explain, though the writer of the articles has offered some 
 suggestions for that purpose. The Kivers Pollution Commissioners 
 have valued the "native guano" at a few shillings per ton, but the 
 Warwickshire farmers are eager to buy it at £3 10s. These farmers 
 cannot be deceived, neither could our correspondent be misled when 
 he walked over the ground and saw the crops. Decided testimony 
 was given by numerous agricultimsts as to the excellence of the 
 maniu-e, and it cannot be supposed that all this is an illusion. The 
 explanation iu which some indulge, that the native guano is surrepti- 
 tiously "fortified," has the narrowest possible basis to stand upon. 
 Such a scheme might be supposed to answer a temporary purpose, 
 but could not be carried out for a series of years, and in connection 
 with large transactions. Besides, if the manure be fortified, analysis 
 would reveal the manceuvi'e, instead of showing that the quality is 
 deficient. 
 
 Some time ago a learned professor, for whom we entertain great 
 respect, denounced the "ABC" process as " a juggle." The phrase 
 was unworthy of his lips, and although the expression was doubtless 
 provoked by a particular incident, that incident was isolated in its 
 character, and ought not to have prejudiced the whole enterprise. 
 Scientific evidence now shows that the Eivers Pollution Commissioners 
 were themselves grievously mistaken on one important poiat. They 
 were positive that the "ABC" process could not affect the chloride 
 of sodium contaiued in the sewage. Hence when they found that the 
 effluent water from the "ABC" tanks at Leamington showed a great 
 reduction in the contained chlorine, instead of giving the credit of the 
 result to the "ABC" process, they boldly turned round and charged 
 the Company with cunningly diluting the " effluent." But the reduc- 
 tion of chlorine was so great that to account for it the Commissioners 
 were obliged to suppose that the "true effluent sewage" had under- 
 gone dilution to an extent which, in one instance, was as much as 
 four times the proper volume. One would have supposed that if the 
 sewage of a population so great as that of Leamington had suddenly 
 been increased four-fold by some s]3ecies of "juggle," the keen eyes of 
 a Eoyal Commissioner would have discerned the fact at once, without 
 the aid of a chemical analysis. Moreover, if the sewage had been
 
 8 
 
 thus diluted with ''clear river water," as suggested, the temperature 
 of the effluent must have heen lowered. It is stated that the Eoyal 
 Commissioners did take the temperatures of the sewage, the effluent 
 and the river. If so, why were not these data given in the Eeport, as 
 most essential to a right exposition of the subject ? We now learn 
 that the "ABC" compound does reaUy affect the chlorine, and that, 
 at least in one instance, it has produced an effluent water superior to 
 that of the Lodge Farm at Barking, where sewage krigation is skilfully 
 practised, and with the advantage of not being obliged to take the 
 sewage continuously. 
 
 Not to enlarge further on a topic which well admits of it, we would 
 observe that the "ABC" process, which at one time was thought to 
 be utterly discredited, has gained that point which sewage irrigation 
 unfortunately has not yet reached — it has made eager customers of 
 the farmers, and it has commanded a premium of several hundreds 
 per cent, in the share market. It has not had the years in which to 
 perfect itself which sewage irrigation has enjoyed, nor the official 
 favour which that system has continuously received. There is no 
 reason to despair of irrigation, and possibly the two systems may be 
 combined, but certainly it would be a great mistake to pass by a 
 process like that to which we have now referred, which appears to 
 accomplish its purpose with a minimum of trouble and expense. If 
 there be any defect, it is the loss of the water with which the sewage 
 is mingled. The effluent need not be lost, but stored for future use 
 on the farms, a provision which is looked forward to as the next great 
 step in high farming. Mere water alone is a great fertiliser, and it is 
 pretty certain that we are akeady throwing far too much of it away. 
 But while it is easy to get rid of water, it is not so easy to get rid of 
 sewage. 
 
 i
 
 THE CROSSNESS SEWAGE 
 EXPERIMENT. 
 
 (From the ' Standard' of September 2, 1871.) 
 
 In the course of a few weeks an experiment will commence at Crossness, 
 on the result of which very important consequences may he said to depend. 
 As many of our readers are aware, Crossness is the spot where the southern 
 sewage of the metropolis is pumped from the great outfall sewer into a 
 covered reservoir, prior to the discharge of the sewage at a proper period of 
 the tide into the river. " Crossness " appears to he simply the designation 
 of a projecting part of the southern shore of the Thames, intervening between 
 the Plumstead and Erith marshes. Descending the river, we find the 
 Southern Main-drainage Works, or pumping-station, situated a little below 
 Crossness point, but still very near it, the distance being about a third of a 
 mile. It is a lonely spot, some three miles further down the river than 
 "Woolwich, and a mile and a half from the nearest railway station (Abbey- 
 wood), on the North Kent line. The country intervening between the 
 railway and the river is a huge marsh, only preserved from inundation by 
 an embankment. As mentioned by Mr. Bazalgette, in his account of the 
 main drainage of London, these marshes originally formed part of the 
 Thames, being first reclaimed in the reign of Edward I. by the monks of 
 Lesnes Abbey. In the reign of Henry VIII., 2000 acres were flooded by 
 the river bursting its banks, and were not recovered until the reign of 
 James I. A similar disaster very nearly occurred in 1864, on the occasion 
 of the explosion of Messrs. Hall's powder magazine. The pumping station 
 is secured against the danger of inundation by being placed partly on the 
 embankment, and partly on an artificial plateau which covers the reservoir. 
 The area of the sewage reservoir is six acres and a half. The plateau, laid 
 out with grass and gravelled paths, and a few shrubs and flowers, is a very 
 pleasant-looking spot. Twenty-one cottages, of somewhat villa-like appear- 
 ance, fringe the plateau, while on the river side appear the grand proportions 
 of the engine-house, where four colossal engines, with a collective power of 
 500 horses, are heaving up the sewage from the level of the sewer into the 
 great reservoir. The daily quantity of sewage now discharging at Crossness 
 is, on the average, about 50,000,000 gallons, or more than 223,000 tons. 
 But the engines are capable of lifting 280 tons in a minute, or nearly double 
 the average flow. The lift, we may observe, varies from ten to thirty feet, 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 according to the relative levels of the water in the sewer and in the reservoir. 
 Though of lesser magnitude than the Abbey Mills pumping-station on the 
 northern side, the Crossness works are quite sufficient to excite the admira- 
 tion of the visitor. 
 
 The idea of dealing with this immense mass of sewage by a process of 
 chemical precipitation appears at the outset to be little better than chimerical. 
 Yet the idea is entertained in certain quarters, and the subject is being 
 approached in a practical and decided manner. Not only is it thought that 
 the southern sewage could thus be dealt with — deprived of its manurial 
 ingredients as it passes on, and the effluent water allowed to flow day by 
 day into the river, but a like mode of dealing with the northern sewage is 
 held to be quite feasible, and certain to return an abundant profit. The 
 mere water supply of London is equal to something like 1(3,000,000 cubic 
 feet per day. To this we must add a proportion of the rainfall, equal to at 
 least 7,000,000 cubic feet per day, making a total of 23,000,000 cubic feet, 
 or 143,750,000 gallons. What this means will be better understood by 
 saying that such a quantity would cover 176 acres to a depth of three feet. 
 Or it would fill a canal fifty feet wide, ten feet deep, and more than eight 
 miles and a half in length. Let us imagine this bulk of water converted 
 into what we call " sewage " by the admission into its volume of the excreta 
 of a population equal to three millions and a quarter. The admixture 
 includes every kind of liquid refuse, and the result is a flowing mass, 
 repulsive to the sight and ofl'ensive to the sense of smell. The fluid flows 
 on at a rate which would empty the canal in twenty-four hours, were it not 
 that the supply is perpetual. Let us further conceive of some modern 
 magician standing by the side of this Stygian stream, waving his wand, and 
 so controlling the nature of the fluid that, while it comes to him all foul, 
 dark and loathsome, it passes away as bright and clear as a mountain rill. 
 The filth is transformed, first into heaps of shining gold, which fall at the 
 magician's feet, to be distributed among mankind as dividends and as sums 
 in aid of public rates, while further results appear in the shape of waving 
 corn-fields and a fertile land. Such, in substance, is the task which is now 
 contemplated, and should the experimental works at Crossness prove 
 successful the great enterprise will not be allowed to slumber. Sewage 
 irrigation — sound and right as it is — drags wearily along, inasmuch as towns 
 are slow to undertake it, and farmers shrink from the trouble of introducing 
 it. Offer a farmer a bag of manure, and he will buy it. It is an easy thing 
 to put the dry stuff on the land and let the rains of heaven wash it in. 
 But ask the agriculturist to perfect the drainage of his land, to lay it out in 
 a certain way, and to adopt the necessary devices for irrigation, and we find 
 at once how difficult it is to persuade the man to enter on such an under- 
 taking. Yet, if the chemical process should prove a final failure, sewage 
 irrigation is the only hope, and even if the chemical process succeeds, sewage 
 irrigation will have its own particular claims to regard. The irrigation plan 
 places a supply of water at the disposal of the agriculturist, and this, of itself, 
 is an immense advantage. Even the chemical process would be all the 
 better if supplemented on the farm by a store of water, preserved against 
 the time of drought. Plants must drink as well as eat, and all their food 
 is taken in a form which necessitates the presence of a fluid. 
 
 The experimental Works of the Native Guano Company now appear on 
 the eastern side of the Crossness pumping-station. The land occupied by 
 these new Works belongs to the Metropolitan Board, and the Company have
 
 11 
 
 simply obtained permission to occupy the site for twelve months. Should the 
 experimental Works prove a nuisance, the Company will be liable, by their 
 agreemeut, to have the process at once stopped. All the risk is theirs, and the 
 conditions are stringent. The Native Guano Company erect their buildings, 
 and find their machinery, chemicals, working staff, &c., all at their own 
 cost, while the whole of their operations at this spot are to be under the 
 surveillance of the Metropolitan Board. Not only will the Board have the 
 right to enquire into every particular as the experiment goes on, but it is a 
 direct obligation on their part that they shall actually do so, in order that 
 the Native Guano Company may have the benefit of an indisputable report 
 from the Metropolitan Board, as to whether or not the Company's process is 
 successful, both in a sanitary and commercial sense. On the part of the 
 Company the affair is in the nature of an experiment. On the part of the 
 Board it is in the nature of an of&cial inquiry. The Board are to be satisfied, 
 one way or the other, and the Native Guano Company are avowedly 
 prepared to stand or fall by the result. Every precaution will be taken to 
 place the results beyond dispute. Nothing can go into the place, and 
 nothing can be taken out of it, without the knowledge of the officers of the 
 Board- The accounts will be investigated by one of the Board's accountants, 
 and vouchers will be required for every transaction. Mr. T. W. Keates, the 
 consulting chemist of the Metropolitan Board, will be responsible for the 
 chemical facts, while Mr. Hougliton, the superintendent of the pumping- 
 station, will have the oversight of the financial and mechanical details. 
 
 The specialite of the Native Guano Company is already famihar to the 
 public by the appellation of the "ABC" process. Some time ago it was 
 the subject of an adverse report from the Rivers Pollution Commission, 
 founded upon an investigation of the process as then carried on at Leicester 
 and Leamington. The directors of the Native Guano Company are under- 
 stood to acknowledge that the commissioners, according to the circumstances 
 which then existed, were to a great extent justified in drawing unfavourable 
 conclusions. The directors have been willing to profit by the official inquiry, 
 and now express their firm belief that their undertaking is in a position to 
 bear any amount of investigation. It would seem that the public participate 
 to a great extent in this feeling of confidence, the Company's shares having 
 recently experienced a remarkable rise in the market. Shares in other 
 sewage undertakings have also risen, and we seem to be on the verge of that 
 period which was along ago predicted in these columns, when sewage utilisation 
 would be the subject of a mania almost equal to that which once affected 
 railway enterprise. There can be no doubt that if the Crossness experiment 
 succeeds, not only will the Native Guano Company become one of the 
 financial marvels of the age, but the nation at large will feel the effect. 
 Expectations may yet be disappointed; but if present appearances are 
 verified with reference to the "ABC " process, the productive power of our 
 agriculture will be immensely increased, and the mass of sewage at present 
 wasted will be made to yield its value. To this we may add the saving of 
 money in the purchase of foreign manure ; and altogether it is impossible to 
 deny that if present hopes are realised the result will not merely be repre- 
 sented by a successful speculation, but by an enormous increase in the 
 national wealth. AVe need scarcely add that to augment the productiveness 
 of the soil affords a surer source of national prosperity than the development 
 of manufactures, and affords the best guarantee* for the reduction of 
 pauperism.
 
 12 
 
 Having offered these remarks, which seem due to the character of 
 the enterprise, we proceed to describe the manner in which the 
 "ABC" experiment is to be carried out at Crossness. Tn the first place, 
 the sewage to be operated upon, amounting to 500,000 gallons in the four- 
 and-tweuty hours, will be drawn from the "cross-cut," that is to say, the 
 channel or culvert through wdiich the sewage flows into the great reser- 
 voir. The quantity thus taken will therefore be the fairest possible 
 sample of the sewage generally, and will amount to one per cent of the 
 whole. From this point, which is some sixteen or eighteen feet below the 
 surface of the ground, the sewage will flow through a large pipe into the 
 sump of the pumping-engine on the Works of the "ABC" Company. This 
 engine, made by Messrs. Appleby Brothers, performs various operations 
 required in the process, and is a 15-horse high-pressure horizontal engine, 
 with a stroke of two feet. The sewage being lifted to the pump-head, will 
 flow into a cylindrical iron tank placed upright in the " mixing " room. The 
 pipe which is to feed the tank has its entrance at the base, and has a junction 
 at this point with a pipe which conveys the "ABC" mixture, so that the 
 sewage and the "ABC" compound are mingled together at the moment 
 they enter the tank. The fluids having their entrance at the bottom of the 
 cylinder the flow is upwards, for which purpose a sufficient pressure is 
 obtained by a simple gravitating arrangement. The tank will be always 
 full, and the rate at which the combined fluids will pass through it will be 
 such as to carry the stipulated allowance of sewage, being equal to very 
 nearly six gallons per second. The quantity of "ABC" mixture 
 added to the sewage, judging by previous experience, will be in the propor- 
 tion of about one per cent., including the water in which the "ABC" 
 ingredients are first of all dissolved. Thus 5000 gallons of the "ABC" 
 solution will be added to the 500,000 gallons of sewage. 
 
 It may be well here to explain at once what is included in the mixing of 
 the "ABC" compound. Ten thousand grains of raw sewage require from 
 sixteen to eighteen grains of the "ABC" ingredients, exclusive of water. 
 The compound comprises from two to three grains of crude sulphate of 
 alumina, three grains of animal charcoal, ten grains of clay, and one or two 
 grains of blood. These are mixed with eighty-two or eighty-four grains of 
 water, making therefore a total of one hundred grains, or one per cent, of 
 the 10,000 grains of raw sewage. The sulphate of alumina is obtained in 
 a very cheap form. Clay is first of all dried by being placed on a surface 
 heated from beneath by waste heat from the engine furnace. When the 
 clay is dry and hot, it is mixed with sulphuric acid, which seizes on the 
 alumina in the clay, and forms the sulphate. The effect, in a commercial 
 point of view, is described as reducing the cost of the sulphate of alumina 
 from pounds to shillings. Whether the result is equal in all respects to the 
 sulphate of alumina for which £6 10s. per ton was paid at Leamington, and 
 £7 10s. per ton at Hastings, we can scarcely undertake to say ; but it is 
 said to answer all the requirements of the "ABC" process, and therefore 
 represents a substantial saving. The one or two grains of blood mentioned 
 in the list are mixed with the ten grains of clay, this clay being distinct 
 from that which assists in producing the sulphate of alumina. The blood is 
 that of a living animal, coagulation being fatal to the required properties. 
 Mixed with the clay, the blood remains moist until wanted for use. To 
 secure these advantages, the clay is sent in tubs to the slaughter-houses. 
 For the grinding of the clay and other chemicals, a crushing mill is fitted
 
 13 
 
 up in the chemical store-room, contiguous to the mixing-room, the mill 
 consuming rather less than the power of two horses, as indicated by the 
 engine. 
 
 In the same room with the cylindrical tank are four " mixing pits," like 
 shallow wells. It is proposed to keep the acids and the alkalies separate 
 until they meet in a fifth pit or well, whence the perfect mixture is pumped 
 up to a level which enables it to flow into the cylindrical tank with the 
 sewage. Each mixing pit, as also the tank, has within it a stirrer or 
 agitator, worked by the engine. A moderate agitation is found to be better 
 than a more violent treatment of the mixture, both in the making of the 
 "ABC" solution and in the blending of this with the sewage. In the 
 latter instance the union is partly chemical and partly mechanical, thus 
 accounting for results which could scarcely be expected on chemical grounds 
 alone. This part of the process is graphically described by saying that the 
 particles " go down arm in arm." This deposition, however, does not take 
 place in the cylindrical tank. The operation in this tank is simply one of 
 mixing, so as to blend the sewage and the solution. The back of the 
 mixing-room, where the cylindrical tank is placed, abuts upon the western 
 end of six out-door tanks, constructed of concrete, and ranged side by side. 
 The floor of these tanks is level with the ground, the walls rising up so as 
 to form a species of edifice about 150 feet in length. Each tank is fifty feet 
 long by twenty feet wide, and eight feet deep. The sewage, mixed with the 
 solution of " A B C," will flow from the top of the cylindrical tank along a 
 channel which traverses the edge of the range of tanks. From this channel, 
 by means of suitable outlets, the sewage thus prepared or " dosed " will be 
 allowed to descend into each tank as may be required. Once admitted into 
 one of these settHng tanks the fluid will begin to throw down its precipitate. 
 Each tank when full will be allowed to remain for six hours, and at the end 
 of that time the floor of the tank will be covered with a deposit of sewage 
 mud, while all above will be clear water. By means of pipes and valves the 
 clear fluid will then be run off, taking its course outside along an open 
 channel a little below the level of the tank floors. This channel is of brick, 
 lined on the bottom with cement. It is very shallow, and has a width of 
 four feet. It runs eastward, parallel with the river, for a distance of 400 
 feet, when its course is broken by half-a-dozen little falls, intended to produce 
 cascades. Including a couple of bends, the entire course of this effluent 
 water canal is about 470 feet. Its final destiny is to enter the Thames by 
 an aperture in the river wall, whence it is intended to gush forth in a bright, 
 pellucid jet, affording the strongest possible contrast to the fluid discharged 
 from the outfall a little higher up. 
 
 At the eastern extremity of the tanks preparation is being made for the 
 construction of filter beds, in order to afford the effluent water the highest 
 degree of filtration. Several methods of filtration will be adopted, so as to 
 test their relative merits, A degree of purity ample for a tidal river is 
 expected from the operation of the large tanks alone ; but further purity in 
 different degrees will be obtained by means of the filter beds, so as to suit 
 all requirements. A couple of fountains will also be employed, tossing 
 their jets of clear water in the air, the water being the " effluent," and the 
 necessary pressure being obtained by means of a small pump worked by the 
 steam-engine, and connected with an elevated tank. The space contiguous 
 to the Works is to be laid out with turf and shrubs, so as to present a tidy 
 and attractive aspect. At the western end of the tanks is a neatly
 
 14 
 
 designed building, within which is the Company's board-room, the laboratory, 
 the chemical store, clerk's office, the mixing-room, and other apartments. 
 A square tower projects in front, having a portico beneath, while the tank 
 which is to supply the fountains occupies the upper part. The main 
 building is simply of one storey, and is principally of wood, but has a very 
 presentable appearance. One of the fountains is to be placed in front of it, 
 and when all the arrangements are complete the "ABC" works will be a 
 fair adjunct to the plateau of the Main-drainage Works. A trip to Crossness 
 may some day become a pleasurable thing, though this would seem almost 
 impossible. Unfortunately there are contiguous nuisances, including a 
 manure factory of very powerful odour situated farther down the river. This 
 establishment, though remote, is apt to make its presence disagreeably 
 perceptible to the dwellers at Crossness when the wind happens to be in an 
 unlucky quarter. It is one of the stipulations with regard to the "ABC" 
 Works' that they shall make no addition to the unsavoury odours which 
 already exist. As model works they must necessarily be free from anything 
 in the nature of a nuisance, otherwise they would not afford a satisfactory 
 example for a country town. 
 
 Granted that the effluent water is pure, and that the Works give rise to 
 no offensive effluvia, the final question relates to the actual utilisation of 
 the sewage — the production of a useful and profitable manure. We have 
 spoken of the mud deposit in the precipitating tanks. The effluent being 
 run off to the north, the mud is afterwards drawn off by an outlet in each 
 tank on the south. The discharge of the mud will be facilitated by men 
 armed with brooms, sweeping the floor of the tank. The mud thus 
 removed will enter a channel, and thence be led into a range of covered 
 acidifying tanks, running parallel with the line of precipitating tanks. The 
 acidifying tanks are — like the others — six in number, but of course are 
 much smaller, as they only receive the mud. Each of the smaller tanks 
 measures about twelve feet square by four feet deep. The mud will remain 
 here a certain time, and, as a further settlement will take place, the super- 
 natant water will be run off and returned to the pump sump. Sulphuric 
 acid will then be mixed with the mud remaining in the tanks, in order to 
 fix the ammonia. This being done, it is said that the mud never parts with 
 its ammonia until it is absorbed by vegetation. Nevertheless, strange as it 
 may appear, the Native Guano Company do not altogether rely on ammonia 
 for the fertilising properties of their sewage, but believe they have an extra 
 key wherewith to unlock the earth's treasure-house, so as to enrich the 
 produce of the fields. The demand for their manure, and the price which 
 farmers and gardeners pay for it, are facts which seem to indicate that this 
 heterodox theory has some sort of foundation. The " native guano " 
 certainly cannot be called rich in those elements which are generally 
 supposed to constitute a valuable manure. Yet, on the other hand, it is 
 asserted that very marked effects are produced by its use, and it finds a 
 ready sale at £3 10s. per ton. Indeed, the demand is stated to be far in 
 excess of the supply, and farmers who have once used it have been found 
 eager to obtain it again. 
 
 The quantity of acid used in the acidifying tanks is not large, being one 
 pint of acid to a ton of mud. The next step is the drying process, hitherto 
 the great difficulty with all chemical processes. The Hastings Sewage 
 Company, working on the "ABC" system, dry their mud on an iron 
 floor, heated from beneath by waste steam, the mud being further acted
 
 upon by the waste products of combustion, drawn through the chamber by 
 a fan. The drying floor is closely roofed in, and the products of com- 
 bustion, after passing over the mud, are conducted, together with the steam 
 exhaled by the mud, into a vessel or tank, where they are made to pass 
 through water, so as to deprive them of any noxious properties before 
 escaping into the air. This plan, which has been ably worked out by Mr. 
 Ovenden, the engineer to the Native Guano Company, might be adopted at 
 Crossness. But another method is proposed, which is expected to prove 
 more effective. The new apparatus is the subject of a patent, and is the 
 invention of Mr. William A. Gibbs, of Gillwell Park, Essex, a gentleman 
 already famous for his desiccating inventions with reference to agriculture. 
 The new desiccator is already under trial at the Leamington Works. Some 
 experiments which we witnessed a few days ago at Gillwell Park were 
 remarkably satisfactory. A cylinder of only half the length and about one- 
 third the diameter of the cylinders to be used at Crossness, was effectual in 
 speedily bringing a quantity of watery mud to a state in which it would 
 crumble in the hands. The cylinder is made to revolve slowly, while a 
 stream of hot air from a furnace impinges radially on the interior surface of 
 the cylinder along a narrow line parallel with its axis. The cylinder is 
 slightly inclined, and the substance to be dried, being inserted at the upper 
 end, travels downward with a devious motion — sometimes under the stream 
 of hot air and sometimes away from it, until it falls out at the lower end. 
 We saw wet oats, perfectly sodden, put in at the upper end of the cylinder, 
 and in a very few minutes turned out at the lower end perfectly dry and 
 sweet. A.S connected with this question of desiccation, we cannot forbear 
 referring to the hay-drier, invented by Mr, Gibbs, and to the fact that by 
 its agency it is possible to dry and stack hay in the midst of a pouring 
 rain. The feat has been performed, and, incredible as it may appear, hay 
 previously damaged has been restored by the process. A stack, composed 
 partly of hay dried in the ordinary manner and hay dried by the special 
 apparatus, shows a marked superiority in the hay which has been dried 
 artificially, the latter having by far the most fragrant odour, and, although 
 perfectly dry, retaining a beautiful green colour. The preference of horses 
 and cattle for the artificially dried hay is so remarkable that no doubt can 
 remain as to the beneficial effects of this new mode of drying. We have 
 only to hope that JMr. Gibbs will be as successful amongst the mud at 
 Crossness as in the pleasanter scenes of the open country. 
 
 It is computed, on the basis of certain experiments, that the 500,000 
 gallons of sewage to be treated daily at Crossness will result in the pro- 
 duction of four tons of native guano. This is below the Hastings result, 
 where 100,000 gallons of sewage produce one ton of manure. But the 
 London water supply is large, and there is considerable percolation of sub- 
 soil water into the long lines of intercepting sewers. It will be observed 
 that the Company at Crossness have undertaken to receive the sewage in a 
 continuous flow, so as to represent the maximum difficulty in dealing with 
 the sewage of a town. The Company will also take as much at night as in 
 the day, each hour being burdened with a twenty-fourth part of the daily 
 total. If the sewage which reaches Crossness during the night is materially 
 weaker than that which arrives in the day, the Company are placed at a 
 manifest disadvantage by this arrangement. As to the constitution of the 
 manure, we may observe that at Hastings seven tons of native guano 
 contain 3 tons 12 cwt. of " A B C," the remaining 3 tons 8 cwt. being
 
 16 
 
 therefore due to the sewage. The proportions in this case, being as 70, to 
 68, are nearly equal. As an approximation we might assume an actual 
 equality in regard to the London sewage. If this be so, the four tons of 
 native guano to be produced daily at Crossness would contain two tons of 
 sewage deposit, obtained from 2232 tons of liquid. When the Works are 
 in operation we should expect to find the deposit somewhat heavier than 
 this, and the yield of manure exceeding the estimated quantity of four tons 
 per day. Our previous reckoning of seventeen grains of dry '* A B C " to 
 10,000 grains of sewage also points to a heavier result. 
 
 The cost of the Crossness Works is estimated at £7000, and the working 
 capital at £1000. That such an outlay should be incurred on a twelve 
 months' experience appears remarkable. So far as the agreement is con- 
 cerned, everything may have to be pulled down and removed a year hence. 
 But the risk appears to be swallowed up in the idea of a complete practical 
 triumph, such as shall make the " A B C " process too valuable to be 
 discarded in a summary fashion. At the present hour the Works at Cross- 
 ness are substantially complete, with the exception of the portion where 
 the drying apparatus is to be erected, which has been delayed in order to 
 have the full benefit of the inventive skill of Mr. Gibbs. It is expected 
 that all will be ready by the end of October, and that the process of 
 manure-making will then commence. Mr. William ^Vebster is the con- 
 tractor for the tanks, together with the general outside works, and Mr. 
 Chappell for the buildings. Messrs. Appleby Brothers, of Southwark, 
 supply the engine and the machinery. Messrs. Shelford & Robinson, of 
 Westminster, are the engineers for the Works, associated with Mr. Ovenden, 
 the engineer to the Native Guano Company. With regard to the cost of 
 the Works, it is right to observe that £7000 greatly exceeds what would be 
 necessary in order to meet the wants of a town producing 500,000 gallons 
 of sewage per day. The Crossness Works are rendered expensive by 
 peculiar circumstances, being intended as model works, and including 
 many things which w^ould be quite unnecessary in an ordinary case. It is 
 estimated that £5000 would provide w^orks sufficient for dealing with the 
 sewage of a town having 20,000 inhabitants, while £1000 or £2000 more 
 would furnish the necessary working capital. Moreover, the Crossness 
 Works are really adapted to deal wdth a larger quantity of sewage than 
 that which we have reckoned in the previous calculations. In all pro- 
 bability the Works are equal to the treatment of fifty per cent, more 
 sewage than the quantity specified, making, therefore, a total of 750,000 
 gallons per twenty-four hours. Of course this would proportionately affect 
 the yield or quantity of manure manufactured. Another feature in the 
 undertaking not yet mentioned is a proposal to hire seven acres of land in 
 the vicinity of the Works, in order to try the effect of the native guano on 
 various kinds of crops. It is desired that this part of the operations 
 should also be under the supervision of the Metropolitan Board, so that 
 all the results may receive the stamp of authority and be placed beyond 
 suspicion.
 
 THE UTILISATION OF SEWAGE. 
 
 (From the ' StandarcV of September 30, 1871.) 
 
 A recent article in our columns gave a detailed account of the Works 
 which are now being completed at Crossness for the purpose of expe- 
 rimenting vrith the "ABC" process on a portion of the metropolitan 
 sewage. That this process should survive the condemnation pronounced on 
 it by a Royal Commission, and that the shares of the Company possessing 
 the patent should rise to a premium of 700 per cent., are matters of 
 surprise, and even of pei-plexity, in many quarters. The Native Guano 
 Company, who possess the patent, and whose shares are selling at this 
 remarkable price, are evidently in earnest, and declare their willingness to 
 submit their mode of treating sewage to the most rigorous test. The Works 
 at Crossness are designed for this purpose, and it may be presumed that 
 the Metropolitan Board of Works are somewhat favourably impressed with 
 the " A B C " method, or they would not have troubled themselves with 
 the surveillance of the Crossness undertaking. In the meantime the 
 process is commanding attention abroad, and the patents which have been 
 secured in foreign countries are made the bases of arrangements involving 
 large sums of money. At home, such towns as Hastings, Leeds, Bolton, 
 and Southampton are becoming identified with the "ABC" system. 
 The manure made by this process sells at a price which is said to be highly 
 remunerative, and upon the whole nothing could look more hopeful, were 
 it not that eminent chemists have questioned the purifying effects of the 
 process, and have refused to allow that the resultant manure is possessed 
 of a value equal to the cost of production. On the question of cost, we 
 may observe that while the " x\ B C " mixture remains substantially as it 
 was before, the mechanical methods of dealing with the sewage deposit 
 have undergone considerable change with a view to economy as well as 
 efficiency. The cost of one of the leading ingredients of the compound, 
 namely, sulphate of alumina, has also t3een very greatly reduced, by 
 making use of clay treated with sulphuric acid as a substitute for the 
 more expensive article. As to the actual value of the manure which is 
 ultimately produced, adverse opinions of two sorts are expressed. It is 
 alleged, firstly, that the so-called " native guano " possesses " a very low 
 market value;" and, secondly, that if it is really worth anything, the 
 circumstance is due to the ' fortifying" of the sewage with powerful 
 chemicals. The "artificial fortification of the comparatively worthless 
 
 c
 
 18 
 
 sewage-mud thrown down by the 'ABC' mixture " was a charge brought 
 against the undertaking by the Rivers Pollution Commission. Inquiry 
 into this matter, some time ago, satisfied us that any practice of this kind 
 was extremely limited, and was never adopted with the knowledge or 
 consent of the Board of Directors. The only incident of the kind occurred 
 at Leamington, and has nothing whatever to do with the present position 
 and prospects of the Native Guano Company. It would be absurd indeed 
 to suppose that any Company seeking a commercial profit would sell a 
 dear article under the name and at the rate of a cheap one. The good 
 faith of the " A B C " Company is shown by the terms on which they are 
 going to conduct the Crossness experiment ; and there is every reason to 
 beUeve that the Directors are honourable men, willing for their enterprise 
 to be tested by a sound practical experiment. 
 
 Should the native guano of the " A B C " process be found to justify the 
 expectations of the Company who possess the patent, there can be no 
 doubt that some scientific theories of high repute will have to be recon- 
 sidered. On this very interesting part of the subject there is much to be 
 said. But, in the first instance, we propose to make an appeal to direct 
 facts. In order to see what is the real state of the case we have entered 
 upon a tour of inquiry among the agriculturists who have used the native 
 guano. At the same time we have accepted evidence as to garden produce, 
 particularly where we can get the benefit of exact quantities. Our 
 inquiries, which are still in process, extend through parts of Sussex, 
 Kent, and Warwickshire. We have also made other inquiries in more 
 distant counties, and trust that the facts thus collected will be found of 
 service to all who are practically interested in the treatment of sewage 
 and the cultivation of the ground. It is our own impression that 
 a great change is impending over the practice of British agriculture, in 
 which town-sewage will play an important part. New considerations, or, 
 in other words, new facts, are pressing forward and cannot be disregarded, 
 however much they may be resisted for a time. The interest excited by 
 this question will be found to increase as the subject developes itself, — 
 a circumstance not to be wondered at when we remember that sewage and 
 agriculture affect both the health and the sustenance of the people. 
 
 We have intimated that facts connected with garden culture are not 
 excluded from our inquiry. We cannot see why they should be, although 
 the Rivers Pollution Commissioners affected to treat them with disdain. 
 Such facts have their value, though a good deal more may be desired. If 
 all the gardeners in England become purchasers of " native guano," that 
 alone will establish an enormous trade. Or if any considerable proportion 
 of the gardening class adopt this manure, the result will be by no means 
 inconsiderable. In the meantime garden experiments help to show whether 
 the native guano is worth anything or nothing ; and we may as well say at 
 once that, so far as our inquiries have gone at present, the testimony of 
 horticulturists is decidedly in favour of this particular manure. 
 
 One of our earliest visits was paid to a garden belonging to a gentleman 
 at Northiam, a few miles from Rye. The situation was on a knoll, having 
 a light top soil of poor description, with gravel underneath, so that all the 
 raiuMl would speedily soak away. Altogether it was a very " hot " piece 
 of ground, and as it was seldom or never suppHed with water by any 
 artiticial process, it was not a very promising place wherein to seek for 
 garden produce which should possess any degree of luxuriance. In such a
 
 19 
 
 spot a dry manure could not be said to possess a good chance. Nevertheless 
 the native guauo had produced an effect. One piece of ground had been 
 cleared of potatoes in the autumn of last year ; a crop of turnips had been 
 removed in July, and at the time of our visit, in the month of September, 
 cabbages of various kinds were growing vigorously, though the hot sun had 
 somewhat " scalded " them. The only manure used for these several crops 
 was dry native guauo ; and until the hot sun affected them the cabbages 
 were the finest in the ueio'hbourhood. On an adjoining plot in the same 
 garden the application of native guano mixed with water produced some 
 remarkably fine vegetable marrows, altogether exceeding anything grown 
 in the garden before. The manure was appUed in the dry state to some 
 old and seemingly worn-out strawberry plants with marked success. It was 
 originally applied to these in patches, and the difference between the 
 manured and unmanured portions was of a most decided character. The 
 merit of the native guano in this case consisted in restoring the exhausted 
 plants, so that they reassumed all the appearance of fresh ones, bearing 
 abundance of fruit. We were also informed of a precisely similar case 
 occurring in the neighbourhood of St. Leonards. 
 
 A singular experiment was tried in this Northiam garden, npon a strip 
 of waste ground where nothing had been cultivated, and, consequently, no 
 manure applied for a period of several years. This season a couple of 
 dressings of native guano was given to this virgin soil at the rate of a ton 
 per acre as the total of the two dressings. Forthwith everything sown upon 
 the ground either came to perfection or made a fair approach to it. The 
 carrots, as also the parsnips, were somewhat stunted by the hard gravel 
 underneath ; but turnips grew at such a pace that some had the honour of 
 being exhibited at the Rye Horticultural Show. Radishes, and also mustard 
 and cress, grew amazingly. In another spot we saw some fine black pickling 
 cabbages. Last year the same description of cabbage was grown on the 
 same spot under the influence of the native guano, and the crop was said to 
 have been the finest in the neighbourhood. This year no fresh manure was 
 employed, but the remaining virtue of last year's dressing served to produce 
 the very satisfactory crop we beheld, and which might take rank as equal 
 to those grown in adjacent gardens, which were, of course, duly manured 
 each season. Another incident was in reference to some turnips. These 
 were coming on nicely when they were assailed by the flea. To check this 
 evil soot was applied to all except four rows, which were treated with native 
 guano instead of soot. In the course of a week these latter had twice the 
 growth of the turnips which had been sooted, and at the time we saw them 
 the superiority, although lessened, was still to be observed. The fertilizing 
 effect of the guano on scarlet runners was also evident, the bine running to 
 twelve feet high, despite the unkindly nature of the soil. 
 
 Near at hand was a species of paddock, partly field and partly orchard, 
 with a poor soil, something like the garden. Part of this was manured with 
 the native guano in February last, at the rate of 6 cwt. to the acre. The 
 first effect was a brilliant crop of buttercups. These were followed by an 
 equally vigorous growth of sorrel. Some disappointment was naturally 
 occasioned by these equivocal results ; but a third stage speedily followed, 
 when a luxuriant crop of grass out-topped all that had preceded it. At 
 the time of our visit the space where the manure had been applied was 
 characterised by a fine close undergrowth. In one place we noticed a 
 particularly verdant kind of semi-circle, and a patch of deep green. On
 
 20 
 
 inquiry, it appeared that the patch marked the spot where the truck stood 
 which conveyed the guano to the field, and the serni-circular hne was where 
 the guano-bags, half-a-dozen in number, were finally shaken out. The 
 appearance was much the same as if the space in question had been watered 
 by a spring oozing out of the ground, but the growth was by no means 
 rank. 
 
 At Guestling, itself one of the prettiest nooks in Sussex, but the scene of 
 a fearful case of family poisoning some years ago, we met with an instance 
 like that at Northiam, showing the effect on grass. Native guano was 
 applied to a piece of pasture land at the rate of 3 cwt. per acre. The land 
 was rather poor, being a hot soil of sand and gravel, and the rest of the field 
 was manured with mould and dung. But the guano produced the finest 
 crop. Speaking of the native guano, the party making the experiment said, 
 " It gave a very good result, and I could see to a foot where it went." He 
 added, "I believe it to be excellent stuff." This party had the more reason 
 to be satisfied, seeing that he had tried the guano for his early potatoes, and 
 found that the potatoes so reared escaped the blight, while others of the same 
 kind, grown on the same piece, were struck with disease. The ciiTumstance 
 would seem to indicate that a vigorous plant, growing rapidly, is better able 
 to resist an unwholesome influence than a plant of slower growth and lower 
 vitality. A few days afterwards we saw some extremely handsome potatoes, 
 grown at Walthamstow, and fertilised by the native guano. In this 
 instance the experiment was distinctly comparative. Four rows of potatoes 
 were dressed with two loads of stable manure, costing sixteen shillings. 
 Four other rows, immediately adjacent on the same piece, were manured 
 with 2 cwt. of native guano, costing eight shillings, including a shilling for 
 carriage. The cheaper manure produced by far the best-looking potatoes, 
 though the size was about the same. Those grown under the influence of 
 native guano had a satin-like skin, while those grown by stable-manure had 
 a rough, scaly appearance. The American " early rose," a new variety grown 
 by the native guano, was a decided success. 
 
 The value of native guano as a hop manure is a subject of some im- 
 portance. At Northiam we saw some results which seemed to tell decidedly 
 in favour of the new fertiliser. A top dressing of native guano had been 
 given to the ground last j^ear, but with no apparent result. This year the 
 effect was unequivocal, the rows which had received the dressing of guano 
 being loaded with bine and hop far in excess of those which had not been 
 so treated. It was also to be observed that these richer poles occupied the 
 least favourable part of the garden. In this instance the manure had 
 slumbered in the soil owing to the dry weather of last year. But we saw 
 another case in which the manure had operated quickly. Native guano, at 
 the rate of 8 cwt. per acre, was "shimmed in" among some Colegate hops 
 on or about July 20. There was a little rain falling at the time, and some 
 rain fell during the succeeding night. The testimony of the farmer with 
 reference to these hops was, " They have improved nicely." The general 
 effect of the native guano on the hop-plant is shown partly by a deeper shade 
 of green in the leaves of the bine, accompanied by a more vigorous growth, 
 naturally associated with a more abundant yield of hops. On some highly- 
 cultivated grounds in the same district the difference produced by the native 
 guano, " shimmed in " under similar circumstances, was less marked ; but 
 the soil had been previously so enriched with other manures that there 
 seemed to be scarcely any margin for improvement. But here we were told,
 
 2J 
 
 as elsewhere, that the difference produced by the native guano consisted in 
 the plants looking " more green " and vigorous than the rest. These hops 
 were of the grape kind, and the ground had been a hop-garden for thirty-four 
 years. It was in a beautiful state of cultivation, and had been known to 
 yield a ton and a half of hops per acre. This year, despite the general 
 badness of hops, the yield in this plantation was expected to exceed 15 cwt. 
 per acre. It is further to be observed that on the same farm Peruvian guano 
 was applied to some hops shortly after the apphcation of native guano to the 
 piece just mentioned, and no eflect could be observed. At the same time, we 
 must state that native guano had also failed in one case to produce an 
 immediate effect. Of course so late an application, in such a season, where 
 the cultivation was already so good, scarcely allowed of any marked result. 
 Measured by the average result of this year's crop, all the hops on this 
 latter farm were good, and it was scarcely possible for them to be better in 
 such a season. In the case of a small hop-grower, whose land was of a poor 
 description, the testimony was that the native guano proved somewhat 
 cheaper than rape manure. That is to say, a ton of the former, costing 
 £3 10s., appeared to correspond to half a ton of rape manure, costing from 
 £7 10s. to £8 per ton. 
 
 In the village of Northiam an interesting experiment had been tried, of 
 which we saw the result. A space of ground had been planted with cabbages 
 for the feeding of cattle. One strip had been manured with stable-urine, 
 diluted with three times its bulk of water. Another strip had been treated 
 with Peruvian guano. A third strip had received native guano in a three- 
 fold quantity as compared with the Peruvian ; but this proportion was 
 affected by the circumstance that the experimentalist mixed salt with the 
 native guano to the extent of one-fourth the total bulk. It is obvious that 
 the value of the appHed manure was far greater in the case of the Peruvian 
 than of the native guano. Looking at the entire piece of ground, we could 
 scarcely discern any difference between the three strips, or if any difference 
 existed it was in favour of the native guano. In all cases the growth was 
 good, but the native material seemed to produce a somewhat finer quality of 
 plant. Mixed with water and applied to cucumbers, the manure had 
 produced a marked and instantaneous effect. 
 
 At Westfield, native guano, at the rate of 8 cwt. or 10 cwt. per acre on a 
 poor soil, had been found beneficial to wheat, oats, potatoes and clover. In 
 garden-ground, lettuce, cabbage and pease had done well. The farmer, who 
 gave us these facts as the result of one year's experience, was satisfied that 
 he had benefited by the manure, or, to use his own language, he had " got 
 his penn'orth out of it." Another farmer, whose proceedings were evidently 
 governed by caution and economy, had applied native guano to grass early 
 in the spring, at the rate of half-a-ton per acre. The crop was a fine one, 
 certainly better than any the land had borne for some years, but the farmer 
 was a little undecided as to whether this extraordinary crop might not have 
 been influenced to some extent by the manure (of another kind) remaining 
 in the ground from the previous year. Hence he wished for another year's 
 trial before arriving at a final decision. Should the next year's experience 
 be such as to substantiate that of the first, it was his intention to purchase 
 largely of the native guano, and he intimated that he and his neighbours 
 would then be found quite ready to take all the manure that Hastings could 
 supply. 
 
 In the parish of Icklesham we met with a large farmer, whose testimony
 
 22 
 
 on the subject of our inquiry was particularly to be valued. He stated that 
 he had a high opinion of the efficiency of native guano as a manure for 
 clover, and also for oats. Concerning hops he would not say much at 
 present, except that the bine was good. He began to use the manure in 
 March. To his clover he applied rather more than 5 cwt. per acre. To oats 
 5 cwt., " but they wanted more." Turnips received something like a ton per 
 acre, but the exact result was as yet uncertain, although during the first 
 month or six weeks the turnips thus treated grew with extraordinary rapidity. 
 It was the intention of this farmer to try tiie native guano on the next 
 occasion in a somewhat different way in regard to all his crops, manuring 
 the land with it in the autumn, and applying a second lot in the spring. 
 Thus half a ton per acre might be used at seed-time, and a quarter of a ton 
 in March. It was the opinion of this witness that the native guano was 
 somewhat " hot" for some soils and " wanted water." In the garden it did 
 well for pease, beans, lettuce, carrots and parsnips. 
 
 In the parish of Westfield we met with a remarkable instance of the 
 rough-and-ready use of human excreta for horticultural purposes. The 
 landlord of the " Plough" in that village takes the contents of four cesspits, 
 and mixes the same while in a semi-fluid condition with the surface-soil of 
 his garden, carefully covering the manure with earth, so as to prevent the 
 escape of noxious effluvia. The cesspits contain nothing but night-soil and 
 urine, the ordinary washings of the house going elsewhere. These four 
 cesspits correspond to four families, comprising twenty individuals in all, 
 the fertilized ground having a space of seventy square rods. Thus the 
 apphcation is at the rate of forty-five persons per acre. The plan has been 
 carried out for rather more than three years, and the effect is seen in the 
 extraordinary magnitude and quality of the produce. The landlord of the 
 inn showed us the tickets which certified to his success at the recent horti- 
 cultural show at Westfield, his " exhibits " having carried off four prizes of 
 the first class, including carrots, onions, French beans and kidney-potatoes. 
 The onions and potatoes were shown to us. The latter had a strong resem- 
 blance to those grown by native guano at Walthamstow, the skin being 
 singularly clean and bright. The onions were splendid specimens, both in 
 regard to size and quality. Thirty-seven bushels and a half of onions (of 
 which these were the best) had been grown on five rods of ground. As for 
 any nuisance which might be supposed to arise from this mode of cultivation, 
 we were assured that there was "no smell," "not a bit," the prompt 
 covering of the manure with earth being all that was needed. The rustic 
 experimentalist apparently knew nothing of theoretical principles, but was 
 content to push his way by dint of common sense and sturdy industry, 
 animated by perfect confidence that he was on the right track. " I will 
 grow pease," said he, " both for quality and quantity, with any man in 
 Sussex, let him be a professional or whatever he may; and as for my 
 French beans, they have taken four prizes in the last five weeks." It will 
 be observed that in this case the excreta was undiluted, and could not 
 properly be termed "sewage." It corresponded, in fact, to that which 
 furnishes the material for Chinese fertilization, except that the Chinese are 
 said to mix the original excreta with water, after which they pour it on the 
 roots of the plants by means of an appliance resembling a magnified ladle. 
 It may be doubted whether the landlord of the "Plough" at Westfield has 
 the benefit of all the fluid belonging to the excreta, but his own opinion was 
 that he had, and he described the manure as being in a comparatively fluid
 
 23 
 
 state. The case is worth noting, and indicates how much was probably 
 lost to British agriculture when the introduction of water-closets deprived 
 the farmer of the fertilizing material previously gathered from the cesspools 
 of the towns. Under the modern system the whole of this manurial matter 
 is swept away in an artificial flood, and the ingredients have to be recovered 
 from amidst a volume of water. The Westfield plan is simply the old 
 farming method, and has a greater resemblance to Moule's earth-closet than 
 to sewage irrigation, this last-named method being the consequence of 
 superseding cesspools by water-closets, so sending all the water supply 
 through the sewers, which likewise serve to carry off the surface-water due 
 to the rainfall. 
 
 For the present we abstain from entering into certain considerations 
 which the foregoing statements might be held to suggest. We rather 
 withhold our conclusions until the facts are more fully before the reader, 
 particularly as the more important part of our investigation remains yet to 
 be recorded. 
 
 n. 
 
 (From the 'Standard' of October 7, 1871.) 
 
 From the green lanes of Sussex to the gloom of a Lancashire manu- 
 facturing town may seem a somewhat abrupt transition. But for the 
 present it may be a useful plan to leave the agricultural part of our inquiry, 
 and show after what manner the chemical method of the Native Guano 
 Company is about to be applied to a gi'eat manufacturing district. The 
 town of Bolton, which in 1801 had a population of 17,410, has now 83,000 
 souls within the borough, and a host of small townships gathering round it. 
 The area of the borough is only 840 acres, or rather less than a square 
 mile and a third. This area is covered with buildings, and future extension 
 must lie without. The waterworks established by the corporation supply a 
 population of 100,000, and are being enlarged so as to meet the wants of 
 120,000. The extension of the waterworks is urgently called for, the supply 
 during the drought of last year having run within ten days of exhaustion — 
 a fearful prospect for so large a population. A new reservoir of immense 
 size is now in course of construction, costing, with other new works, not 
 less than £250,000. The supply is given on the constant system, with an 
 average pressure of about sixty pounds on the square inch. A rigid 
 inspection of the house fittings is carried out for the prevention of waste, 
 and it is said that the daily consumption is only about eighteen gallons per 
 head ; but this must be taken in connection with the other fact that there 
 are not five hundred water-closets in the whole borough. The generality of 
 the houses have cesspits, which drain from beneath into the sewers. These 
 cesspits receive the ashes of the household, and the solid matter is removed 
 at intervals by the corporation, who transfer it to their depot, where it is 
 dressed over, and finally sold to the farmers at about a shilling a ton. Thus 
 the sewei-s receive the liquids from the cesspits, together with whatever 
 goes down the sinks of the houses, as also the surface water due to the rain- 
 fall and the liquid refuse from the factories. The total sewage of Bolton
 
 u 
 
 is stated to be 1,750,000 gallons per day. Some of it is carried off by a 
 stream called the Nile, which is now completely enclosed, and takes the 
 form of a sewer. A great portion of it goes into the Croal, a shallow stream 
 which flows through the town, and which emerges from the precincts of the 
 borough in a state of utter blackness, corresponding to the imprisoned waters 
 of the Nile. Under an order from the Home Secretary the corporation 
 have proceeded to intercept the sewage from entering the Croal within the 
 boundaries of the borough, and the works for this purpose will be completed 
 by the close of the present year. Of course to exclude the sewage from the 
 river at one spot, and to cast it in at another, is not an effective mode of 
 dispolluting the stream. The plans of the corporation, however, do not end 
 here. They have in prospect the treatment of the sewage after a fashion 
 which shall leave nothing but clear water to go into the stream. In other 
 words, they are giving a trial to the " A B C " system of the Native 
 Guano Company, in the hope that it will extricate them from their diffi- 
 culties in regard to the final discharge of the sewage. The treatment of the 
 sewage by irrigation was at one time proposed ; but the obstacles were many. 
 It would be necessary to pump the sewage to a height of 250 feet, and the 
 entire expense of an irrigation scheme could not have been less than 
 £150,000. Whatever scheme may be adopted, the mill-owners are especially 
 anxious that not a particle of water-power shall be lost. Every pint of water 
 is jealously looked after, whether it happens to be clean or dirty. The mill- 
 owners cannot establish a claim to the sewage, but they say that if the sewage 
 is kept out of the river a certain quantity of surface-water will also be 
 diverted from the stream, and will be lost to them as an agent for turning 
 their wheels and working their machinery. Thus the corporation seem to 
 be fixed between the horns of a dilemma. If they intercept the sewage they 
 are accused of robbing the stream, while if they feed the stream they are 
 liable to pains and penalties for polluting it. Such are some of the special 
 difficulties of a manufacturing town. The enormous and rapid growth of 
 towns devoted to manufactures is fraught with sanitary complications. The 
 most lovely valleys, flanked by magnificent hills and watered with winding 
 streams originally of pellucid clearness, have all their beauties sullied by the 
 erection of factories, chemical works, and other industrial estabhshments, the 
 liquid refase spoiling the stream, while the dense smoke from the chimneys 
 darkens the blue sky and blurs the loveUness of the otherwise charming 
 landscape. Ugliness is fast blotting out beauty, while men multiply, and 
 towns are added to towns. In the neighbourhood of Bolton and Manchester 
 the district is so fully inhabited that in one direction there is a continuous 
 line of gas-lights for twenty-five miles. The necessity of providing carefully 
 for the water-supply and drainage of these aggregated populations is obvious, 
 and the drought of last year has very properly been taken as a warning on 
 the first of these two points. 
 
 On the occasion of our visit to the experimental sewage works at Bolton 
 we were very courteously met on the spot by the mayor of the borough, 
 Mr. Thomas Walmsley, accompanied by the town clerk, Mr. R. G. Hinnell, 
 and the borough engineer, Mr. Henry Baylis. These gentlemen, together 
 with Mr. Robert G. Sillar, one of the directors of the Native Guano Com- 
 pany, and who acts as manager and chemical superintendent at Bolton for 
 a time on behalf of the corporation, afforded us all the information that 
 could be desired. The works constructed for the trial of the "ABC " 
 system are not yet in actual operation, but have evidently been prepared in
 
 S5 
 
 the expectation that the experiment will prove successful, and the entire 
 construction appears to be of a very careful and perfect character. The 
 whole cost of the Works is borne by the corporation, who will also conduct 
 the manufacture, bearing the entire expense, and giving the Native Guano 
 Company a royalty to the extent of 25 per cent, of the manure made. The 
 Works, as at present constructed, are intended to deal with only about one- 
 third of the sewage, and have cost the borough £7000. But they have been 
 laid out with a view to extension, and it is thought that £15,000 would 
 suffice for the treatment of the whole of the sewage, though we should 
 apprehend that this would scarcely be a sufficient sum in the event of 
 water-closets becoming general in Bolton. One indication of the contem- 
 plated enlargement is afforded by the chimney of the Works, a well-built 
 and shapely shaft, 150 feet high, considerably exceeding the present boiler 
 power. The main building, a substantial structure of brick, measures 
 96 feet in length by 60 feet in breadth, the interior walls being 17 feet high. 
 There is also a basement of 8 feet pitch. The situation of the Works is 
 immediately below the point where the new outfall will have its discharge. 
 The ground is close to the river, on the floor of the valley, and is much 
 lower than the general level of Bolton. It borders on the township of 
 Haulgh, just above the spot where the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 
 crosses the valley and the stream. The sewage to be dealt with for the 
 present is that w^iich comes down through the Nile culvert, having its rise 
 in the Bolton Moor district. This amounts to 500,000 gallons per day, the 
 same amount, therefore, as that which will be dealt with at Crossness, near 
 the southern outfall of the metropolitan sewage. The trial may extend over 
 a year, or a decision — more especially if favourable — may be arrived at much 
 sooner. The advantages for the manufacture of the manure are very con- 
 siderable here. A hillside of clay has been purchased close to the Works, 
 and is in the course of being dug out. A manufactory of sulphuric acid is 
 hard by. Coal is forthcoming at 5s. 6d. per ton. There are as many as 
 eighteen varieties of clay in the neighbourhood, all good for the purposes of 
 the "ABC" mixture. These are circumstances which all aid the under- 
 taking, and will naturally facilitate its success. On the other hand, the 
 determination of the mill-owners to have the full benefit of the water power 
 necessitates the pumping of the effluent water up to a certain level, and 
 although the height is not great, being only a few feet, the consequent 
 employment of steam power is a source of expense. 
 
 According to the arrangements now just about to be carried out, the 
 sewage — as brought down by the Nile — will enter the main building on 
 the western side, and pass through a well or pit, into which a solution of 
 the "ABC " mixture will be continually flowing. From thence the 
 sewage, thus " dosed," will flow out of the building on the northern side 
 into one or the other of two systems of tanks. These tanks, which are 
 fully exposed to the air, are of brickwork, with copings of millstone grit a 
 foot thick. Their average depth is six feet, and their area (including some 
 smaller ones, available for experimental purposes) 1600 square yards. 
 Three tanks, with an aggregate capacity of more than 140,000 gallons, 
 constitute each set. It will take from six to seven hours to fill one of 
 these sets. Precipitation will be going on to some extent while the tanks 
 are filling; but the process will be more rapid subsequently. The two 
 systems of tanks alternate with each other, the sewage flowing into one 
 set while the other is being rested and emptied. As the process of
 
 26 
 
 precipitation goes on the upper part of the fluid will become clear. A 
 falling penstock, working upon a cogged-quadrant of cast-iron, provides 
 for running off the w^ater from the upper part of the fluid, the penstock 
 descending to any level short of a few inches from the floor. The water 
 thus run off goes into a square well-hole, where a centrifugal pump, by 
 Messrs, J. and H. Gywnne, capable of lifting 3000 gallons per minute, 
 and worked by a twelve-horse portable engine, raises the effluent water to 
 the level which discharges into the goit. But for the demands of the mill- 
 owners the water might be discharged at once into the bed of the river, 
 which is at least twelve feet lower than the goit, there being a fall in the 
 river to that extent just here. At the time of our visit the goit was taking 
 the whole volume of the Croal, not a gallon of water per minute going 
 over the sluice. When the tank has been discharged nearly down to the 
 level of the deposited mud, the remaining water begins to be somewhat 
 dirty. This dirty water is run off into a well hole provided for it, whence 
 it is raised by a three-throw pump and returned to the sewage-well, where 
 it mingles with the sewage which enters from the Nile, and is again subject 
 to the dosing with the "ABC " solution. Of this dirty water, requiring 
 a second treatment, there will be but a small quantity. With this slight 
 exception, the sewage will be separated into two parts — the mud which 
 lies at the bottom, and the effluent v/ater which flows off to the well, 
 whence it is pumped into the mill goit. This effluent water is to be clear 
 and inodorous, and such as would inflict no sort of pollution on a pure and 
 wholesome river. Until all the sewage of Bolton is thus treated the 
 operation now described will be somewhat ludicrous, seeing that the 
 effluent water, after all its careful purification, will be discharged into 
 a river which wih be utterly black with impurity. Half a million gallons 
 of sewage will be purified, and 1,250,000 gallons will remain as before. 
 This state of things, however, will not long continue. As soon as the 
 lesser operation is found to be successful the larger one will be undertaken, 
 and the whole sewage of Bolton will be dealt with on the "ABC" 
 system. 
 
 Having followed the course of the liquid which flows from the pre- 
 cipitating tanks, we have now to consider the fate of the mud. Within the 
 main building is a high-pressure stationary engine, of eighteen-horse 
 power, by Messrs. Fawcett and Shackleton, of Leeds. This engine per- 
 forms a variety of operations, including the process of sucking the mud 
 from the tanks through a pipe, into a well within the building. To facili- 
 tate this withdrawal of the mud the floors of the tanks have a fall towards 
 one spot, where the mud-pipe enters. The mud having been drawn away 
 into the well just mentioned, is pumped up into an iron tank, having three 
 compartments. Here the mud undergoes a further settlement, and the top 
 water is run off into the sewer, after which the mud flows down a pipe into 
 what is termed the acidifying tank. On its way it becomes mixed with 
 sulphuric acid, which enters the pipe through a funnel having a syphon 
 bend so as to prevent the escape of any noxious gas. The sulphuretted 
 hydrogen is neutralised by burning sulphur in the acidifying tank. From 
 this tank the mud is run off to the drying floors. These are of sheet iron, 
 under which steam is passed, the latter being enclosed by sides and a 
 bottom of lead, the space intervening between the iron and the lead being 
 only a few inches in depth. Over the floor is a low roof of wood and felt, 
 like a small garret or loft, the roof coming down to the floor and forming a 
 
 1
 
 27 
 
 triangular section. This is made as tight as can well be managed, so that 
 a flue entering into the adjacent chimney may bring the heated air and 
 smoke from the boiler fires over the surface of the mud. Hot air, smoke, 
 and moisture from the mud, will thus be accumulated at this spot; and 
 should any offensive smell yet remain, it is proposed to pass the gases and 
 vapours through water, so as to remove all possible source of annoyance 
 before discharging them into the chimney. An odour of butyric acid is 
 thought to be all that can arise here, and this could be at once destroyed 
 by passing it through water. If needful the passage of the air and vapours 
 over the drying floors will be facilitated by the use of a fan to draw the air, 
 not forcing or blowing it. There are four roofs over the drying floor, which 
 is thereby divided into four parallel sections. Preparations have been made 
 for another floor, to occupy a position above the present one. The 
 remainder of the Works we need not refer to at any length, as they chiefly 
 consist of appliances for making the "ABC " mixture. 
 
 We may observe that the situation of the Works is so low that the water 
 supplied by the corporation through their pipes has a pressure of 120 fbs. 
 to the square inch. Under such a pressure a short tube of India-rubber or 
 gutta-percha swells out like a bladder, and will speedily burst unless the 
 water is either turned off at one end or allowed to escape at the other. Most 
 of the organs in the churches and chapels of Bolton have their bellows 
 worked by the pressure of the water supplied from the mains, the price 
 charged being about fifty shillings a year. In other cases, where the power 
 is used in manufactories, a charge is made at the rate of sixpence per 1000 
 gallons. We have already remarked that the average pressure is about 
 GO tt)S. per square inch. The accounts of the past year show a balance in 
 favour of the corporation on the waterworks account to the extent of more 
 than £7000. The pubHc affairs of Bolton appear to be administered with a 
 good deal of spirit. The market is a spacious and admirably arranged 
 structure, lofty and well lit. It is the property of the corporation, who are 
 also building a new Town Hall on an imposing scale, in the classic style. 
 The munificence of a private individual has furnished the inhabitants with 
 a new parish church, opened about two monchs ago, and costing, it is said, 
 about £50,000. 
 
 We have already intimated that the "ABC" process is not yet in actual 
 operation at Bolton, the Works not being fully complete. But a few weeks 
 will probably see them finished, and as the whole affair will be carried on 
 by the corporation of the borough the results may be relied upon as 
 thoroughly independent and unbiassed. The confidence of the Native 
 Guano Company is shown by their agreeing to take their remuneration in 
 the shape of the manufactured manure, which will simply be drawing 
 a blank if " Native Guano " is no better than some chemists assert. On 
 this question of value we are still collecting evidence. 
 
 In contrast with the borough of Bolton w^e may refer to the town of 
 Tunbridge Wells, on the confines of Kent and Sussex, a place with a 
 moderate population, and free from the nuisances often associated with 
 great manufacturing processes. Despite its advantages Tunbridge Wells 
 became subject to Chancery proceedings in respect of its sewage. First, 
 there was an injunction, and afterwards a writ of sequestration. The local 
 authorities thereupon adopted measures for applying their sewage to 
 agricultural purposes. Tunbridge Wells is a water-closeted town, with a 
 population of 19,400, and a water supply which is said to range between
 
 28 
 
 20 and 25 gallons per day per head. At a cost of £90,000, the local Board 
 of Health have succeeded in establishing a couple of " sewage farms," one 
 to the north of the town, and the other to the south. This expenditure 
 includes the fee simple of the land, together with the cost of carrying the 
 sewage to the respective sites, and all the necessary expenditure connected 
 ■with the undertaking, not omitting the compensation claimed by parties 
 whose lands were intersected by the outfall sewers — an item which proved 
 rather burdensome. The north farm consists of 120 acres, and the south 
 170. This for a population of 19,400 allows about 67 persons per acre. 
 The north farm has been in operation about two years. The south farm is 
 only just getting into working order. In the former instance, land which 
 would scarcely let for 15s. an acre, and which certainly would not command 
 more than £1, has undergone such improvement than in its present state it 
 is reckoned as worth from £5 to £7 a year. Of course we must take this 
 rental as including the sewage. Six crops of Italian rye-grass have been 
 gathered in the year, reaching an aggregate of £48. Wheat, oats, barley, 
 mangold, sugar-beet, swedes, cabbages and French beans have all done well. 
 Ordinary grass has yielded a very heavy crop of hay of excellent quality. 
 The soil is sandy, and the sewage is applied by means of open carriers. The 
 effluent water is said to be very pure, and samples shown to us by the town 
 clerk, Mr. Lewis, appeared to bear out that statement, so far as colour and 
 smell were concerned. We were further assured that there were no com- 
 plaints of offensive smells as arising from the application of the sewage to 
 the land. In a sanitary and agricultural point of view all was satisfactory. 
 But the land was too dear for agricultural purposes, its real position in the 
 market being that of building ground. Hence £20,000 was paid for 120 
 acres, which as farming land would scarcely have been worth £5000. This 
 is one of the difficulties of irrigation. To get cheap land it will sometimes 
 be needful to carry the sewage to a great distance, thereby entailing 
 expense for the construction of the necessary works, with, perhaps, the 
 addition of a permanent charge for pumping. If the sewage is discharged 
 at a moderate distance there is the likelihood of having to buy building 
 land for the purposes of the farm. In such instances, a good chemical 
 process would be a great boon. If the "ABC " proves successful, an 
 immense amount of trouble and expense will be saved to many towns. 
 Thus we see in the case of Bolton that the Native Guano Works are 
 expected to cost only about £15,000 for a population of more than 80,000. 
 Tunbridge Wells, with less than 20,000 inhabitants, spends £20,000 for 
 the purchase of one of its farms. Of course the farm yields a return ; but 
 it seems too much to expect that a commercial profit will accrue. The 
 Native Guano Works will also yield a return, and, if present expectations 
 are realised, the profit will be very large. Certain other aspects of this 
 question will be discussed in a subsequent article,
 
 29 
 
 ni. 
 
 (From the * StandarcV of October 12, 1871,) 
 
 Having described the position and prospects of the " A B C X Works at 
 Bolton, we now proceed to do the same in the case of Leeds, The Sewage 
 Works on the "ABC" system at Leeds, like those at Bolton, will be 
 commenced on an experimental basis. The quantity of sewage to be 
 experimented upon at Leeds is larger than at Bolton, being a million 
 gallons per day instead of half a million. But relatively to the entire mass 
 of the sewage the quantity is smaller, being only a thirteenth of the whole ; 
 whereas at Bolton the proportion is more than a fourth, being 500,000 
 gallons out of 1,750,000 per day. The population of the municipal borough 
 of Leeds at the taking of the recent census was 259,201, so that the sewage 
 has the high ratio of fifty gallons per head daily, or rather more than eighty 
 tons per annum. At Bolton the daily proportion is twenty-one gallons per 
 head, or thirty-four tons per annum. As mentioned in a former article, 
 Bolton has not 500 water-closets in the whole borough. Leeds is also 
 deficient in this respect, but in a much less degree than Bolton. 
 
 The corporation of Leeds have expended £10,000 on the "A B C" 
 Works in their present form, and it is estimated that to extend the Works 
 so as to include the whole of the sewage would require a total outlay of 
 £30,000, or perhaps rather more. Proportionately this is a lower rate of 
 expenditure than the outlay at Bolton. But the Leeds Works, excepting 
 one great tank, have a less substantial and finished appearance than those 
 at Bolton. A good deal of expense has been incurred in the construction of 
 the heavier portion of the Works, owing to the swampy nature of the 
 ground. The plan of the Works is also somewhat defective, a result which 
 may be atti"ibuted to want of experience at the outset. If the Works are 
 extended, it will probably be found worth while to alter some of the levels. 
 The spot itself is unpleasant enough and awkward to get at. As sewage 
 works are seldom visited except from utilitarian motives, the attractiveness 
 of the site is of little consequence. If the sewage works are able to conquer 
 the nuisances, and so render the locality agreeable, so much the better, and 
 the transformation w-ill afford a proof that the system pursued is so far a 
 good one. At present the Leeds establishment is approached by first of all 
 crossing the river Aire in a boat, and then picking one's w^ay across the 
 lock-gates of the adjacent canal. If the river and the canal were in a state 
 of purity the expedition might be pleasant enough. But the condition of 
 the river is abominable ; and as for the canal, all manner of filth, including 
 the putrefying carcases of defunct dogs and cats, accumulates against the 
 gates. The river is a sewer, of pitchy blackness ; while in regard to the 
 canal, we can readily believe that the stench at the lock-gates is in summer 
 time often frightful. The Rivers Pollution Commissioners have given a 
 graphic description of the sanitary state of Leeds, with its river and " becks." 
 They described the borough (in 1866) as consisting of about 45,000 houses, 
 having 12,000 privies and cesspits, besides water-closets, of which they 
 reckoned there might be four or five thousand. The removal of the con- 
 tents of the privies and ashpits took place during the night, at which time 
 the stench was "fearful." About 55,000 tons of the refuse were removed 
 every year, at a gross cost of £7000, and an actual loss of about £4000.
 
 80 
 
 The Commissioners refer to the foul state of the becks and the river, saying 
 the state of the water may be inferred from the fact that as many as fifty car- 
 cases of pigs, dogs, cats, &c., have been removed in the course of a day, 
 adding, "but it must not be inferred that these carcases are removed with any 
 degree of regularity." Dye works, tanneries, and various other manufactures, 
 continually pollute the river with their foul refuse. An attempt was made 
 to irrigate grass land with the fluid refuse from some of the tan-pits ; but 
 the effect was to injure the grass, a result which the Royal Commissioners 
 explain by saying that the manure w^as "too strong." 
 
 There was a time, within the memory of man, when the water of the Aire 
 was used for domestic purposes. But the subsequent pollution of the stream 
 rendered the continuance of this arrangement impossible, and other sources 
 had to be sought out. The present supply is constant, and belongs to the 
 corporation. It averages about thirty gallons per head. The drainage of 
 the town is collected by a main sewer, nearly eight feet high and about five 
 feet wide, which flows down to Knostrop, where it becomes an open canal, 
 which runs its course for three or four hundred yards and then discharges 
 into the much-abused Aire. The corporation are under an injunction to 
 abstain from polluting the river, and the order would have been enforced 
 against them were it not that they undertook to make a trial in good earnest 
 of the "ABC " process. In the meantime the injunction is held over. Irri- 
 gation would have been a very difficult remedy in the case of Leeds, the only 
 suitable land being six or seven miles distant, and the intervening country 
 very hilly. The arrangement with the Native Guano Company is that the 
 corporation shall erect the Works and find the machinery and appliances, 
 but the Company will carry on the process of manufacture, paying the 
 corporation 5 per cent, on the original outlay, out of profits, and 15 per cent, 
 of the net profits. The experimental stage will last for twelve months if 
 found needful, or will merge in a complete enterprise at an earlier date 
 should success be more speedily demonstrated. The chemical superintendent 
 of the Works is Mr. James Wylde, and the treatment of the sewage is just 
 now commencing. 
 
 Standing by the mouth of the main sewer, just where it changes itself 
 into a canal, we saw the foul liquid tumbling out in a state of blackness and 
 froth, while something rather worse than an ordinary sewage odour affected 
 our sense of smell. Manufacturing processes evidently had something to 
 do with the detestable effluvia which assailed us, and we were informed that 
 this was indicated by the varying quantity and quality of the sewage in 
 the various parts of the day, the difference often being great and sudden, 
 particularly in regard to quantity. But the sewage is said to be easy of 
 treatment. It is very dense, and has a large deposit, which we may presume 
 will render it more profitable to the Company. A pipe leading under- 
 ground from the mouth of the outfall sewer conveys the sewage to the 
 Works, w'hich are close at hand. Here the sewage enters a well or pit, 
 properly constructed, where it is mixed with the "ABC" solution, and 
 whence it flows into an open tank having a capacity of 250,000 gallons 
 Four charges in the twenty-four hours would thus correspond to a million 
 gallons. The tank has a total length of 175 feet, with a breadth of 25, and a 
 depth of 12 feet. It is sunk in the ground, and the masonry and brickwork 
 are very substantial. The sewage enters at the end where the mixing-pit is 
 situated, and after traversing the whole length of the tank flows over into a 
 division at the other end, the overflow being regulated by a barrier, which
 
 31 
 
 can be made to rise and fall vertically in grooves, the contrivance being 
 sufficiently water-tight to prevent any undue escape of the fluid. The 
 movement is effected by a rack and pinion arrangement, assisted by counter- 
 weights. The sewage in the tank having been previously mixed with the 
 "ABC" solution, undergoes a rapid precipitation, and as this takes place 
 the clear top water is run off over the barrier, which is lowered as the 
 precipitation of the sewage goes on. The clear water, or " effluent," thus 
 drawn off, is conveyed away by a large pipe, leading into the sewage canal, 
 which it enters at a point about a hundred yards below the mouth of the 
 main sewer. When the water in the tank has sunk too low to flow any 
 further in this direction, a centrifugal pump, made by Messrs. Gwynne and 
 Co., of London, and capable of throwing more than 3000 gallons per minute, 
 begins to operate. This pump, in common with other parts of the 
 machinery, is worked by an excellent 16-horse high-pressure engine, made 
 by Messrs. Fawcett and Shackleton, of Leeds, by whom the machinery 
 employed in the Works has also been manufactured. This centrifugal 
 pump lifts the remaining water up to a higher level, so that the fluid may 
 be able to fall into the sewage canal. 
 
 The effluent water being thus disposed of, the mud is pumped from the 
 floor of the great settling tank into the acidifying tanks within the principal 
 building. In these tanks the mud undergoes a further settlement, and the 
 supernatant water is syphoned off, returning to mingle with the sewage 
 ■which flows into the mixing pit. The remaining mud in the acidifying 
 tanks is then mixed with sulphuric acid and run off to the drying floors, 
 taking its course through a pipe and along a trough. The drying floors are 
 of sheet-iron, heated by steam beneath and hot air above, the hot air being 
 obtained from the boiler fires and passing by a flue into the chimney. The 
 mud when thoroughly dried becomes the " Native Guano," the virtue of 
 which is being tested in various forms of cultivation both at home and 
 abroad. At these works it is not demanded at present that the sewage 
 shall be dealt with continuously. Otherwise it is scarcely conceivable that 
 one tank would be sufficient. But if the experiment should prove successful 
 in its present form, the Works will be enlarged, so that the whole of the 
 sewage may be treated without interruption, the sewage canal being thus 
 converted into a conduit of clean water. 
 
 The economy of sewage is a question worth considering. At the Hastings 
 Sewage Works the "ABC" process is producing native guano at the rate 
 of 2000 tons per annum from a population of 25,000. The manufacture 
 has not yet been developed to that extent ; but such appears to be the ratio. 
 At Northiam a strip of barren ground, unmanured and uncultivated for 
 years, was fertilised by the application of guano at the rate of a ton per 
 acre. Supposing this quantity (itself a large' one) to be generally applied 
 by farmers, the produce of the Hastings Works would then suffice for 2000 
 acres. We might easily reckon on its doing more. On the other hand, 
 suppose we take the figures afforded by the use of sewage at Westfield. 
 Here the contents of the cesspits were applied to the land at the rate of 
 forty-five persons per acre. Used in this proportion, the sewage of the 
 25,000 at Hastings would only suffice for 555 acres, or little more than a 
 fourth of the space which would be treated by the native guano. At the 
 Lodge Farm, Barking, according to the statement of Mr. Henry S. Morgan, 
 sewage has been applied this year at the average rate of 3800 tons per acre. 
 If we take the Loudon sewage at fifty gallons per head per day, or about
 
 eighty tons per annum, these 3800 tons will correspond to about forty- 
 seven individuals of the population, which is very nearly the same as the 
 quantity we have mentioned as producing such remarkable results at West- 
 field. At Tunbridge Wells we found the proportion to be about sixty-seven 
 persons per acre. Mr. W. Hope, whose treatment of the Komford sewage 
 at Breton's Farm is the finest specimen of sewage irrigation to be found 
 anywhere, uses 3600 tons per acre as a maximum. It w^ould appear from Dr. 
 Corfield's Digest, that Mr. Hope generally reckons on using the sewage of 
 from thirty-five to forty persons per acre, supposing the dilution to be at 
 the rate of twenty-five to thirty gallons of water per head of the population 
 daily. The quantity thus distributed would range from 1400 to 2000 tons 
 per acre per annum. In his recent report on the Birmingham sewage, Mr. 
 Hope appears to speak of thirty-five persons per acre as a maximum number. 
 At this rate the Hastings sewage would fertilize 714 acres, as against the 
 2000 or more of the Native Guano Company, whose proportion comes down 
 to a maximum of twelve and a half persons per acre. 
 
 On this subject, the Rev. H. Moule has recently presented some extra- 
 ordinary calculations.* This gentleman proposes to employ the earth closet 
 system in the production of a dry manure, and believes that by such means 
 it would be " perfectly feasible to manufacture a manure equal in power to 
 guano." This manure, he states, if sold at £3 per ton, would realise a 
 profit equal to £l per head of the population; but he beheves that the 
 manure would sell for as much as £5 per ton. Mr. Moule thus speaks of 
 his plan: — "I now proceed to assert the applicability of the dry earth 
 system to the removal and disposal of sink-water and other kitchen refuse, 
 together with bed-room slops, as being so complete that such removal and 
 disposal shall be not only safe and free from all nuisance, but so profitable 
 when mixed with the used earth and with other refuse, such as bones, soot, 
 &c., that it shall yield a manure the minimum value of which may safely be 
 estimated at £l per head per annum on the whole population of a given 
 town." He says that this statement " requires not the support of chemical 
 analysis, for the fact is unquestionable that under this new process all the 
 ammonia, the nitrogen, the phosphates, the sulphates, the carbon, the salts, 
 and, yet more, the silica contained in the entire refuse of a given town may 
 be concentrated in earth, the weight of which shall not exceed, and may be 
 much less than that of 1000 tons per 1000 people." It will be observed 
 that the "ABC" plan produces manure (at Hastings) at the rate of 2000 
 tons per annum for a population of 25,000, the manure selling at £3 10s. 
 per ton. Mr. Moule goes on to explain that by reducing the quantity of 
 earth per 1000 people to 500 tons per annum, the value of such a manure 
 would be, at least, £5 per ton. The sum of £500 is expected to cover the 
 working expenses for a population of 1000. Selling the 500 tons at £3, 
 the return would be £1,500, leaving a profit of £1000, or £1 per head. 
 Selling at £5 per ton, the profit would be £2 per head. Such figures go 
 immensely beyond the expectations of the Native Guano Company, who, 
 nevertheless, are thought by many to be extremely extravagant in their 
 notions. But Mr. Moule touches on a valuable principle when he says, 
 " Mr. Bailey Denton has recommended the people of Hitchin to apply 
 the sewage of their town of 7000 inhabitants to 60 acres of land. Saved by 
 the process of which I have spoken, that manure is sufiicient for 7000 
 
 * Vide ' The Times,' October 3, 1871.
 
 acres, or at the lowest estimate sufficient for 3500 acres." By the plan of 
 the Native Guano Company the sewage of 7000 persons would fertilise from 
 560 to 1120 acres, accordmg as the native guano was applied at the rate of 
 a ton or half a ton per acre. Mr. Henry Morgan would apply this sewage 
 to 150 acres. 
 
 In quoting the calculations of the Rev. H. Moule, we must say they 
 appear to be far ahead of probability. The principle involved is worth 
 looking at, and that is all we can allow. The "ABC" plan seems really to 
 produce the concentrated manure which Mr. Moule talks about, although 
 the figures are much less imposing, and at the same time are much less 
 alarming, although admitting the use of water-closets. If Mr. Moule is 
 right in theory, the Native Guano Company may be found correct in 
 practice. Mr.' Moule would absorb the excreta in dry earth, whereas the 
 "ABC " operators would precipitate the manurial elements of the sewage 
 and form the deposit into a dry compound, the effluent water running oft" in 
 a clear state from the precipitating tank. Chemical, agricultural, and 
 commercial questions are involved in the process, and there is considerable 
 comfort in the thought that the controversy now raging must soon be 
 settled by an appeal to facts. Some important results are already ascertain- 
 able, and to these we shall speedily refer. 
 
 IV. 
 
 {From the ' Standard' of October 16, 1871.) 
 
 It is commonly alleged that the "ABC" method of treating 
 sewage has been abandoned at Leamington, and the jplan of iiTigation 
 adoxDted as offering the only practicable resoui'ce. Viewed without 
 explanation, there are certain facts which would seem to warrant this 
 conclusion. But the fuller history of the sewage question at 
 Leamington shows that the *' A B C " system did not fail there in the 
 manner which some have supposed, although the process was subject 
 to peculiar local disadvantages. So far is Leamington fi'om proving 
 the hopelessness of the "ABC" method, that we have found in that 
 locality — especially on the surrounding farms — some of the strongest 
 evidence in favour of the undertaking. Commencing with a period 
 about four years ago, we find the leading inhabitants of Leamington 
 greatly dissatisfied with the manner in which their local affairs were 
 conducted, particularly in reference to the sewage. A memorial, very 
 extensively and influentially signed, was presented to five selected 
 individuals, urging them to aUow themselves to be put in nomination 
 as members of the local Board of Health. These five gentlemen 
 consented, and were duly elected, one of theh number, Mr. S. U._ Jones, 
 being subsequently appointed chahman of the Board. Leamington, 
 like some other towns, suffered from legal proceedings on account of 
 the nuisance occasioned by its sewage mingling with the adjacent 
 waters. A Chancery injunction was followed by a writ of sequestra- 
 tion, and with all this cost and annoyance was associated the risk 
 that Leamington would lose its character as a watering-place, and
 
 34 
 
 thereby experience a decline in its i^rosperity. A town so largely 
 dependent on the favour of the upper classes could not possibly endure 
 this prospect, and the fact that the name of Dr. Jephson appeared on 
 the memorial or addi-ess previously mentioned was quite sufficient to 
 show to all who were acquainted with the locality that the state of 
 affairs was serious. It is generally allowed that to Dr. Jephson is 
 Leamington indebted for many of its greatest improvements, a circum- 
 stance indicated by the fact that the s^Dlendid subscription gardens in 
 the centre of the town have been named after this gentleman. We 
 may observe, in passing, that the Jephson gardens and those of the 
 adjacent pump-room helj) to render Leamington one of the finest 
 specimens of the rus in urhe, and the general management of the town 
 is such as to reflect the highest credit on the local authorities. 
 
 Of course it was not to be tolerated that all these excellences should 
 be neutralised by pouring into the Leam a mass of putrescible matter, 
 fouling the otherwise beautiful river, and giving the town a bad name. 
 Lnbued with fi-esh blood, the local Board of Health proceeded to 
 consider what was really the best course to be adopted. The chair- 
 man, Mr. S. U. Jones, visited Leicester, and saw the results of certain 
 experiments made with the "ABC" process. Mr. Jones was so 
 impressed with what he saw as to feel satisfied that the system was 
 likely to be of service. Samples of the effluent water were brought to 
 Leamington, and after a certain amount of investigation, accompanied 
 by negociations with the patentees of the "ABC" process (the 
 Native Guano Company not being then formed), it was resolved that 
 the patentees should have the use of the Sewage Works at Leamington 
 for the purj)ose of making a decisive experiment. A provisional 
 agreement was entered into between the local Board and the "ABC" 
 patentees that the latter should deal with the raw sewage, while the 
 Board should take charge of the effluent water. At this stage of the 
 affair, a deputation from the local Board waited on the Earl of 
 Warwick, asking his lordship to enter into an arrangement whereby 
 100 or 120 acres of his estate would be made available for the reception 
 of the effluent water just referred to. His lordship received the 
 deputation in a very kindly spirit, and entertained the proposal. As 
 between the local authorities and the "ABC" patentees, it was 
 agreed that while the latter had the free use of the premises and plant 
 of the local Board, the Board should have half the net profit arising 
 out of the manufacture and sale of the manure. The bargain was 
 thought to be a promising one for the town. But the Earl of War- 
 wick ultimately thought that the "ABC" process was a little too 
 good, and would take so much of the fertilising matter out of the 
 sewage as to render the effluent water of little service to the land. 
 His lordship consequently came to the conclusion that he would not 
 assent to the proposal of the Board, and intimated that he would 
 neither let nor sell the local authorities any land for the reception of 
 the effluent water. But the earl opened another way out of the 
 difficulty by offering to take the raw sewage and deal with it himself. 
 His lordship being topographically master of the situation, the local 
 Board had no resource but to comply. At that time the Board had 
 not sufficient confidence to decide on sending the effluent water direct
 
 35 
 
 into the stream. Their previous failure with the lime process may 
 have somewhat shaken their nerves. Their anxiety to get rid of the 
 sewage in the most ready and assured manner induced them to close 
 with Lord Warwick's proposal, and accordingly the contemplated 
 agreement with the "ABC" patentees was given up, in order to 
 carry out the plan favoured by the noble earl. But as it was necessary 
 that the sewage should be dealt with in some way dm-ing the interval 
 in which the ii-rigation works were being prepared, the Board entered 
 into an arrangement with the Native Guano Company (just then 
 formed), whereby the latter undertook, in March, 1869, to apx3ly their 
 "ABC" i)rocess to the sewage of Leamington, pending the execution 
 of the works required for laying the sewage on Lord Warwick's farm. 
 Thus, so far as the Company were concerned, the agreement was from 
 the first of a purely temporary character. 
 
 The Eivers Pollution Commissioners paid their first visit to the 
 Leamington Sewage Works in December, 1869, some months, there- 
 fore, after the final agreement between Lord Warwick and the 
 Leamington Board. Consequently, the unfavourable report which the 
 Commissioners made concerning the "ABC" process had no effect 
 in causing the local Board to adopt the migation plan. That the 
 report of the Koyal Commissioners was decidedly unfavourable is a 
 fact sufficiently well known, and for a time it exercised a very 
 depressing effect on the prospects of the Company. But the process 
 continued in operation at Leamington, and not without a considerable 
 degree of success. The purity of the effluent water has varied, a 
 ch'cumstance apparently arising from an inequality of treatment. At 
 times it has not been so clear as could be wished, while at other times 
 it has been altogether clear and free from smell. The Native Guano 
 Company assert that the Leamington Works, being originally estab- 
 lished for the treatment of sewage by the lime process, were not 
 capable of being properly adapted to the "ABC" system, and that 
 they have all along worked at Leamington under great disadvantages. 
 On the occasion of the visit we recently paid to the spot, we found the 
 place in a sort of transition state, the ii-rigation scheme being just 
 about to come into operation, while the "ABC" process was still 
 being applied. The state of affaks was such that we could not reason- 
 ably look for any very successful results ; nevertheless the water then 
 flowing into the Leam from the Sewage Works was simply a httle 
 tm-bid, and differed altogether from the appearance which sewage 
 itself would present. Neither were the Works particularly offensive, 
 although some di^ying experunents were then going forward in the 
 open air. We should say that any ordinary gas works would have 
 been quite as disagreeable to a sensitive nose as the "ABC" estab- 
 lishment at Leamington, and of the two we should expect to find the 
 gas works rather the worst. Complaints have been made of these 
 Works, but although we paid them more than one visit we encountered 
 no offensive effluvia, except in some of the more confined parts of the 
 premises. How it may be at other times we cannot say, but such was 
 our experience, although about the same time somebody lodged a 
 complaint, in consequence of which the manager of the Works was 
 requested to make no more diying experiments after a certain hour in
 
 36 
 
 the morning. On this point we may say, that while standing close to 
 the experimental drying machine, and at the month, where all the 
 vapom's escaped, we experienced nothing in the natm^e of a bad smell, 
 although we were conscious of a hot, damp blast, such as would cover 
 a mhror with steam in a moment. It is also to be observed that not- 
 withstanding this complaint the authorities asked the Company to 
 prolong then- stay and to treat the sewage for a further period until 
 the Ii'rigation Works were quite ready. 
 
 That it is practicable by means of the <' A B C " process to precipi- 
 tate town sewage so as to produce a clear effluent water seems 
 undeniable. In fact, this result might be obtained by more than one 
 method. The difficulty always consists in dealing with the matters in 
 solution. The Native Guano Company claim that by the *'ABO" 
 process they separate the sewage into two parts, one being a deposit 
 which on being diied becomes a valuable manure, while the other 
 portion consists of a fluid fit to run into any stream which is not used 
 for drinking purposes. By passing the effluent water through a filter, 
 or by discharging it on to land, a still higher degree of purity may be 
 obtained. The amount of land required for this purpose is estimated 
 as very much less than that which is necessary for the utilisation of 
 raw sewage, the area required for the effluent water being only about 
 one- sixth of that which would be necessary for sewage. Another point 
 consists in the value of the deposit. Not only must the sewage be 
 purified, but if the undertaking is to be commercially successful the 
 materials of the sewage must be thrown down in such a state as to 
 be suitable for the use of the farmer. The lime process will clarify 
 sewage in a high degree, but the deposit is almost valueless. The 
 "ABC" deposit consists of a sewage precipitate mixed with the pro- 
 ducts of the chemical solution, the latter comprising a crude sulphate 
 of alumina (manufactured in the manner we have already described), 
 together with animal charcoal, a minute portion of blood, and a certain 
 quantity of clay. The next step in the operation is that which relates 
 to the drying of the deposit. Great ingenuity has been exercised in 
 accomplishing this final stage, it being necessary to avoid creating a 
 nuisance, while at the same time doing the work economically, and in 
 such a way as not to deteriorate the value of the manure. The point 
 on which information seems most to be required is that which relates 
 to the manurial jDroduct. The Eoyal Commissioners have boldly 
 said : — " The manure obtained by this process has a very low market 
 value, and cannot repay the cost of manufacture." According to the 
 prevalent method of estimating the value of a manure, using the 
 customary chemical analysis, the Commissioners are iDrobably right. 
 But there are reasons for disputing the grounds on which that estimate 
 is based. These reasons are partly scientific and partly practical, and 
 as facts are better than abstract arguments we proceed to give the 
 public the benefit of such practical results as we have been able to 
 meet with. 
 
 As the centre of a rich and important agricultural district, 
 Leamington is well situated for the sale of a cheap and efficient 
 manure. When the "ABC" process began to excite attention in the 
 town, the subject naturally arrested the notice of those parties who
 
 37 
 
 sold artificial and otiier manures to the neighbouring farmers. One of 
 the firms thus interested proceeded to pay special attention to the 
 subject, and a series of experiments were set on foot by Mr. Creswel, 
 of the firm of Jacks and Caswell, a gentleman who subsequently gave 
 evidence before the Parliamentary Committees to whom certain sewage 
 bills were referred. Mr. Caswell obtained a bag of the first lot of 
 "native guano" manufactured at Leamington. His primary effort 
 was to discover whether the material possessed any fertilising pro- 
 perties at all. On this point he was soon satisfied, particularly in the 
 case of i)lants belonging to the Brassica tribe. The commercial value 
 was the next question, and in proceeding with this part of the inquiry 
 Mr. Caswell found he obtained better results by digging the manure 
 into the ground than by merely applying it as a top-di-essing. A strip 
 of garden ground about an acre in extent was divided lengthwise down 
 the middle, one half receiving eight tons of stable manure, while the 
 other moiety had half a ton of the native guano. The stable manure, 
 including carriage, would be worth £3, while the guano would cost 
 only £1 15s. Various crops were then sown or planted in parallel 
 order across the strip, so that each bed was half in stable manure and 
 half in native guano. As the crops came on, those parts which were 
 in the guano were always a little in advance of the other. This was 
 particularly observable in regard to the green crops. The potatoes on 
 both sides grew to great perfection, and no distinction could be observed 
 when they were taken u^d ; but the green crops decidedly did best where 
 they had the native guano. The potatoes from either som^ce had an 
 extremely clear skin, and were remarkably fine. Sx^ecimens of these 
 exhibited at the Warwickshh-e Agricultui-al Society's meeting in 
 September of that year (1870) attracted great notice. When the crops 
 were all removed from the ground the whole garden was sown with 
 vetches, without any fiu-ther manure, and the result was equal on the 
 two sides. This year the garden was planted over again, but without 
 any fresh manm'e. As might be expected, the crops were not equal 
 to those of the previous year; but they were very good, and the 
 portion which had previously been fertilised with native guano was 
 quite equal to that where the stable manure had been ap^Dlied. 
 
 The foregoing experiments would seem to show that native guano 
 at £3 10s. per ton is nearly fifty per cent, cheaper than stable manure, 
 the guano not only producing equal crops (if not superior) in the first 
 instance, but holding out equally well in subsequent croppings. In 
 other words, a given sum of money exj)ended in native guano would 
 fertilise nearly twice as great an area as the like sum invested in 
 stable manure. The latter is a much more cumbrous article to apply, 
 and costs pro^Dortionately more for carriage and labour. From the 
 foregoing data, it would apj)ear that native guano at £6 per ton would 
 still hold its ground as equally economical with stable manure — 
 perhaps somewhat more so. 
 
 Mr. Caswell also conducted an experiment to prove the effect of 
 native guano on grass. For this pm-pose eight separate acres were 
 measured off in a field. One acre was manured with Peruvian guano, 
 containing 14 per cent, of ammonia, at the rate of five hundredweight 
 per acre, costing £3 5s., the ]3rice per ton being £13. The second
 
 acre was treated with half this quantity of Peruvian guano, costing 
 £1 12s. 6d. The third, fourth and fifth acres received respectively 
 half a ton, a quarter of a ton, and an eighth of a ton of native guano, 
 costing respectively £1 15s., 17s. 6d., and 8s. 9d. The sixth acre 
 received stable manure to the extent of eight tons, costing £3. The 
 seventh acre was treated with half this quantity, and the eighth acre 
 with two tons, the values thus being £1 10s. and 15s. This was done 
 about the month of February, 1870. The diy season which followed 
 proved very unpropitious to the experiment, none of the crops doing 
 so well as would otherwise have been the case. But the Peruvian 
 guano answered worst of all, burning up the crops which it was 
 intended to fertilise. The effect of the stable manure appeared to be 
 about equal to that of native guano. No fresh application of manure 
 took place, but when the grass began to grow this year the effect of 
 last year's native guano was distinctly visible, the grass in that part of 
 the field being richer and darker in colour than the rest, and the crop 
 when gathered quite half as much more in quantity as that produced 
 by the stable manure. The two acres manured with Peruvian guano 
 appeared to be entirely unaffected by the previous year's dressing, the 
 vu^tues of the manure being all exhausted in the first season, although 
 exercised in a manner which failed to be beneficial. In this respect 
 we have met with abundant proof of the difference between native and 
 Peruvian guano. If the former fails to do good at first it is simply 
 because its fertilising properties are not brought into play, and the 
 beneficial effects are sure to be seen ultimately. But Peruvian guano 
 has no power of endurance. For good or ill its efiicacy is all put forth 
 in the first season, and there is nothing left for the year following. 
 It is no uncommon circumstance during seasons of dl'ought to find 
 Peruvian guano "burning" the crops by its strong stimulating pro- 
 perties, and doing positive harm. The same is also averred of most 
 artificial manures. As a general result of his experiments, Mr. Caswell 
 states that he would rather have native guano at £S 10s. per ton for 
 the farm or the garden than an equal value of the Peruvian. 
 
 If this be the true state of the case, it may be supposed that the 
 British farmer will sooner or later show his appreciation of the native 
 guano. So good and cheap an article ought to be much in demand. 
 On this point we are informed on authority which we have not the 
 slightest reason to disbelieve, but rather every reason to respect, that 
 almost without exception those farmers in the neighbourhood of 
 Leamington who purchased native guano in 1869 not only renewed 
 their orders in 1870, but considerably enlarged them. So great was 
 the demand in 1870 that the Leamington agents were not able to 
 supply much more than a third of the quantity entered on their order- 
 book, and could readily have taken orders to a much greater extent. 
 By courtesy of Messrs. Jacks and Caswell, we examined their order- 
 book for 1870, and found that it fully bore out the statement made to 
 us. One farmer, ordering 100 tons, only received ten. Another 
 ordered 50, and obtained none. One farmer, who bought 10 tons in 
 1869, ordered 100 tons in 1870, but only received 50. This year he 
 would readily have taken 150 tons, and is now anxious to buy aU there 
 is in stock. It might be supposed that this deficiency of supply arose
 
 39 
 
 from a falling off in the manufacture. But so far as we could discoyer, 
 this was a case in which the embarrassment was caused mainly, if not 
 wholly, by a large and rapid increase in the demand. The Leamington 
 agents are confident that they could sell in then* own district ten 
 times as much of the native guano as could be made out of all the 
 Leamington sewage. Farmers have sent then- teams long distances 
 for loads of native guano, and then- waggons have gone home empty, 
 with the fm-ther provocation sometimes of paying toll at the tm-npike 
 on theii' retui-n, seeing that while they had been professedly going for 
 manure the waggons returned without any. The price, it will be 
 observed, in all these cases has been £3 10s. per ton. As for the 
 theory that this popular manure has been "fortified," and is not, 
 therefore, the " native guano" it professes to be, we have the strongest 
 assm*ance, not only from interested parties, but from others, that this 
 is not the case. BeHeving, as we do, that the manure is honestly 
 made, we feel that the results are so extraordinary as to justify the 
 degree of attention we are now giving to the subject. There is the 
 more need of doing this, seeing that the Koyal Commissioners in their 
 Eeport on the "ABC" j)rocess, dated July, 1870, declare that the 
 manui'e so obtained " has a very low market value, and cannot repay 
 the cost of manufactiu'e." Such favourable results as were placed 
 before them were disposed of by the Commissioners as being " evidence 
 of the weakest kind." The weather, they said, had interfered with 
 the use of manure, and in regard to the native guano "the whole 
 testimony was thus necessarily that of mere garden beds and flower- 
 pots." Facts, however, are accumulating daily, and as these accu- 
 mulate we may expect that even Eoyal Commissioners may receive a 
 httle new light. Some of these facts we have already given ; but more 
 remain to be narrated, including evidence obtained directly from the 
 farmers themselves. 
 
 V. 
 
 (From the ' StandarcV of Odoler 23, 1871.) 
 
 Many of our readers may be ready to look upon the circumstance as 
 somewhat remarkable that Leamington should be carrying out a plan 
 of sewage m-igation, while the surrounding district affords such striking 
 evidence of the value of the "ABC" manure. It must, however, be 
 borne in mind that the agreement with the Earl of Warwick was made 
 some time ago, under pecuhar cu-cumstances, and before the Native 
 Guano Company came into existence. While the Com2:)any have been 
 working out then- ad interim agreement with the local Board, facts 
 have accumulated of a nature which puts the "ABC" process in a 
 much more favourable light than was possible in its earlier stages. 
 Agi'icultural experience has been brought to bear upon the subject, in 
 addition to which certain improvements have been effected in the 
 mechanical appliances connected with the preparation of the native
 
 40 
 
 guano, and greater skill has been acquired in the chemical treatment 
 of the sewage. As the case now stands, it is no great wonder that 
 some of the Leamington ratepayers should be found to complain that 
 the local Board have made a bad bargain in their agreement with 
 Lord Warwick. But bearing in mind that which we have already- 
 stated with regard to the character of Leamington as a place of 
 fashionable resort, it can readily be understood that at the time when 
 the agreement was made with the Earl, the local Board were only too 
 ready to agree with any one who would take the sewage to the greatest 
 possible distance from the town. The authorities were, if possible, 
 over-anxious for the dispollution of their river, and were not in a mood 
 to calculate the financial part of the question very closely. Leaming- 
 ton, as a wealthy and elegant town, was impatient of the presence of 
 sewage, and was careless as to the idea of getting any profit out of 
 that dangerous commodity. There was also the pressure of legal pro- 
 ceedings to induse decisive measures. Under these circumstances the 
 agreement with the Earl of Warwick was entered into, as cutting the 
 Gordian knot. The Native Guano Company, who proposed to untie 
 the knot rather than to cut it, appeared on the scene after the agree- 
 ment with Lord Warwick had been entered into, and were simply 
 engaged to treat the sewage until the irrigation farm was ready for its 
 reception. 
 
 It may still be suggested that the cost of preparing the native guano 
 is too great to allow a profit, even though the manure be selling at the 
 rate of £3 10s. per ton. The Company, on the contrary, assert that 
 their profit is large. To this part of the subject we shall refer at 
 another time, and shall now proceed to cite a further amount of agri- 
 cultural evidence. A curious exception to the fertilising properties of 
 the native guano deserves to be mentioned, and will probably excite 
 the interest of the naturalist as well as the agriculturist. The state- 
 ment we are about to make can scarcely appear otherwise than as a 
 very odd one. When Mr. William Siller told one of the farmers in 
 the neighbourhood of Leamington that native guano " would not grow 
 thistles," the assertion was looked upon rather as an amusing piece of 
 enthusiasm than as a real matter of fact. Nevertheless we have seen 
 results which exactly accord with this statement, strange as it may 
 appear, and the phenomenon occurs not merely in respect of thistles, 
 but in the case of weeds generally. We cannot undertake to say that 
 the manure will always produce this effect in the same degree, or that 
 its purifying effect will be distinctly traceable when the quantity used 
 is smaller. But we have seen enough to show that Mr. Sihar's state- 
 ment is deservmg of credit. In one instance part of the pasture near 
 the Leamington sewage works was watered with the "ABC" deposit, 
 and some of the mud was thrown upon part of a bank. Wlien we 
 lately visited the spot that part of the bank which had received the 
 mud was covered with a close fine herbage, entirely free from weeds, 
 while the adjacent part, which had not received the mud, was thickly 
 occupied with nettles and other unprofitable plants. The line of 
 demarcation was remarkably distinct, and we were assured by the 
 owner of the field that the effect was traceable to the cause mentioned. 
 The difference in the grass was also very marked, the verdure where
 
 41 
 
 the mud had been laid being of a particularly deep rich green, an effect 
 which we have fi-equently mentioned before. 
 
 It may be objected that these results accrued fi'om the use of the 
 mud and not of the di*y manui-e. In reply we would advert to what we 
 observed on another farm. Here we saw a field, one part of which 
 had been manured in the ordinary way, and treated with agricultural 
 salt in order to kill the weeds. The other part of the field received no 
 salt, but was sown with white tiu-nips about the middle of August last, 
 native guano being di'illed in with the seed at the rate of about six 
 hundi-edweight to the acre. The former part of the field, where the 
 salt had been apphed, was made to bear a crop of swedes. At the 
 time when we went over the ground, somewhat early in the present 
 month, it had ah-eady been a matter of remark between the farmer 
 and one of his men, that weeds were abundant where the salt had 
 been applied, while the other part appeared to be entirely fi-ee. 
 Walking through the field we observed this to be the case, although 
 our attention was not called to the circumstance at the moment. The 
 tui-nip portion was nothing but tm-nips, with luxuriant tops covering 
 the entne space, while the swedes were thickly beset with weeds of 
 various kinds. The reason of native guano being so unfavom-able to 
 the gi-owth of weeds may be twofold. In the first place, the manure 
 may be deficient in seeds capable of gerroination. Such seeds as the 
 sewage may contain may be killed by the chemical treatment and the 
 di'ving process. In the second place, we may su2opose that the native 
 guano is deficient in some element which commonly encom-ages the 
 gi'owth of weeds, while, on the other hand, its fertihsing properties are 
 favoui-able to the growth of the more useful plants. The extinction of 
 weeds by native guano is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the 
 operation seems to be actually destructive. The farmer first referred 
 to gave it as the result of his experience that the native guano killed 
 the thistles, while it weakened the nettles, and ultimately destroyed 
 both nettles and docks. So far as we could see, the nettles were killed 
 off as sm-ely as the thistles. It is said that where night soil is applied 
 to the ground, nettles generally spring up in abundance. It has also 
 been an accusation against town sewage that where it is applied to 
 grass it encdm-ages the coarser kinds and kills out the finer, though 
 we beheve this is chiefly observed, and perhaps only so, where the 
 sewage is applied in excessive quantities. There is, apparently, a good 
 deal of evidence to show that different manures encourage different 
 plants ; but it is certainly singular to meet with a manm-e which 
 noiu'ishes useful vegetation and at the same time kills the weeds. 
 Perhaps native guano would not kill all kinds of weeds or have the 
 same effect on aU soils, but certainly in Warwickshhe it has helped 
 to fulfil the poet's di'eam that earth should some day see "her thistly 
 curse repealed." 
 
 The effect of the '< A B C" mud on the grass of the field first men- 
 tioned was highly beneficial. The field immediately adjoining, in the 
 occupation of the same party, afforded fm-ther proof. This second 
 field was coated over with guano mud last year during the hot di*y 
 weather, after the grass had been burned up by the heat. The first 
 field was treated in a similar manner, and the effect on both was
 
 42 
 
 surprising. The grass grew as high as the rails ; and, said tlie farmer, 
 *' It cost me something to get it mowed." A field contiguous to another 
 side of the sewage works, and forming part of another farm, had been 
 treated in a different manner. Mud from the "ABC" Works had, in 
 this instance, been laid out to. dry on the field, and when dry was 
 removed. The mud was not laid on until the month of May last ; but 
 in the month of September the grass was cut for the third time, 
 leaving a beautiful undergrowth, on which we found some fine Shrop- 
 shire-down sheep feeding with evident benefit. The state of the field 
 indicated that it was richly nourished, although the mud had been 
 removed as soon as it was diy, and the land had been heavily cropped 
 subsequently. In the case of the two fields where the mud had been 
 applied and allowed to remain, we may further explain that the 
 deposit was applied in an extremely liquid state. One of these fields 
 had received no further application of the mud this year, but the other 
 had received a partial dose. The two fields comprised seven acres, 
 and the total weight of hay obtained this year exceeded twenty tons. 
 
 A case which helps to show the comparative value of manures was 
 brought before our notice, and is vouched for by excellent authority. 
 In 1869 three acres of good loamy land were sown with turnips, 
 receiving on one acre thirty loads of stable manure, on another a 
 special manure intended for turnips, while the third acre received a ton 
 of native guano. The stable manure cost £9 15s., if taken at only 6s. 6d. 
 a load. The special manure cost £3 4s., being 8 cwt. at £8 per ton. 
 As the crops came on, the stable manure and the native guano both 
 answered exceedingly well, and the effect seemed very nearly equal ; 
 but the special manure produced a very indifferent result. When the 
 crops were taken off, the stable manure yielded 17 loads of turnips per 
 acre, and the native guano 15 loads, while the artificial manure was 
 altogether behind. In the following year (1870) barley was grown on 
 the same field, when the results on the stable manure and native 
 guano portions were apparently equal. 
 
 A remarkable instance of turnip growing came under our notice at 
 Warwick Market. A small boy was seen almost staggering under the 
 weight of a huge turnip, which he conveyed to one of the stands in the 
 Corn Exchange, where it was placed on view and attracted much 
 attention. It was a swede turnip, weU shaped, and apparently sound. 
 When gathered it weighed 25^ lbs., and when measured it proved 
 equal in girth to the prosperous agriculturist who grew it. We must 
 explain that this turnip grew among mangolds, and in a richly 
 cultivated soil. But it was not an isolated specimen, and there was 
 the fact that it had been raised on ground which had received a 
 moderate di-essing of native guano at seed-time. We believe that the 
 proportion was little more than a ton to 3^ acres. The farmer stated 
 that he believed he could find a hundi-ed swedes on this piece which, 
 if put together, would weigh a ton. Many, he said, weighed 18 or 
 20 lbs. each, and he did not expect that any weighed less than 10 lbs. 
 On another stand in the Corn Exchange were half a dozen swedes 
 grown by means of a celebrated bone manure, costing £6 10s. per ton. 
 These, although fine, were at least one-fourth smaller than the native 
 guano specimen, and we have no reason to suppose that they were
 
 43 
 
 grown on land less liigMy cultivated than the other. AYe subse- 
 quently visited the field where the big swede was grown, and found a 
 splendid crop, ai^parently justifying the statement which had been 
 made to us. It was a significant fact that the farmer who grew this 
 crop was storing up a quantity of the native guano, fearing lest he 
 should otherwise be unable to get it when he requh-ed it for use. He 
 had also proved its efficacy in growing clover. In several instances we 
 were told of the excellent crops of barley which followed the tiu'nips 
 fertilised with native guano. From a number of farmers we received 
 the unanimous testimony that "native guano" was a good manure. 
 It was not altogether easy at all times to get an expression of opinion, 
 but the opinion when given was always more or less favoui-able. 
 
 In thek agreement with the Earl of Warwick, the Leamington 
 Local Board of Health undertake to pump the sewage of the town on 
 to a specified iDart of his lordship's estate. All the sewage of the town 
 is thus to be delivered for a period of thu'ty years, his lordship paying 
 the Board the sum of £450 a-year. The Board have also agreed to 
 pump water on to the farm when requu-ed, for which they are to 
 receive a certain remuneration. In the meantime the Board are 
 doing then- best to reduce the volume of the sewage by excluding as 
 much as possible of the sui'face water. About one-thu-d of the town 
 ah-eady has a separate system for the removal of the surface water, and 
 this plan will be extended as cu'cumstances permit. The number of 
 water-closets in Leamington is large, the authorities doing their 
 utmost for the extu'pation of cesspools. The water-works are the 
 property of a private individual, who lets the water to the local Board. 
 A great many houses have wells, so that the works do not represent 
 aU the water supply of the town. The water is taken from the Learn, 
 in the vicinity of the Jephson Gardens. After filtration through 
 sand, it is forced by steam power into an elevated reservoir, fi-om 
 which the mains are constantly charged at high pressure, as we 
 stated in a former article. The sup^oly is about a milhon gallons in 
 three days, or rather more than 330,000 gallons per day. This only 
 amounts to a little over 13 gallons per head, for a population of 
 25,000 ; but, as we have already observed, the supply is augmented 
 by the private wells. The diy- weather sewage of the town is 
 stated to be 555,000 gallons in the 24 hours, which is equal to 22 
 gallons per head, showing at once that the water-works must be 
 largely supplemented. In rainy weather, the flow is gi-eatly 
 augmented. 
 
 The whole expense of conveying the sewage to Lord Warwick's 
 farm devolves on the Leamington local Board. More than two miles 
 of 18-inch kon main have been laid, and eight hydi'ants placed on 
 the farm. The expense of the main and hydi'ants is £3728, and the 
 laying of the main has cost £963. The dead lift from the pumping 
 station to the farm is 132 feet. The machinery for lifting the 
 sewage consists of a pah' of duplicate steam-engines, working alter- 
 nately, each of 60-horse power, and each capable of lifting 1,500,000 
 gallons in twelve hoiu's. The cost of the engines, including three 
 double-flue boilers, is £4750. The engine-house, a reservou- to hold 
 800,000 gallons of sewage, and two cottages, entail an outlay of
 
 44 
 
 ^64745, bringing up the total to about £14,000. It is obvious tliat the 
 working expenses, wear and tear, and interest on capital, • will con- 
 siderably exceed the £450 a year which the local Board will receive 
 from the Earl of Warwick. So far as the Leamington Board are 
 concerned, some help will be received from the two outlying districts 
 of Milverton and Lillington, which will contribute to the expense of 
 the sewage plan in proportion to their rateable value, the sewers of 
 these districts being in communication with the Leamington system. 
 These contributions are expected to amount to £120 or £150 a year. 
 The engines and the works generally are of excellent construction, 
 and there has been no ill-judged stint in the outlay. The engine- 
 house is a tasteful edifice, by no means suggestive of anything 
 relating to town di-ainage. 
 
 In the laying out of the sewage farm on Lord Warwick's estate, the 
 engineering part of the work is under the dii'ection of Mr. W. Clifford, 
 who, we believe, has had considerable experience of irrigation works 
 in India, and who formerly had charge of the Warwick sewage works. 
 The agricultural part of the undertaking is confided to Mr. Tough, 
 whose experience at the Lodge Farm, Barking, points him out as 
 peculiarly qualified for the post. It will be observed that, with the 
 exception of the cast-iron main, all the operations on Lord Warwick's 
 estate are at his Lordship's expense, and are carried out by parties 
 engaged on his Lordship's behalf. The Earl also undertakes all 
 responsibility connected with the use of the sewage from the moment 
 it leaves the hydrants. Hence the Leamington authorities are free 
 from all further fear as to actions at law and Chancery proceedings. 
 We believe, however, that the Native Guano Company are prepared 
 to offer a like guarantee to towns which may be disposed to enter into 
 an agreement for that purpose. As to the risk of nuisance at Lord 
 Warwick's farm, that seems to be carefully guarded against. The 
 only difficulty, if there be any, seems to consist in getting a sufficient 
 area of land ready for the reception of the sewage in due time. On 
 being shown over the farm by Mr. Tough about a fortnight ago, we 
 found that the delivery of the sewage was expected to take place in 
 the course of a few days from that time. But although an abundant 
 area would ultimately be available for the reception of the sewage, a 
 comparatively small portion of the ground was, as yet, prepared. It 
 was, however, part of Mr. Tough's plan to apply the sewage to fallow 
 land during the winter, allowing the manurial elements to remain in 
 the ground until spring, when the sewage would be diverted to 
 market-garden crops, grass land, &c., while the fallow land would be 
 ploughed up and sown. The total area included in the present plan 
 is 331 acres, of which only 80 are as yet completely laid out, in 
 addition to 60 acres of fallow land, which have been simply surface- 
 leveUed for the reception of the winter sewage. As rapidly as prac- 
 ticable the whole 331 acres will be duly laid out, after which the 
 farm will get into full working order, subject to such further 
 extension as will be found desu^able. A reservoir, to be constructed 
 on the summit of some rising ground, wiU form a receptacle for the 
 sewage which may pass the hydrants on its course from the pumping 
 station, and the elevation of this reservoir will command an area of 
 1200 acres.
 
 45 
 
 The proposal to utilise the sewage of 25,000 persons on an area of 
 831 acres is allowing that the sewage of each 75 of the population 
 will only fertilise an acre. If the sewage of 25,000 persons, when 
 treated on the " A B C" plan, will yield 2000 tons of native guano 
 per annum, we may reckon that the latter system, if applied to the 
 Leamington sewage, would fertilise the whole 1200 acres to which we 
 have referred, and even a much larger space. Again, the dry-weather 
 flow of the Leamington sewage is itself equal to more than 900,000 
 tons per annum. Taking the ordinary rainfall at 24 inches, this 
 quantity would itself be equal to the rainfall over a space of 376 acres, 
 while the total sewage would of course extend at the same rate over a 
 much larger area. As for the quality of the Leamington sewage, 
 there can be no doubt that it is highly fertilising, and that a 
 maximum effect may be expected from it. If we allow 35 persons to 
 the acre, the area required would be more than 700 acres. Supposing 
 the manui'ial ingredients of the sewage to be intrinsically worth 10s. 
 per head of the pox^ulation per annum, this would be the same as 
 applying manure at the rate of £17 10s. per acre. Eleven persons 
 per acre would represent a value of £5 10s. Two thousand tons of 
 native guano, applied to as many acres of land, would be equal to 
 rather more than twelve persons per acre, the cost to the farmer 
 being £3 10s. per acre. Suj)posing the native guano to be reaUy 
 worth £6 per ton, in comparison with stable manure, the value would 
 be very nearly 10s. per head. But, of course, there is a certain 
 amount of work to be paid for in the production of the native guano, 
 and a portion of the weight consists of added material, which, besides 
 augmenting the weight, also costs something itself. If, therefore, the 
 ** A B C " process extracted all that was valuable in the sewage, we 
 should look for even a higher value in the native guano -than £6 per 
 ton. We may here remark that fresh sewage contains very little free 
 ammonia, and that the portion which escapes in the effluent water of 
 the " A B C " process does so in a form which is perfectly harmless. 
 
 The Leamington Sewage Farm will be conducted on the mixed 
 husbandly system. There will be a large dau-y, and accommodation 
 will be provided for 150 head of cattle. Fruits and vegetables will be 
 grown for the Bmningham and Manchester markets. No expense has 
 been spared in providing aU the needful apj^liances, and the farm will 
 unquestionably afford a splendid specimen of sewage irrigation. From 
 the hydi-ants the sewage is conveyed in stoneware pipes along the head 
 of each field. At suitable intervals the line of stoneware pipes has a 
 species of valve or side-j)enstock, very sim^^le in its construction, by 
 which the sewage can either be let out or shut off. From these 
 openings the sewage passes on to the ground which it is to fertilise. 
 This plan provides that the sewage shall be invisible, except during 
 the period in which it is flowing over the ground, and soaking through 
 the surface. The pipes themselves are covered with earth, and the 
 sewage is therefore kept as much out of sight as possible. The effect 
 is one of great neatness, and may be expected to reduce the risk of 
 nuisance to a minimum, so far as the mode of distribution is con- 
 cerned. That the u-rigation itself will be a cause of annoyance need 
 not be apprehended, unless the sewage is applied too heavily, which
 
 46 
 
 we need not apprehend will be the case. As soon as the present farm 
 appears in danger of a surfeit there can be no doubt that the area will be 
 enlarged, and it is pretty certain that Mr. Tough will be on his guard in 
 this respect. The manner in which he has laid out the land is itself a proof 
 of his ability to deal with the practical part of the question. The system of 
 carriers varies according to the inclination of the ground, the ridge and 
 furrow plan not being well adapted to a steep gradient. Where che fall is 
 great, the plan is more after the style of the catch-water system. The ground 
 forming the sewage farm is being drained to a depth ranging between four 
 and eight feet. The soil is generally hght and pervious, and numerous 
 drainage-wells are provided so that the action of the drains may be carefully 
 watched. The whole of the farm is expected to be ready for the reception 
 of sewage by Midsummer next, and it is calculated that during the winter 
 months the land, or a portion of it, will be able to receive sewage at the rate 
 of 100 persons per acre. It would seem desirable that the "ABC" 
 operators should remain at the old outfall until the farm is really ready for 
 the sewage, so that the land may not be too heavily saturated in the first 
 instance. This precaution did not seem to be contemplated a few days ago, 
 but we confess to some feeling of anxiety as to the destination of the sewage 
 for the next few months. Mr. Clifford and Mr. Tough are doing their best, 
 but the work is heavy, and demands time. Should the sewage farm not 
 work quite satisfactorily at first, we shall expect to find that the defect arises 
 simply from want of time wherein to get ready. Of the ultimate success of 
 Lord Warwick's sewage farm we have scarcely a doubt. But it is clear 
 that the enterprise will not yield any revenue to the town. On the contrary, 
 the ratepayers will have to suffer a certain loss per annum, which they may 
 counterbalance by the consideration that they have got rid of the sewage 
 without creating a nuisance. 
 
 VI. 
 
 {From the 'Standard' of October 31, 1871.) 
 
 It will be observed that the facts we have narrated place us in opposition 
 to some of the conclusions arrived at by the Royal Commissioners on the 
 Pollution of Rivers, as given in their Report published last year. Our 
 object is not to raise a controversy, but to elicit truth ; and we are willing 
 to acknowledge that, according to the generally-received theory, the 
 Commissioners were, to some extent, justified in appraising the "ABC" 
 manure, or " native guano," at a low amount. We only regret that the 
 Commissioners were not sufficiently philosophical to follow out those 
 results which indicated the operation of a principle not yet fully recognised. 
 It was in this way that they passed by what they called " the testimony of 
 mere garden-beds and flower-pots" and "autumn-sown catch-crops," 
 though, perhaps, if these results had been unfavourable to the "ABC" 
 manure, they would not have been so unceremoniously ignored. While 
 rejecting this kind of " testimony," which, so far as it went, was at least 
 practical and real, the Commissioners proceeded to analyse and to make 
 their estimates, although they acknowledged that their data for reckoning 
 
 i
 
 4=7 
 
 " the weight and value of the native guano " were not so complete " as 
 might be wished." They even ventured to say, " It was obviously 
 impossible to investigate this part of the process so elaborately as the 
 chemical part, without expending more time than we should have considered 
 ourselves justified in devoting to this one subject." As this was the 
 case at that period, perhaps the subject may now be thought worthy of 
 reconsideration. 
 
 It would appear, indeed, that even in that part of the inquiry where the 
 Royal Commissioners were most at home they fell into some degree of 
 error. The Commissioners charged the "ABC" Company with an 
 enormous dilution of the effluent water at the Leamington Sewage Works, 
 so that this sewage was made to appear as if purified to a greater degree 
 than was really the case. This conclusion was based on the circumstance 
 that the effluent water contained considerably less chlorine than existed in 
 the original sewage, whereas — so the Commissioners stated — the "ABC" 
 mixture exerted no influence whatever on the chlorine. Dilution, therefore, 
 was the only mode of accounting for the reduced proportion of chlorine in 
 the effluent water as compared with the sewage. The admixture was 
 estimated in some cases to be as much as fourfold. It so happens that an 
 independent inquiry into the " A B C " process has lately been conducted 
 by an eminent and well-known chemist, who finds that this process does 
 actually reduce the amount of chlorine, whatever may be the preconceived 
 opinion of chemists generally, and whatever may have been the experiments 
 of the Royal Commissioners. The particular chemist to whom we now 
 refer adopted a very interesting mode of investigation. He collected 
 specimens of the London sewage as it was flowing from the main into the 
 tank, at the Lodge Farm, Barking. He also took a sample of the effluent 
 water from the same farm, which, as the public are aware, has been for 
 some time irrigated with the London sewage. The sewage itself, which was 
 thick and emitting a foul smell, was mixed with the "ABC" compound in 
 the proportion of 2 drachms to 10,000 grains. After agitation the mixture 
 was left to settle. In twelve hours, as the supernatant liquid was not 
 quite clear, it was filtered through porous paper, which had the effect 
 of rendering it perfectly bright. It was also inodorous and tasteless. The 
 effluent water from the Lodge Farm was likewise bright, and without taste 
 or odour. The sewage, when filtered by itself without previous treatment, 
 could not be obtained clear and bright. The filtered sewage untreated 
 contained 7-27 grains of chlorine per gaUon. But the clear water— or 
 effluent, as we may term it — obtained after mixing the sewage with the 
 " A B C," contained only 4*08 grains of chlorine, thus showing a leduction 
 of 13-19 grains per gallon, or about 44 per cent. How much "dilution" 
 this indicates can, doubtless, be calculated by the Royal Commissioners ; 
 but it is equally certain that there was no dilution whatever, the result being 
 solely due to the action of the " A B C " ingredients. On the other hand, 
 the irrigation effluent contained 6*92 grains of chlorine per gallon, or a very 
 slight reduction as compared with the filtered sewage. The album enoid 
 organic matter in the filtered sewage was 0-09 grains per gallon. In the 
 irrigation effluent this was 0-08 grains, but in the "ABC" effluent it was 
 only 0-03 grains. The volatile residue in the. irrigation effluent was 9*39 
 grains per gallon. In the "ABC" it was reduced to 3*30 grains, almost 
 identical with the quantity shown by a sample of Lambeth drinking-water. 
 The nitrates and nitrites were fuUv six times as much in the irrigation
 
 48 
 
 effluent as in the " x\ B C." Accordingly, the indications of " previous 
 sewage contamination " were sixfold in the one case to what they were in 
 the other, although the origin was the same. The ammonia in the irriga- 
 tion efHueut was much less than in the " A B C." On this point we may 
 observe it is somewhat remarkable to find the filtered sewage containing 
 only 1*70 grains of ammonia per gallon. This is the more peculiar, inas- 
 much as the sewage is described as " thick and foul smelling." In reality 
 it must have been dilute, the proportion of ammonia being only about one- 
 third of that usually obtained in dry weather. The dilution is also indicated 
 by the fact that the other constituents of the sewage are diminished in the 
 same proportion. It is quite possible that if the ammonia had been present 
 in its normal quantity, the "ABC" mixture would have produced a 
 better effect. As it is, in this case we find the irrigation effluent having 
 only 0-02 grains of ammonia, while the "ABC" has 1-68. The chemist 
 who conducted the analysis observes: — " In justice to the process, I must 
 state that my experiments were tried on only a gallon of sewage, and I can 
 easily imagine that, when operations are carried out on a large scale, it will 
 be easy to effect a still greater purification of the effluent water." With 
 regard to the removal of ammonia by the irrigation process, it must be 
 remembered that nitrates and nitrites are apt to be of large amount in the 
 irrigation effluent. Such has been the case at Romford, for instance. The 
 Lodge Farm, moreover, is scarcely a correct example of sewage irrigation. 
 The fiow of sewage there is not continuous, but is checked or admitted at 
 pleasure, just as the farm may happen to require it. The necessities of a 
 town require that the sewage shall be taken at all times, let the season or 
 weather be what it may. 
 
 We have mentioned the great reduction effected by the "ABC" com- 
 pound in the amount of volatile solid residue. This ingredient {)ractically 
 represents organic matter, and it is singular that the "ABC" should here 
 transcend the irrigation system, the irrigation effluent containing nearly 
 three times as much volatile solid matter as the " A B C." The albumenoid 
 matter, which is especially deleterious to the purity of a river, is also more 
 effectually removed in this case by the "ABC " process than by irrigation, 
 the effluent from the farm having more than twice the quantity of albumenoid 
 matter than the clear water obtained by the other niethod. In the fixed 
 solid residue the irrigation process has somewhat the advantage, but not so 
 as to compensate for the difference in the case of the volatile matter. Thus 
 the total solid residue of the irrigation effluent is 40*89 gaains per gallon, 
 and of the "ABC" effluent 38*38 grains, the Lambeth water showing 
 20-38 grains. In decomposing organic matter the irrigation effluent has a 
 slight superiority, having 0'09 grains per gallon as against 0T3. But the 
 chemical authority who furnishes the analysis states in his Keport — that 
 Report being quite independent of the Native Guano Company — " These 
 figures show that the 'ABC' process has effected a very fair amount of 
 purification. In the important matters of volatile residue, chlorine, and 
 albumenoid organic matter, it shows a decided superiority over the irrigation 
 process." It is not advised that the "ABC" effluent should be cast into 
 a river near the source of a drinking supply; but the chemist in question 
 says in his Report, " A water which is as bright and colourless as ordinary 
 spring water, which is sufficiently free from colour, taste and odour to be 
 taken into the mouth and swallowed without repugnance, which does not 
 putrefy or develope unpleasant smell on standing for several days in a warm
 
 49 
 
 room, and -which does not deposit any sediment, certainly cannot he con- 
 sidered an unfit water to throw into a river." 
 
 The ammonia question now demands our consideration. There is reason 
 to believe that irrigation does not remove so much of the ammonia as was 
 at one time claimed for it.* A great part of the nitrogen flows away in an 
 oxydised condition — harmless, it is true, but still lost to vegetation. The 
 "ABC" process retains apparently still less of the ammonia, but here also 
 it is stated that the ammonia which is lost goes away in a harmless 
 condition, chiefly as a sulphate. Granting that the "ABC" manure is 
 possessed of comparatively little ammonia, there would seem to be a difficulty 
 in accounting for its success as a fertiUser. This brings us to a most 
 interesting subject of inquiiy. In the first place, the action of pure ammonia 
 is altogether unknown. The illustrious Liebig, referring to the analysis 
 of the soils in different countries, computes that "the greater number of 
 our cultivated fields " contain within a depth of ten inches " much more " 
 than lOjOOOtb. of ammonia in the space of a hectare, equal to two acres and 
 a half. In fact, Liebig seems to allow that even a single acre may contain 
 this enormous quantity. Why, then, are our agriculturists so anxious to 
 add ammonia to their fields ? It may well be argued that an acre of ground 
 which contains in its upper ten inches of soil 10,000fb of ammonia or 
 nitrogen, cannot have its fertility increased two-fold by the mere addition of 
 30fb. to COfb. of ammonia. As in such a soil there was no want of nitrogen, 
 the cause of the increased fertility must be sought for in something else. 
 Liebig remarks, " The most recent observations on the comportment of the 
 soil towards the food of plants show how slight is the knowledge we possess 
 of their mode of nourishment, and of the part which the soil, by its physical 
 condition, plays in it." The great desideratum appears to consist in a 
 solvent for the earthy phosphates. "We know of no other way," says 
 Liebig, "in which the earthy phosphates are dispersed through the soil 
 than by means of carbonic acid water." It would seem that one of the 
 chief effects of humus, or the decaying remains of plants in soils or in 
 
 * On this important point we make the following extract from an article on 
 " Sewage Irrigation at the Lodge Farm," in the " Standard" of November 9, 1871: — 
 •' The report of Mr. Henry J, Morgan, addressed to Mr. K. A. Heath, the chairman 
 of the Metropolis Sewage and Essex Eeclamation Company, giring an account of a 
 year's operations at the Lodge Farm, Barking, has just been published. The year in 
 question ended on August 31, 1871, but the transmission of the report is stated to 
 have been delayed in order to inchide the analyses of Dr. Frankland. These analyses 
 refer, in the first place, to the sewage as taken from one of the wooden carriers on 
 the farm ; and, in the second place, to the effluent water as obtained three hours 
 afterwards from the outfall. It may be presumed that the latter represents the effect 
 produced on the sewage in its passage over and through the soil intervening between 
 the two points. The analyses are expressed in parts per 100,000. The suspended 
 matter in the sewage was 10-84, and of the effluent water we are told that it contained 
 ' few suspended parts.' The total solid matter in solution was 96-1 in the sewage and 
 91-3 in the efiluent. The organic carbon was reduced from 2-583 to 0-676 ; the 
 organic nitrogen, from 1-752 to 0-198; and the ammonia, from 5-450 to 0-005. The 
 elimination of ammonia would therefore appear to he practically perfect, and so far 
 it might be argued that sewage, like many other manures, was efiective as a fertiliser, 
 because containing so much ammonia. But on looking further we find that while 
 nitrogen, in the form of nitrates and nitrites, is absent from the sewage, it is present 
 in the efiluent in that fonn to the extent of 4-143. This process is rendered still 
 more apparent by the fact that while the total combined nitrogen contained in the 
 sewage is given as 6-240, as much as 4-345 is found passing off" in the effluent, only 
 1-895 parts being left in the soil."
 
 60 
 
 manures, consists in the formation of carbonic acid, with which the air and 
 water in the ground are enriched. The importance of this process is shown 
 by the following remarks of Liebig : — " The most abundant application of 
 earthy phosphates in coarse powder can in its effects bear no comparison 
 with a much smaller quantity which, in an infinite state of division, is 
 dispersed through every portion of the soil. A rootlet requires, at the spot 
 where it touches the soil, a most minute amount of food, but it is necessary 
 to its functions and its very existence that this minimum be found exactly 
 at this spot." The same authority says, " By its decomposition in the soil, 
 humus forms a source of carbonic acid, by which the fixed elements oi 
 food are rendered soluble and capable of being distributed in all directions." 
 
 It would, therefore, appear that if the "ABC" manure be deficient in 
 ammonia, it may nevertheless have the power of generating carbonic acid, 
 after the manner of the original humus, and in that case it would emulate 
 the action of a manure known to be rich in ammonia. On this principle it 
 would seem that two manures, very different in their composition, would — 
 in the language of Liebig — " exert an equally favourable influence on the 
 growth of plants." Liebig himself distinctly argues that as our cultivated 
 plants share equally with the uncultivated in the ammonia and nitric acid 
 of the air, the rain, and the dew, it therefore follows " that the agriculturist 
 will seldom have to seek the reason of his poor crops in a deficiency of 
 ammonia or nitrogenised food alone, and that he must first of all direct his 
 attention to certain other conditions in order to improve his harvest." 
 " Nitrogen," says Liebig, " produces by itself no effect when the conditions 
 are wanting which render it active." It may even be the fact that the 
 native guano supplies some of the conditions which render the ammonia of 
 the soil active and beneficial. A somewhat analogous case presents itself 
 in the application of water to the soil. Referring to the small amount of 
 ammonia in the water of the Thames, Liebig observes, " By irrigation, the 
 Thames water would undoubtedly produce a considerable increase in the 
 crops of hay on many meadows, but certainly not by its ammonia." 
 
 It may be said that we have proved too much, and that we are showing 
 ammonia to be useless as a manure. Upon the whole, we think that the 
 advocates of ammonia must do as we are doing, and rely on results. Apart 
 from experience, it seems as difficult to prove the virtues of Peruvian 
 guano as of "ABC" manure. Liebig, in one place, endeavours to 
 account for the observed effects of the soluble salts of ammonia by saying 
 that they possess " the same solvent property " as carbonic acid water. 
 Accordingly they render the earthy phosphates soluble, so that in this 
 respect they substitute their power for that of the organic matters, " and 
 thus exert an equally favourable influence on the growth of plants." The 
 same idea is expressed in the following sentence, " Like carbonic acid, the 
 sulphate, as well as other soluble salts of ammonia, possesses the property 
 of rendering the earthy phosphates soluble in water." We also find the 
 Baron making such a statement as this : " It is of great importance for 
 agriculturists to know that the supply of ammonia is unnecessary for most 
 of our cultivated plants, and that it may be even superfluous if only the soil 
 contain a sufficient supply of the mineral food of plants, when the ammonia 
 required for their development will be furnished by the atmosphere." Hence 
 it follows, " It is also of importance to know that the rule usually adopted 
 in France and Germany, of estimating the value of a manure according to 
 the amount of its nitrogen, is quite fallacious, and that its value does not
 
 51 
 
 stand in proportion to its nitrogen." In regard to the action of ammoniacal 
 manures it is further stated, " It has been abundantly proved by facts that 
 the action of the salts of ammonia is no way proportional to the amount of 
 nitrogen in them." Another assertion which may surprise some persons 
 runs thus : " It is quite certain that a soil from which a poor crop of corn 
 has been reaped will not be made to yield a greater quantity even by the 
 most abundant application of ammonia." Still, as a general rule, the good 
 effects of a manure which is rich in ammonia cannot be denied. To account 
 for this fact Liebig savs, " The explanation which can be offered of the 
 effect of nitrogenised manures and their advantages in certain cases is, that 
 the agriculturist furnishes to certain plants, having a scanty supply of leaves 
 and roots and a short existence, in quantity as manure, the nitrogen which 
 they have not time to absorb from natural sources." 
 
 The great practical measure on which Liebig relies is one which gives to 
 his opinions peculiar weight on such a subject as that to which these articles 
 refer. "There exists a recipe," he says, "for ensuring the fertility of our 
 fields and the permanence of their crops, and which, if properly and con- 
 sistently applied, will prove more remunerative than all the expedients that 
 have ever before been resorted to by agriculturists." The Baron's prescrip- 
 tion is this : " Every farmer who takes a sack of corn or a hundredweight of 
 rape, turnips, potatoes, &c., to the town, ought, like the Chinese coolie, to 
 carry back with him from the town an equal (or, if possible, a larger) quantity 
 of the mineral constituents of the produce sold, and restore them to the field 
 from whence they have been taken." To accomplish this purpose Baron 
 Liebig proposes that all the proprietors of the soil in every great country 
 should form a society for the establishment of reservoirs w^here the excreta 
 of men and animals might be collected and converted into a portable form. 
 Bones, soot, ashes, lixiviated and unhxiviated, the blood of animals, and offal 
 and refuse of all kinds, are to be collected together in these establishments, 
 and prepared for transport by the society's own officials. It will be observed 
 that this is not sewage irrigation. The plan proposed is that which chemists 
 generally denounce as impracticable, and which would be sure to fall under 
 the disfavour of the Royal Commissioners on the Pollution of Rivers. All 
 the refuse of a town, liquid and solid, is to be collected into reservoirs, and 
 " converted into a portable form " for use as a manure. Both solids and 
 liquids are to be dealt with. So far the "ABC" process agrees with the 
 plan proposed by Liebig. It has its reservoirs, where the excreta of men 
 and animals are collected, and where a precipitate is obtained which, being 
 dried, is offered for sale in " a portable form." Liebig's plan does not 
 exclude sewers, for he says, " To render the execution of a plan of this kind 
 possible. Government and the police authorities should take measures to 
 insure the proper construction of latrines and sewers in towns to guard 
 against the waste of the night soil, &c." 
 
 The necessity of utilising the sewage of towns is insisted upon by Liebig 
 in the strongest possible terms. He says, " Agriculturists must not depend 
 on guano." This article is continually getting dearer, and if it were not likely 
 ultimately to fail, it w^ere yet unwise to rely on a foreign manure for the 
 sustentation of our fields. Even if Peruvian guano could be obtained in 
 perpetuity, it would not suffice to maintain the fertility of the ground. It 
 is deficient in potash, and on soils poor in this ingi'edient (as in the case of 
 soils with much lime or sand) the effect of guano, after a certain time, per- 
 ceptibly diminishes, its efficiency being restored by the addition of wood
 
 53 
 
 ashes, rich in potash. Liebig says, " The excrements of man contain the 
 full complement of mineral elements, removed in grain and flesh ; but in 
 guano there is wanting a certain quality of potash to replace fully these ash 
 constituents." Unless we return to the soil that which we take from it, the 
 great chemist to whom we have thus extensively referred distinctly 
 predicts the ultimate exhaustion of our fields, and the ruin of our agriculture 
 — results which befel many of the nations of antiquity. 
 
 How, then, can we best proceed to replenish the soil ? Sewage irrigation 
 is a certain method, but a costly one ; and in some cases the cost is so great 
 as to be really prohibitory. Undoubtedly there are localities where sewage 
 irrigation is practicable, and where it ought to yield a profitable return. 
 But towns shrink from the expense, and the farmers are in much the same 
 predicament. The Earl of Warwick, as we have shown, is laying out land 
 in a very perfect and costly manner for the reception of sewage ; but his 
 lordship only pays the Leamington authorities at the yearly rate of fourpence 
 halfpenny per head of the population, and the ratepayers will have to make 
 up a deficiency of at least £700 a-year. This is better than wasting the 
 sewage and creating a nuisance. At Tunhridge Wells there is, perhaps, a 
 still greater pecuniary loss, although the authorities there have farms of 
 their own. Land near towns is apt to be dear. Cheap land lies farther off, 
 and if such be obtained there is then the expense of constructing a main 
 sewer for so great a distance. It will also be found at Tunhridge Wells, at 
 Banbury, and elsewhere, that the area of land taken is insufficient. If 
 there be no other plan available, these difficulties must he grappled with 
 and overcome as they best may. But in the meantime there is evidently 
 great reason to believe in the excellence of another mode. There are, 
 indeed, other precipitating methods besides the " A B C." But precipitation 
 is only part of the question. The mode of drying the deposit, the prevention 
 of nuisance in the process, the preservation of the valuable ingredients, and 
 the commercial economy of the undertaking, are all so many points of 
 essential importance. On the last-named point some striking figures were 
 lately given in an article in these columns referring to the Crossness Works. 
 A pretty good answer is also afforded by the present price of the Company's 
 
 Altogether we venture to think that the facts which we have laid before 
 the public are sufficient to establish for the "■ native guano" enterprise a 
 great degree of merit. It should not be forgotten, in dealing with the 
 agricultural part of this question, that there was a time, only thirty years 
 ago or less, when Peruvian guano — then first introduced into this country — 
 was looked upon with doubt. Liebig tells us that when the first vessel 
 loaded with guano arrived at Liverpool numerous experiments were made 
 with the new manure, which proved failures ; and agriculturists were not 
 agreed about its utility until they had practically tested its use. We have 
 ourselves found instances in the course of the present inquiry in which 
 Peruvian guano had not only failed to do good, but had actually done harm. 
 We never found a case in which the native guano had exercised an injurious 
 effect, but many in which it had been of excellent service. The native 
 guano is not only presented in a portable and inoffensive form, but it has 
 the advantage of economising the sewage so as to fertilise a far greater area 
 than is possible when the raw sewage is applied direct to the ground. 
 Granting that certain of the matters still held in solution escape in the 
 effluent water, there is the possibility of saving these matters by discharging
 
 63 
 
 the effluent water over the land — a process which would give no offence to 
 neighbouring dwellings. The operation hy which the manure is prepared 
 has undergone modifications from time to time, and there seems to be no 
 reason why any disagreeable gases or vapours should arise to annoy the 
 neighbourhood from this source. The effluent water is also such that it 
 may fairly go into any river, though as a matter of precaution the point of 
 discharge should not be near the source of a drinking supply. As for the 
 manure itself and its real value to the agriculturist, on this point there 
 need be no doubt, and we think the facts we have laid before the reader will 
 be ample for the satisfaction of every candid mind. At all events, there is 
 an abundant market for the native guano, and we may expect the demand 
 to increase as the practical effects of the manure become more generally 
 known. The promise of the "ABC" process is indeed bright, and the 
 public are directly interested in its fulfilment. We trust that the success 
 of the undertaking will soon be such as to admit of no controversy, except 
 on purely theoretical grounds. The enterprise has already nearly reached 
 this stage, and the discouragements which at one time presented themselves 
 have, perhaps, only served to bring about a greater degree of efficiency in 
 the practical working out of the original idea.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 " A B C " Ingi-eilients 
 
 ,, Process, description of 
 
 Ammonia as affected by Imgation 
 
 ,, in the soil 
 
 Barking Imgation FaiTQ ... 
 Bolton Sewage 
 
 „ Sewage Works 
 
 Cliloiine affected by the " A B C" Process 
 Comparison between different systems 27, 28, 31 
 Cost of " A B C " Works 
 
 ,, Irrigation Works 
 
 Crossness Sewage Works ... 
 
 Earl of Wai'wiek's agreement with Leamington 
 
 Economy of Utilisation of Sewage 
 
 Effluent fi-om "ABC" Process ... 
 
 ,, In-igation Fann 
 
 Foriification of Native Guano 
 
 Imgation 5, 22, 27, 28 
 
 Leamington " A B C " Works 
 ,, Imgation Works 
 Leeds Sewage ... 
 
 ,, Sewage Works 
 
 Liebig, Baron, on the action of manures 
 
 London Sewage 
 
 Moule's Earih System 
 
 Native Guano, chemical value of 
 ,, demand for 
 
 effects of 7, 18, 19 
 
 Nitrates and nitrites 
 
 Peruvian Guano 
 
 Pre\dous sewage contamination ... 
 Elvers Pollution Commissioners 
 Tunbridge Wells Imgation Farms 
 Value of Sewage 
 
 9, 10 
 
 31, 32 
 
 20, 21 
 
 31, 
 
 36, 45, 47 
 
 11, 
 31, 
 
 43, 
 
 29, 
 
 34, 
 32, 33, 
 
 47, 
 
 44, 45, 
 33, 
 
 34, 35, 
 
 49, 
 
 37, 38, 
 37, 
 
 35, 36, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 12 
 12, 13 
 
 49 
 
 49 
 
 32, 47, 48 
 
 23,24 
 
 24, 25, 26 
 
 7,47 
 
 48, 49, 52 
 
 16, 25, 29 
 
 28, 43, 44 
 14, 15, 16 
 35, 39, 40 
 
 45, 51, 52 
 48, 49, 53 
 47, 48, 49 
 
 7, 17, 18 
 
 46, 47, 48 
 34, 35, 36 
 43, 44, 45 
 
 29,30 
 
 29, 30, 31 
 50, 51, 52 
 ... 9, 10 
 
 32, 33 
 
 49, 50 
 
 7, 38, 39 
 
 40, 41, 42 
 
 48,49 
 
 38, 50, 52 
 
 48 
 
 39, 46, 47 
 27, 28 
 32,45 
 
 £. NEW^IAN, PKINTEE, DEVONSHIRE STREET, BISHOPSGATE, LONDOJ^.
 
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