3 Aug. 11 25,200 112 April 23 3 9 OBSERVATIONS. This field was pastured. No visible change in quality or quantity of grass. Sewage applied on 3 acres of Tares, sown with manure Oct. 14th previous year, after potatoes-an inferior crop, Barley, sown in April, with 12 carts dung per acre, to the 6 acres which had only sewage the previous year-average crop. 5 51,408 229 April 23 Old Pasture-no visible change-keep no better. to June 8 March .. 2 96,030 428 March to October Italian Rye-grass, 3 acres 2nd year, 5 acres sown April, various manures applied in addition to sewage-crop about 15 tons to acre. Sewage applied every month and almost every week. Half Lucerne half Italian Rye-grass-very thin crop of both. Sown with 20 carts dung per acre, previous August, 1854. March 7 Wheat, drilled 12 inches wide, sown with 12 to 31 carts town manure per acre, Nov. 17, 1854, and 4 pecks seed per acre, kind Hay's prolific, good crop-42 bushels to the acre. 24,128 107 April 8 to 14 July 23 Meadow, cut for Hay, July-13 tons first cutting, cut again for hay, September-15 cwt. second cutting. Wheat-1 acre after Swedes, dibbled-good crop, 54 bushels, Beans-14 acres, after old Lea-crop 49 bushels on 1 acres. 3 acres Spring Wheat-very poor crop. 7 acres Oats-average crop. Old Grass, cut for hay July-fine crop, weather wet, badly Aftermath pasture-no way remarkable. Cut for hay, 14 tons to acre-rather better than that part which was cut the previous year. to Oct. 4. OBSERVATIONS. Pastured-ceased to apply sewage, not getting enough to produce any visible effect. 3 acres Potatoes, 12 carts dung, and 24 bushels seed per acre-good crop. 7 acres Wheat and Beans, no sewage, reducing the area, the small dressings, by means of hose, and yet seeming to be useless. July 8 Drained 4 feet deep in winter, and subsoilploughed, 13 carts of dung ploughed in, and sown May 18th. Italian Rye-grass, 11 cwts of guano and 19 cwt. salt put on field-1st cutting July 6th, last cutting November 24th, when a single acre gave 2 tons at 5th cutting, remainder of field 4 cuttings, total crop 12 tons per acre-by no means good crop. Pasture-no sewage, reducing area of application. April to October. 7 11 5 acres Italian Rye-grass, 2nd year, 3 acres do., 3rd year-Ammonical liquor from gas works mixed with liquor from cow byres, applied by watering cart also. Crop, 25 tons to acre, began to cut May 10th. 1 acre Lucerne, watered with cart, gas water and cow urine, &c.-18 tons per acre, cut 4 times. 1 acre Italian Rye-grass, 2nd year, cut 5 times-about 25 tons to acre. Wheat-A portion manured with water cart, from byres and gas works-showed marked luxuriance all the season. Meadow-about 1 tons hay, aftermath pastured. Winter crop, Tares and Rye, cut June 17th, gave 33 carts dung to acre. Swedes-good сгор. June 14 3 acres Mangold, 35 carts dung to acre—good crop, 34 tons to acre. 7 acres, no sewage, 30 carts dung. Swedesgood crop. 10 136,344 608 March 8 Old Grass, cut for hay-good crop; cost 5s. per 45,362 202 March 8 Hay, on 20 acres, 18 of which had been winter sewaged at an extra cost of £20-crop better than previous year, cost 58. 3d. per acre to mow-not extraordinary. On 8 acres Oats, 49 bushels to acre, winter sewaged-did not pay. If there is one lesson more distinctly to be learned than another from the experience of these three years in the application of Town Sewage, it is the utter unprofitableness of shedding small quantities over a large area of land. Both the lessee of the Town Sewage and myself were quite at one upon the necessity of concentrating the Sewage upon a smaller area, and accordingly, in 1857, I took more land from him with a new agreement for ten years by which I had the power to apply the Sewage without that limitation as to quantity which had embarrassed me before. Under this new agreement, I ceased, as a general rule, to measure the quantity applied, and kept it going all the year round, and chiefly on grass land. I have, however, made use of it for green crops, such as mangold wurtzel and turnips in dry seasons with good effect, and the same may be said of cereal crops, occasionally in spring, but not in wet seasons. In 1857, I withdrew the Sewage from all the 12 fields numbered in the foregoing tables, except numbers 2, 3, and 11— about 26 acres. It is to be observed that these three fields were watered all the year round, portion after portion, as was most convenient, by the hose and jet. It is impossible to estimate the quantity put on the land, it must have been considerable, but the results were by no means satisfactory, probably from insufficient supply during the previous season. No. 2 FIELD. Italian Rye grass was sown on 3 acres, May 20th, the land having been manured with 50 carts of dung, and 5 cwt. of guano, and 10 cwt. of salt and ashes. Begun to cut the crop July 13th. 4 more acres were sown August 5th, after being manured with 81 carts of dung. I have no record of the quantity cut, but well recollect that it was but an ordinary crop. No. 3 FIELD. Nine acres Italian Grass, second year, begun to water with Sewage, March 13th. Begun to cut the grass, April 13th. N.B.-6 cwt. of guano was also applied to this field. No. 8 FIELD. This field was sown with wheat in February, after Italian grass, and abundant Sewage. A complete failure. Had to be ploughed up. In 1858, I began to apply the Sewage by means of small open grips or gutters to the Italian rye-grass, and found them answer better than the hose and jet. They were cheaply made on the plan of Mr. Brickford, of Exeter. I have a small one horse plough fitted with two coulters, and a sharp cutting square-ended nozzle or share, which takes out about 4 inches of the soil, as it moves along, neatly and regularly, levels having first been taken by means of a triangle of wood, about 4 feet high, having a plumb line depending from its apex. The first grip is drawn as nearly as possible along the highest level, and from this are cut perpendiculars down the slope of the field, and, if necessary, more horizontal lines across the slope. By these the grass is better watered than by the hose, a larger quantity put on in a shorter time, and with greater regularity. Still the quantity I received was deficient, not enough to produce paying results. I applied it this year to the same fields as the year previous, Nos, 2, 3, and 11. 26 acres. Old grass cut for hay; still not more than two tons to the acre. Hose and jet constantly going. No. 18 FIELD. In This is a field which I took in 1856, at that time very poor pasture. Its history, as respects Sewage, may be useful. 1857 it was drained to the depth of 4 feet, the soil is light, and in some places very wet, a kind of quicksand from 3 to 4 feet below the surface. Sewage was applied by means of hose and jet. It did much better as pasture, and this year (1858) I took hay from it, about 13 tons of hay to the acre. In 1859, the Sewage was applied to 4 acres of it, by means of the open gutters, from this portion 2 tons of hay per acre was cut, and it yielded an abundant aftermath. In 1860, the same process of irrigation by open gutters was carried on, and the result was an early bite for sheep, fully two tons of hay per acre, and an in creased aftermath. In 1861, under the same plan, a crop of two tons of hay per acre was carried June 19th, and from 3 acres of the same field, not watered with Sewage, only one ton of hay per acre was obtained, and that was not carried until the 9th of September. In addition to this, the Sewaged portion was cut a second time, yielding 4 tons per acre of green forage for cows, between August 28th and October 18th, and besides that, about 1 acres were cut a third time during the same period, there was also a fair aftermath. In 1862, a very large supply of Sewage was given to this field, both winter and summer, probably above 8000 tuns to the acre. The whole field was cut green for the cows, when the 4 acres which received the Sewage yielded The 3 acres without Sewage, but top dressed with street soil, give only 8 tous 16 cwt. of grass cut green from the whole 3 acres. No. 18 FIELD. In 1863, with about the same amount of Sewage applied winter and summer, the 4 acres gave The small falling off in quantity this season I attribute to the character of the season, in point of temperature, which affects the period of cutting, nor is the supply of Sewage so abundant in a dry hot summer. In 1864, the supply of Sewage was greatly diminished. It was not applied in the winter months, nor from May 3rd to June 17th, most important weeks-the steam engine being out of order. And again the extraordinary drought of the season materially affected both supply of Sewage and growth of grass. The crop was, therefore, a comparatively poor one, the first cutting did not take place until the end of June. The 3 acres not Sewaged, but top-dressed with the liquid manure from the farm-yard tanks and gas works, by means of the water cart, gave fifteen cwt. of hay per acre-by no means a crop for the season. bad |