SLOP-WATER
It is often stated that to deal with excremental matters separately
from the slop-water is no advantage either from a pecuniary or sanitary
point of view, because:
1. Slop-water is as foul as sewage composed of excrement
and slops.
2. A system of sewers is necessary for the slop-water,
and it is not easier to treat slop-water alone than
it is to treat a mixture of slops and excrement.
The following tables, from the 'Report of the Royal Commission on
Rivers Pollution in 1868,' are given by most sanitarians to show that
the difference in degrees of impurity between a water-closeted town and
a non-water-closeted town is very slight.
AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF SEWAGE
_In Parts per 100,000_
+------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+---------------------+
| | Total | | | | | | Suspended Matters |
| | Solid |Organic|Organic | | Total | +-------+-------+-----+
|Description |Matters |Carbon |Nitrogen|Ammonia|Combined|Chlorine| | | |
| | in | | | |Nitrogen| |Mineral|Organic|Total|
| |Solution| | | | | | | | |
+------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-----+
|Midden Towns| 82·4 | 4·181 | 1·975 | 5·435 | 6·451 | 11·54 | 17·81 | 21·30 |39·11|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Water-Closet| | | | | | | | | |
| Towns | 72·2 | 4·696 | 2·205 | 6·703 | 7·728 | 10·66 | 24·18 | 20·51 |44·69|
+------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-----+
| |
| _In Grains per Gallon_ |
| |
+------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------+------+------+
|Midden Towns| 57·68 | 2·926 | 1·382 | 3·804 | 4·515 | 8·078 | 12·467|14·910|27·377|
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Water-Closet| | | | | | | | | |
| Towns | 50·54 | 3·287 | 1·543 | 4·692 | 5·410 | 7·462 | 16·926|14·357|31·283|
+------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------+------+------+
This table being not unfrequently quoted in support of the contention
that slops alone = slops + excrement, I may be excused if I examine it
somewhat critically.
I will take the table in grains per gallon and simplify it somewhat.
_Grains per Gallon_
Table headings:
Col A: Total Solids in Solution
Col B: Suspended Matter
Col C: Mineral
Col D: Organic
Col E: Total Solids in Solution and Suspension
Col F: Organic Carbon
Col G: Ammonia
Col H: Total Combined Nitrogen
Col I: Chlorine
+-------------+-----+-----------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------+
| | | B | | | | | |
|Description | A +--------+--------+ E | F | G | H | I |
| | | C | D | | | | | |
+-------------+-----+--------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------+
|Midden Towns 57·68| 12·467 | 14·910 | 85·057 | 2·926 | 3·804 | 4·515 | 8·078|
| | | | | | | | |
|Water-Closet | | | | | | | |
|Towns 50·54| 16·936 | 14·357 | 81·823 | 3·287 | 4·692 | 5·410 | 7·462|
+-------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------+
We shall all of us be ready to grant that the addition of excremental
matters must be something _extra_ added to the sewage, and that such
extra matter must be either in suspension or solution. The fact,
therefore, that the total solid and suspended matters is less by 3½
grains in the water-closet towns than in the midden towns can only be
accounted for by the enormous dilutions of the excremental matters in
the sewage. Notwithstanding this dilution we find that the water-closet
town sewage contains 20 per cent. more combined nitrogen than midden
town sewage, 23 per cent. more ammonia, and, what is very remarkable,
35 per cent. more suspended mineral matter.
This excess of mineral matter in suspension could only be caused by
the precipitation of mineral matters by the ammonia and sulphuretted
hydrogen formed by decomposition of the albuminous and other organic
matter. This excess of mineral matter in suspension must therefore
be taken as a measure of the enormously increased putrefaction in
water-closet sewage, a putrefaction probably to a great extent brought
about by the millions of microbes which are provided from the human
intestines with the excrement, and we must therefore assume that the
increase of mineral matter in suspension is an indication that a large
quantity of foul putrefactive gases has been given off into the streets
and houses of water-closet towns.
This table, therefore, seems to me to conclusively demonstrate that the
sewage of water-closet towns is far more bulky and far more filthy and
dangerous than the sewage of midden towns.
Sewage is not to be regarded too absolutely from its chemical side.
We must use our senses, inclusive of our common sense, in coming to a
conclusion, and we must not pin our faith on analyses alone. When I am
told that it is of little use to deal with solid excreta, because the
liquid household slops alone are as foul and difficult to treat as the
complete mixture, I confess I am incredulous.
When I see the housemaid's pail filled with three gallons of soapy
water and perhaps a pint of urine, am I to believe that the addition
thereto of five ounces of solid excrement, a second half pint of urine,
and a square foot of paper, will make no difference to its foulness and
cause no increase of difficulty in its purification? _Credat Judæus
Apella!_ Such a statement is manifestly absurd.
Again, we must remember that it is the solid excreta which constitute
not only the foulest but the most dangerous ingredient of sewage, the
only one which has caused widespread epidemics again and again, the one
which has hung a load of debt round the neck of every municipality in
the country.
The other ingredients of household slops, unlike the fæces, are little
liable to contain pathogenic microbes. The urine of a healthy man
is, as we all know, sterile when passed. In diseased conditions it
may occasionally possess infective power, but this is a speculation
rather than a practical fact acknowledged by the sanitarian. A
large proportion of cooking-water has been boiled, and is therefore
sterile, and the same may be said of the water in which our linen has
been washed. Household slops, therefore, are not liable to be really
infective.
They are nitrogenous, and consequently, if allowed to stagnate by
mismanagement, they become very foul from decomposition, but that they
are capable of producing epidemics has not yet been proved. Between
excrement and slop-water there is this difference, that solid excreta
are foul-smelling _ab initio_, but slop-water (if we except the smell
of water in which cabbage has been boiled) only becomes foul if it is
mismanaged.
In places which are not overcrowded a great deal has been done when the
wholesome treatment of the solid excreta has been arranged for, and
I feel that to neglect the doctrine that 'half a loaf is better than
no bread,' and to discourage people from dealing with solid excreta,
because they do not see their way quite clearly for the disposal of
slops, is most dangerous.
One thing is certain, viz., that if the solid excreta are dealt with
by dry methods the liquid sewage will be 25 per cent. less bulky than
otherwise would be the case.
I feel sure that if, in our anxiety to prevent the pollution of rivers,
we fail to appreciate the biological differences between excrement and
slop-water we shall make a mistake, which in the end will be no real
advantage to the streams. If, therefore, villages and places where the
population is sparse make serious efforts to deal with excreta, they
should have at least some breathing-time allowed before the fish in
their streams are deprived of the luxuries which they doubtless obtain
from kitchen slops.
When fæcal matters are mixed with the slops, the mixture is so
offensive that we are compelled to place it at once beyond the
reach of the nose or eye, and the presence of sticky fæces and large
quantities of paper makes any attempt at filtration practically
impossible. Domestic slop-water when fresh is not offensive, and is
very rarely dangerous; and by attention to certain details it can be
easily dealt with.
Domestic slop-water consists of:
1. The waste from kitchen and pantry sinks, which
often contains dissolved albuminous matter, food particles,
dissolved and suspended fat, a considerable amount of
coffee grounds and tea leaves, and sundry odds and ends,
the result of house-cleaning, such as fluff, bits of string,
little scraps of paper and rags, fibres from brooms and
brushes, &c. These materials are very apt to accumulate,
and to block drains; and if this form of slop-water is to
be effectually dealt with, it is essential that the suspended
matter be strained out. The purposes which the kitchen
and pantry sinks subserve require, according to Notter
and Firth, about 3·75 gallons of water per head per diem;
and allowing for evaporation, the slop-water must be less
in quantity, so that if we say that these slops average 24
gallons per diem for a household of 7 persons, we shall be
not far from right.
2. Bedroom slops, consisting of soapy water and urine.
Allowing for a daily sponge bath, these amount to about
five gallons per head per diem, or thirty-five gallons for a
household of seven persons. The suspended matters in
these slops (soapsuds chiefly) are in such a fine state of
division that they easily filter. They may contain waste
matches, a few hairs, a small amount of fluff from towels,
and an occasional bit of paper.
3. The water from fixed baths amounts to about thirty
gallons per bath per diem, and in a household of seven
would not probably amount to more than sixty gallons a
day. It is so clean that it ought not to occasion any
trouble.
Assuming the clothes-washing is not done at home we should have
fifty-nine gallons per household of seven per diem without fixed baths,
and 119 gallons with fixed baths; and if the washing be done at home,
then three gallons per head per diem must be added, or twenty-one
gallons for a household of seven, giving a maximum of 140 gallons per
diem for a household of seven.
Fifty-nine gallons per diem would put upon an acre of land the
equivalent of an inch of rain (22,624 gallons) in 384 days, and the
equivalent of an inch of rain on a quarter of an acre in 96 days.
One hundred and forty gallons per diem would be the equivalent of an
extra inch of rain on an acre in 162 days.
These amounts are trivial, and if the water be supplied from a private
well in the grounds it is evident that, allowing for evaporation,
_we should pump from the subsoil rather more than we return to the
surface_. Again, it must be remembered that the house with the greatest
amount of slops has, as a rule, the largest curtilage. A mansion
containing twenty persons with unlimited baths, laundry, and stables
would not probably give more than 40 gallons per head, or 800 gallons
a day, which is a trivial amount when considered in connection with a
park of 20 or perhaps 200 and more acres.
It is necessary to insist that the amount of slop-water to be dealt
with in isolated houses is usually trivial in proportion to the land
available for its purification. Tidy was of opinion that, employing
intermittent downward filtration for the purification of previously
precipitated crude sewage, an acre might be sufficient for 7,000
persons. This would give 1/1000 acre, or about 44 square feet, for a
household of seven. At this rate my consulting room in London, which
measures 24 × 18 = 432 square feet, would be an area large enough for
nearly 70 persons. I think the estimate is too small; but even if one
multiplies it by ten it is evident that the amount of land necessary
for treating the domestic slop-water of a house is much smaller than
might be supposed.
In places where unlimited water is obtained by merely turning a tap
these estimates are very liable to be exceeded, especially when those
who turn a tap _on_ are too forgetful or lazy to turn it _off_.
I feel certain that anyone who experiments on this matter as I have
done will be simply astounded at the small amount of ground which is
necessary.
Critics of the plans which I have advocated, and am now about to
advocate, sometimes hint that the whole curtilage of one's house must
be unwholesomely sloppy.
Such a statement shows a complete ignorance of the whole subject.
Few, if any, of the writers of hygienic text-books seem to have really
studied the life-history of slop-water, and it is matter for regret
that in some of these books the chapters devoted to domestic hygiene
deal more with patents than with principles, and are illustrated more
by woodcuts culled from tradesmen's catalogues than by any practical
knowledge possessed by the writer.
PRINCIPLES OF SLOP-DRAINAGE
If domestic slop water is to be dealt with successfully it is
necessary—
_1. That all waste pipes terminate well above the level of the ground._
This is a point too much neglected by architects, who are very prone
to carefully put all waste pipes below ground level, so that any
purification of slops without pumping is impossible.
Allowing a fall of, say, 1 in 10, it is evident that for every foot
above ground at which a waste pipe terminates it is possible to deliver
the waste on to the surface of the ground at 10 feet from the house.
Thus the bedroom sink waste at a height of 10 feet above ground level
might be made, if so desired, to deliver its waste 100 feet from the
house. It is often necessary to take the waste pipes from the first
floor over the path surrounding the house. This is easily accomplished
without causing any unsightliness by placing an arch over the path.
Such arches may be of galvanised iron for a cottage, or of masonry for
a mansion, and are soon hidden by creepers.
Figs. 24 and 25 illustrate how this principle may be carried out; in
the one case by a rustic arch costing a few shillings, and in the other
case by a porch and arcading of a more ambitious description. Fig.
24 is from a photograph of an arch in actual use. Fig. 25 has been
furnished by Mr. Cutler.
[Illustration: Fig. 24.—Rustic Arch.]
[Illustration: Fig. 25.—Use of Arch for getting Waste Water clear of
House.]
When pipes are provided with a rapid fall there is little tendency for
water to freeze in them, but in severe climates it might be necessary
to pack the pipes.
The waste pipes of kitchen and pantry sinks are, in London, almost
always below ground level, it being the custom to place the kitchen and
offices in an underground basement; and I have known London architects
who have provided country houses with similar abominations, so that
the sewage of a basement has to be lifted before it can be properly
treated. If this evil is to be avoided, it is essential that the waste
pipes of kitchen and pantry sinks terminate at least two feet above
ground level. This is a minimum, and if a greater fall can be obtained,
so much the better. Kitchen and pantry waste is full of dissolved and
suspended matter, and a careless cook will throw down the sink enough
food to keep a pig or a dozen fowls. This waste is very prone to become
offensive, and it is advisable that it be thoroughly strained before
flowing away. Not only should the waste pipe have a fixed and immovable
strainer below the plug, but a sink basket should be used, and the
waste should be still further strained in a manner to be presently
described.
_2. No stagnation must anywhere be permitted along the line of
slop-drainage._
Experimenting upon this point, I have found that stagnant slops become,
as a rule, offensive within 24 hours, even when exposed to the air.
Thus I tried the experiment of filtering bedroom slops through a trough
filled with stones and provided in the middle of its length with a
diaphragm reaching from the top to within an inch of the bottom, and
having the outlet only an inch or so below the level of the inlet. This
caused stagnation and great foulness, which disappeared immediately
the outlet was placed at the lowest level, and stagnation became
impossible. Soapy water mixed with urine soon becomes foul if allowed
to stagnate in traps, but it has never in my experience been foul if
poured upon the earth and allowed to soak away. With a good fall and
with the outlets of pipes freely exposed to the air, traps are not
necessary, and as all forms of traps are but miniature cesspools,
this is a great gain. A trap is never possible in an outside metal
pipe because of the fear of frost. The abolition of traps is not only
necessary, but a very great gain indeed.
_3. Slop-water should run in open gutters, and when it has reached a
certain distance from the house it should be allowed to soak away as
it runs, and take the line of natural drainage of the locality._
This may be effected by means of
FILTRATION GUTTERS
The gutters which I have used, and which have been found to answer in
a manner which has far exceeded my expectations, are constructed as
follows:—
A trench 2 feet deep and 18 inches wide, and of a length varying with
the circumstances, is dug, and filled up with porous material, such as
builders' rubbish, old crockery, and tins, stones, &c., &c., to within
a few inches of the surface, and upon this rubbish, previously rammed,
walls of concrete or honeycomb brickwork are formed, provided with a
ledge sufficiently wide to support a perforated tile, the perforations
being big enough to admit a large sized knitting-needle, say ⅛ in.
in diameter. The porous rubbish reaches to within an inch of the under
surface of the tile, and the sides are planted. The gutter may, if
necessary, be protected by a grating.
[Illustration: Fig. 26.—Filtration Gutter.]
Or the gutter may with great advantage be placed upon a bank with
gradually sloping sides.
In both cases the sides of the gutter should be planted with
quick-growing shrubs, and it will soon become ornamental. Such a
slop-gutter on a raised and planted bank would form a most excellent
boundary fence. These gutters are shown in figs. 26 and 27. The
perforated tile which forms the floor of this gutter is a most
important part of it, because it allows the gutter to be cleared of
dead leaves and other rubbish, which inevitably fall into it, and it
protects the porous material from getting clogged. It breaks the force
of the water and prevents the downpour from the pipes from ploughing
up the rubble, which is a most important matter. I have used various
things for forming the floors of these gutters, and have found nothing
better than the perforated tiles which are used for forming the floors
of malt kilns. I have no doubt that the gutter could be made perfectly
well in galvanised iron. What lengths of such gutters should be
provided? To answer this question I can only give my own experiences.
Two years ago I constructed such a gutter for a girls' school where
there are between 30 and 40 day scholars and boarders. I dug out my
trench leading into a natural rivulet, and I formed a gutter 40 feet
long. I do not think the slops in this case have ever travelled as
much as six feet, and there is no evidence that a drop of slop-water
has ever touched the rivulet. The privets have grown, but the gutter
has never been foul, and when the tiles have been taken up the porous
rubbish beneath has been found perfectly sweet, and there has been no
sloppiness at the sides.
[Illustration: Fig. 27.—Filtration Gutter on Bank.]
A similar gutter on a bank was provided for a six-roomed house, and
the slop-water has never travelled to the end, or anywhere near it,
notwithstanding a considerable fall.
The water of a fixed bath has run for nine years into a gutter 20 feet
long, and at times as much as 120 gallons a day has flowed into it, but
the water is never visible two minutes after the waste has ceased to
flow; there has been no foulness of any kind, and the only effect has
been to make the shrubs grow.
The bedroom slops of a country mansion with twenty-three inhabitants
were taken, eighteen months ago, into a plantation, and the only result
has been that the limes have thrown up suckers, but there has been
neither sloppiness nor foulness.
The bedroom slops of a cottage with five inhabitants have run for five
or six years along a gutter 12 feet long, at the foot of a privet
hedge, and there has been neither sloppiness nor foulness, except when,
as stated above, I produced stagnation.
_4. When it is feasible, it is advisable to allow different varieties
of slops to flow in separate gutters._
The waste of fixed baths is almost clean, containing nothing but a
little soap at most; bedroom waste contains soap and urine, but no
solid particles of any size to give trouble, except a stray bit of
paper, or an old match, or a few hairs, and some fluff from towels,
which will all be caught upon the perforated tiles, and can be swept up
occasionally.
[Illustration: Fig. 28.—Kitchen Sink with Duplicated Outside Filter.]
The waste from kitchen and pantry sinks needs careful straining and
filtering before it is allowed to flow into an open gutter. I have
mentioned the necessity of providing strainers and a sink-basket, and
I now proceed to describe the slop-filter which is advisable for the
kitchen sink (fig. 28). The waste-pipe of the sink must terminate
2 feet or 2 feet 6 inches above the ground level, and be provided
with a reversible nozzle delivering over a filtering vessel made of
concrete or iron. This filter is in duplicate, and is provided with
a diaphragm reaching to within an inch of the bottom. Each half of
the vessel measures 1 foot by 1 foot 6 inches, and is 2 feet 6 inches
deep, and has a capacity of 3·75 cubic feet. The outflow is immediately
beneath the diaphragm, and empties into the open gutter. Each half of
the filter is filled with stones varying in size from a hazel-nut to
a walnut, and the waste is allowed to flow through one half of the
filter, and then, when that half gets foul, the nozzle is reversed, and
the second half is brought into use, and the half first used can be
cleaned out. The filter must be provided with a fine copper strainer,
and if the slops be carefully strained the filter will not get foul for
months; but if lumps of fat and slabs of cabbage-leaves be allowed to
get into the filter, it soon gets foul, as does the abomination known
as a fat-trap.
The method of purifying sewage by 'intermittent downward filtration'
is well understood, and the methods advocated here are merely
modifications of what has been done in this country, and also by the
Massachusetts Board of Health.
What is meant by 'intermittent downward filtration'? How frequent are
the intermissions?
The intermissions usually recommended are 'sewage for six hours and
rest for twenty-four hours,' but my belief is that the purifying
action of the filter-bed ceases directly the filter is filled and
water-logged. The intermissions must be perpetual. The supply of
slop-water in a private house is essentially intermittent, and this
perpetual intermission is the secret of the success of the methods I
have indicated. Between nine at night and seven in the morning—ten
hours out of every twenty-four—the flow of slop-water is usually nil.
Between 8 A.M. and 11 A.M. is the time of the bulkiest flow, but even
this intermits. A housemaid's pail with its three or four gallons will
come once in ten or fifteen minutes, so that the filter is always being
emptied, and as the water drains off the fresh air follows it. The
water of a fixed bath is practically clean, and gives the filtration
gutter a vigorous stir, which does nothing but good. The domestic
intermissions are invaluable. When sewage is collected in a tank and is
then allowed to flow _without intermission_ for six hours at a stretch,
it is doubtful if the greatest purifying power is obtained from the
filter.
RAIN-WATER.
Another point of great importance is the bestowal of rain-water. The
usual method is to conduct the rain-water from the eaves by means of
pipes which open directly into an underground sewer or empty over a
gully which runs into an underground sewer. This underground sewer
conducts the rain-water either to a main sewer or cesspool, and the
important fact to be borne in mind is that the length of underground
pipes, whose main function is to conduct rain-water, are nothing
but prolongations of sewers or cesspools which conduct the gases of
putrefaction to many points round the dwelling, either at the ground
level or the roof level.
There can be no reason why rain-water pipes should not end in a
'shoe,' and discharge over open gutters which might flow to a gully,
if absolutely necessary, at a _distance_ from the house. The practice
of taking rain-water direct into underground drains is a great cause
of damp walls. A year or so ago the rain-water pipes of a country
house well known to the author, which ran direct apparently into the
underground drain, were examined. In every case the underground drain
was broken and leaky, and in some places completely choked by the roots
of plants and trees, while the rain-water got away as it could, and
kept the foundations of the walls perpetually soaked.
In the London house, with its cave-dwelling basement and narrow area,
it is inevitable that the rain-water must flow to an underground
sewer more or less directly, but there is no reason why this Cockney
necessity should be adopted in the country. It is obviously advisable
to conduct rain-water clear of the walls and foundations. The mediæval
gargoyle was useful in this way, and I think I am right in stating that
the 'flying buttress' was occasionally made to serve the purpose of a
water-gutter with the same object.
REFUSE.
It has been said that classification is the basis of all science, and
it most certainly is the basis of the scientific disposal of refuse.
Refuse matter is most varied in its nature, and the items of which it
is composed—excrement, rags, bones, paper, straw, sawdust, and other
packing materials, cinders and ashes, old crockery, broken glass, old
metal, &c.—all demand a different method of treatment.
When I see the grimy gentlemen in fan-tailed hats engaged in the
marvellous operation of climbing over spiked railings with the object
of filling a huge lumbering cart with a _mixture_ of some or all
of the things mentioned above, I feel that they are occupied in a
bit of wilful mischief, and are merely increasing the dangers and
difficulties of that sorting which is inevitable. In cities house
refuse should be collected every day, and the sorting should be done
at once by the collector, with the intelligent co-operation of the
householder. Things dissimilar in nature should never be mixed. The
first division is into putrescible and non-putrescible, and the former
should be sent forthwith to the farmer to be dug into the ground.
The non-putrescible refuse—glass, crockery, cinder, ash, metal—if
sorted and temporarily stored in bins, would probably pay the cost of
its collection and removal, and might perhaps yield a slight return.
A great deal of the non-putrescible refuse might be of use to the
sanitary authority on the spot for making foundations for paths and
roads, or for scattering on the streets in slippery or frosty weather.
Ash (not cinder) beneath the gravel on a garden path gives in time a
firmness and stability which are remarkable. Whether it would work in
with the macadam in road-making, and cause a similar improvement in
the road, I do not know. It is difficult to understand why it should
not do so. Non-putrescible refuse is not a danger to health, and it is
certain that a great deal of it might be used for various purposes by
the sanitary authority.
This immediate sorting is only possible when such materials are
collected every day and the bulk is small.
It seems to me that much of our municipal scavenging is too
magnificent, and that it is often inefficient in proportion to its
magnificence. The nimble boys who collect the street droppings
and store them in bins which contain nothing but the valuable and
marketable manure are the type of what is good. The showy Clydesdale
slowly dragging the most lumbering cart conceivable filled with an
unmarketable mixture is the type of what is bad.
Farmers are shy of taking London sweepings, because, as one told me,
'they send such stuff.' All organic refuse is good for the land, but
the farmer wants it in a form which does not hinder tillage. Pieces of
oil-cloth, hamper lids, dead dogs and cats, and old tin canisters, are
a nuisance to the farmer, and a very slight admixture of such things
spoils the practical value (a different thing to theoretical value) of
the manure which is mixed with them.
The sanitarian who loses sight of classification, and who, in his
eagerness for a big scheme, is neglectful of details, has not mastered
the elements of his trade.
The only rational treatment for excremental matters is immediate
superficial burial, with a view to the production of crops, as detailed
in 'Rural Hygiene.' It is to be hoped that, with this object in view,
some municipality will purchase a tract of land and endeavour to give
the poor an object-lesson on the right use of refuse. If convenient
access to such a farm by means of canal, river, or railway siding
could be obtained, it would make little difference whether it was
two or twenty miles from the town, but the nearer the land is to the
houses the better. Such a farm must be hand-tilled, and, if skilfully
hand-tilled, would certainly produce as much food as a market-garden.
It would employ an enormous amount of labour, and would at least pay
its labour bill. I am not advocating that such a farm should be used
as a playground for the semi-criminal, semi-imbecile, and generally
incompetent class who go to form the 'unemployed'; for the trade
of agriculture, to be successful, demands both skill and energy.
The 'unemployed' should be set to stone-breaking, street sweeping,
dung-collecting, road picking and ramming, and scavenging generally,
under the eye of foremen in town, and then, if found worthy, they might
be exported to the farm.
[Illustration: Fig. 29.—Arrangement for Small Tenements.]
[Illustration: Fig. 30.—Section A-A.]
Figs. 29 and 30 are intended to show the plan and section of a group
of the smallest town tenements, with a scavenger's alley between them
and the three gutters, two closed at both ends, to be filled with
absorbent material to collect the urine, and one to be filled with
non-absorbent material to filter and aërate the slop-water, which
should always flow in open channels when practicable. The 'scavenger's
alley' should be protected by gates. It is thought that the excrement
would be primarily collected in comparatively small vessels, like
garden water-tanks upon wheels. The excrement having been allowed to
drain before collection, and being in a semi-dry, sticky condition,
would have no tendency to slop about during a journey, and in a covered
vessel such as I have described might be sent any distance without
danger or offence. Arrived at the farm the tank would be transferred
to a second pair of wheels, and by being tilted would easily deposit
its contents in a furrow previously made in the ground with a spade.
The tank should be dried and lime-whitened and returned to the town,
and three days after the deposit of the excrement in the ground, plants
of the cabbage order should be dibbled in. Cabbages and their allies
are the only plants which really flourish in the fresh material; but
after the cabbage crop has been harvested any garden crop may be grown,
and it will be found that the fertility of ground treated as I have
suggested is very great and very persistent.
The best method of treating kitchen waste and putrescible refuse, such
as cabbage leaves and the trimmings of vegetables, &c., is to throw
all together into a heap enclosed by a circle of wire netting. In the
course of a few months complete humification will take place.