Edward Haughton

“ I merely throw out this as a possible result of a new system of agriculture, that vegetable products will be found well suited both for the climate, as regards profit to the farmer, and to the health of the inhabitants, who, under the present artificial inducements to the rearing of cattle, and consequent cheapness of meat, eat a great deal too much of it, and neglect those more salutary productions which nature provides as the cheapest and best food for a dense population, many of whom are occupied in sedentary employments quite inconsistent with a stimulating diet. ”

“ Is it not evident that the present system of universal selfishness is one of universal destruction? No man is safe from typhoid diseases, while every large city in the empire is bisected by a current of the most unwholesome description. But I will be told there is no remedy for this state of affairs; people are doing the best they can, and must put up with inevitable evils! More is the pity! for it is quite clear that every extension of the present system makes matters inevitably worse! ”

“ To say that the present arrangement is better, in a sanitary point of view, than one in which sewage should be collected, is certainly a mistake, as there can be no doubt that such a mode of effecting this object might be adopted as would be greatly superior to the present plan. The third objection which may be urged, is the only one which seems to me to have any weight; it is, that we have not the wish to change our present expensive and unwholesome system, because it would be repulsive to our feelings to adopt any mode of collecting substances which we regard with disgust. ”

“ In a country so rich in peat as Ireland, the use of peat-charcoal at once suggests itself as an efficient agent both in deodorizing and increasing the usefulness of such sewage products as may be applied to agricultural purposes. It does not appear that small quantities of decaying matter are ever productive of any injurious effects when exposed to the breezes of heaven, or when mixed with the soil in even pretty large amount. ”

“ Were I a farmer or an architect, I might discuss the question of the relative superiority of different manures, or the kind of structures in which the more unpleasant kinds should be stowed; but my object is rather to draw attention to the advantages of making use of products which are not merely waste at present, but very destructive to human life under the existing system. ”

“ If it is no longer necessary to keep cattle in order to render arable farming profitable, it is quite plain that one great inducement to the breeding of cattle is removed; and would not that be injurious to Ireland as a grazing country? ”

“ Agriculturists must not rely on guano; its price at the present time, as compared with an earlier period, is already doubled, and no sensible man would entertain the idea of making the production of an entire country dependent on the supply of foreign manure." Liebig further shows that not only does guano exert a powerful influence upon the soil, by restoring the elements of which it has been spoliated, but that all its good qualities are possessed by human excrements, in addition to others which it is deficient in. ”

“ The field is to such men simply a cow that gives them milk, but which they would feed with its own flesh taken from its ribs; and the folly of such a proceeding would strike them only when the light shines through the hollow skeleton of their victim." "In the flesh and the produce of the field, we have for centuries supplied to the large towns the constituent elements of guano, and have never brought this guano back again, and we now send vessels to Chili, Peru, and Africa for this substance. ”

“ Every sewer which we construct pollutes some stream, every stream flows into some river, and every river sends up a pestilential exhalation, which decimates our population, by zymotic diseases, and sows the seed of future maladies in thousands who are unconscious of its immediate effects. ”

“ The manure obtained from them will be equal to the best guano, without having a more disagreeable odour, and the price obtained for it ought to leave a large margin for profit. There is only one principle which would appear necessary to insist on, in order to place the art of tillage on a sound foundation, viz., that the elements abstracted from the soil by the growth of corn and green crops, and the raising of cattle, must be restored to it in the shape of manure. ”

“ Baron Liebig has lately brought forward the idea of collecting the sewage of dwelling houses, which at present runs to waste, for the purpose of enriching soils that have been too much drawn upon by constant cropping, without a sufficient return being made in the shape of manure, or by allowing them to be fallow. The present system of sending to the antipodes for guano, at enormous expense, or keeping animals for the sake of farm-yard manure, are both liable to many draw backs ”

“ There is no other; and this will sufficiently account for the present condition of those countries whose wealth was devoured by the great metropolis of the ancient world, and the future condition of many, by which our great cities are now supplied, and whose sewers cast into the ocean a species of wealth which neither art nor science can restore when once suffered to run to waste. ”

“ Its value per ton is a question for chemical professors, but I think the authority of Liebig, on a purely chemical question, is at least worthy of the respect of every one connected with chemical science, whatever they may think of his practical deductions in its application to agriculture. Another class of objectors will admit the value of sewage, but say that there is no way of collecting it, and therefore it must be allowed to run to waste. To say that there are mechanical difficulties in the way of anything in this practical age is almost an absurdity ”

“ Now, it seems to me that there is a wide difference between keeping manure in proper receptacles, and diffusing it through the earth in an even manner, from allowing it to lie in close proximity to dwellings, or in the midst of a dense population. ”

“ No doubt the colonies of Great Britain are a great safeguard against famine, even were we at war with the whole world; but we should remember that we import enormous quantities of corn from many countries with whom we have not always friendly relations, and not a little flour from a neighbouring state, at present acting in a manner calculated to raise the suspicions of all her allies. ”

“ Now, it is true that the mode in which human ordure is collected in China would be utterly repulsive to Europeans, and inconsistent with our ideas of civilization; but it is by no means necessary to follow their example in every respect; surely we are not above taking a hint, when our understanding is convinced of the utility and reasonableness of any particular mode of cultivation, or social scheme of operations. ”

“ Ground would appear to be very dear in China, every yard being either under cultivation or applied to some useful purpose, so that no rest can be afforded to particular fields, nor are there enough of cattle kept to supply manure in any considerable quantity. ”

“ Would it not then be a desideratum to be able to raise enough of food without ever requiring a grain of corn from a foreign port? I believe that enough of vegetable produce might be raised for this purpose, and that men would be able to fight as well in time of need upon it as if fed upon animal diet. ”

“ I fully sympathize with this view of the subject, but at the same time I do not see any reason why those who can gain profit by an honest calling should not be permitted to benefit themselves and society by the collection and sale of what is now most injurious, and might be made most advantageous to the interests of mankind. ”

“ That which will operate most powerfully in blinding people's eyes will be the appeal to experience in favour of the existing state of things. In the words of Liebig—"So long as agriculturists derive from the spoliation of their own lands plentiful crops and a good income, there is no hope of the advent of a more rational system of husbandry. ”

“ Whatever objections may be suggested by the fastidiousness of amateur farmers, those whose daily bread depends on the profitableness of this calling will not hesitate about adopting such measures as may be clearly shown to be instrumental in producing large crops at small expense, and which will enable small capitalists to do a considerable amount of business without running into debt. ”

“ But the prodigious sewers now in process of construction are merely putting off the evil day a little longer, or rather destroying the salubrity of one neighbourhood for the benefit of those who can afford to pay for individual advantages ”

“ And common sense must, therefore, tell us that "the effect of individual manures must be judged of by the condition in which they leave the field." At present the large proprietor sends his grain and flesh for sale to the great centuries of consumption, and accordingly loses the conditions for their reproduction. ”

“ As, no doubt, all sorts of objections will be advanced against the adoption of any principle which tends to interfere with vested interests, it may be as well to notice in anticipation those which will have the greatest appearance of plausibility. ”

“ The more thoroughly and efficiently it is carried out, the worse are the results, because the system is fundamentally and radically unsound. This must be first admitted before any remedy is possible, for it is quite plain that a contrary idea would be fatal to any real improvement. ”