CITY REFUSE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5515, 29 November 1878, Page 2

CITY REFUSE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, —Dirt, it has been happily said, is only matter in the wrong place. The question of finding the right place in which to deposit the city refuse has been much discussed her", and is, from peculiar physical circumstances, difficult to settle. The refuse properly treated forms a valuable manure ; mixed with clay, which has the property of a deodorizer, it has been beneficially applied to light soils, but the work of preparation cannot be carried on in the'immeaiate vicinity of a city without great annoyance to the people and danger to the public health. To take the refuse out to sea in barges would be at once wasteful and expensive. The cost of carrying it out to sea might suffice to carry it by railway to the land in the country which would be benefited by its application. I venture to suggest for consideration the plan of sending the refuse away to the Wairarapa, or to some intermediate point on the line, where it could be treated in the proper manner, and prepared for use by the farmers. Tho scheme is not new, it has been tried with success in older places. A properly constructed and close tank waggon for the railway, and a siding to a carefully selected site at a distance from any centre of population, are the requisites. It has in some places I believe happened that the removal of the refuse has not been a serious charge to the municipality, as contractors have been found to undertake the work on easy terms, a profit being got from the sale of the manure.— I am, &c., X, Wellington, November 28.