About the same date (end of 1897) about 13 acres of land was handed over to my management with sewage from the Royal Military and Staff Colleges at Sandhurst, about 8 miles distant from the Camp Farm, and, being
somewhat better land to begin with, this part now presents a very pretty example of what a small installation for about 1000 population may accomplish.
But it is worked as part and parcel of the Camp Farm, horses being sent out to Sandhurst from Monday to Saturday when required.
It is, perhaps, worthy of note that the reform of the Camp Farm was initiated in 1895 by the Secretary of State for War in a Liberal Ministry, and that it has weathered for seven years all the storms of Jingoism and the fashionable crazes for artificial sewage treatment.
Sir Buller’s period of command at Aldershot.
But whatever may be the rights or wrongs of General Sir Redvers Buller’s quarrel with the Press and the Government, his reputation as a practical agriculturist is undeniable, and while in command at Aldershot it was his custom to stroll over the Camp Farm on a Sunday afternoon, occasionally leaving a message with cowman or bailiff to warn me of anything he found amiss, for which I was very grateful, living as I do ten miles away. I am proud, therefore, to be able to publish the following letter from one who has shown that he is not to be influenced by complaisance to superior or inferior in expressing or modifying his opinions, and he writes as follows:—
17 Lowndes Square, S.W.
July 14, 1902.
My dear Jones,
I am delighted to hear that you are publishing a book about sewage treatment.
The sewage farms at Aldershot and the Royal Military College afford ample proof of what a sensible practical man can do. But it is not every one who knows what those farms were before you took charge of them, nor do I think that any one seeing them now could conceive their previous condition. It is to that I can testify; you have turned putrid sewage bogs into fertile fields. You will confer an immense benefit on the