Mayor Fred. W. Keller, South Bend, Indiana: “Some of this work was done several years ago. However, there was some objection on the part of taxpayers to it being hauled out of the city with municipal teams. It should be fairly profitable, but the farm and hogs should be owned by the city or the garbage disposed of to the concern that does own the hogs and farm and this done by receiving competitive bids. I make this latter suggestion in order to avoid criticism by taxpayers.”
Lawrence, Massachusetts, reports: “Those who have looked into this question contend that the city swill can be utilized to support a municipal piggery at considerable profit.”
In a recent report, the Iowa State College says of this method of disposal: “The only advantage which may be stated in favor of this method is that it probably costs less, under existing conditions about most of our cities, than any other available method.”
In one of its annual reports, the Massachusetts State Board of Health says: “It is objectionable and unsanitary in the extreme, as health authorities are constantly pointing out. Prominent among the objections to this method are the great nuisance it usually creates and the uncertainty of its operation.” The Board says epidemics among pigs create the uncertainty of operation. It also says that they are breeding places for flies and rats.
The Chicago Waste Commission’s comment on this method is that it is not applicable or desirable in a large city, except under inspection and for restricted private collection.
The New York Medical Journal reported that the garbage collected by Grand Rapids, at cost of $26,320, is taken by a contractor who last year paid 45 cents per ton and fed to hogs. It says that over 10,000 hogs are sold yearly at a value of $135,000 and that 2,400 tons of fertilizer are produced at a value of about $36,000.
Samuel A. Greeley, Sanitary Expert, says that 75 pigs are required to dispose of a ton of garbage per day. The equipment at the farm prescribed by him is: Tracks and cars for distributing the garbage along concrete feeding platforms; substantial and well-kept sleeping and warming pens; tanks for sterilizing garbage; apparatus for vaccinating pigs against cholera; a means of disposing of unconsumed garbage by burial or incineration and plenty of washing facilities. He further says: “There should be some method of sorting the garbage before feeding it to pigs so that the stale garbage may be discarded and buried or burned. Some places disinfect it by boiling in large caldrons before feeding. In such cases the cooked garbage is commonly used only as a base for the feed given to pigs. The method is a most profitable one and warrants consideration in small cities where isolated farm sites are available.”
Dumping on Land
It is the consensus of opinion in all reports and of all experts that this method is objectionable especially where there is a large quantity to be disposed of. A long haul is necessitated by the location of the dumps at a remote distance where the decomposition of any part of the refuse will not be offensive to neighboring property owners. When the garbage is deposited in sufficient quantity offensive odors due to fermentation and decomposition may create a nuisance. Unless special attention is given to the treatment of these dumps, this method will not be found desirable. A thorough mixing of garbage with ashes and rubbish will prevent the nuisance and the fires that are otherwise liable to occur, creating odors and nuisance from the smoke and unconsumed gases.
A report of the Iowa State College states that dumps where ashes and rubbish and other refuse are deposited are not only unattractive in appearance, but are detrimental to the health of those living in the immediate vicinity, and as a city grows, it usually becomes increasingly difficult to find locations where these dumps can be maintained without incurring the objections of those living in the neighborhood.