USELESS HEAPS.

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16654, 20 November 1925, Page 2

USELESS HEAPS.

A LANCASHIRE EXPERIMENT.

“It was a philosopher of Brobdingnag who observed that ‘whoever could make two blades of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together,” says the Daily Telegraph. “Swift’s wise man would have delighted in the Lancashire coal-owners who have made crops to -grow where nothing grew before, and have also removed a public nuisance.- The mining district of South Lancashire is dotted with great mounds of refuse from the pits. "Large stretches of what might be arable’ land are occupied with these useless heaps, which are -unpleasant alike to the eye and to the nose. It occurred to a public-spirited firm at Atherton that something might be done. Merely to level the heaps would not suffice; it would only enlarge the desert area.

“The firm, therefore, decided to remove the top layer of soil from certain fields-, spread the pit refuse evenly to a good depth, and then replace the soil. They have dealt in this way with about fifty acres of land, and they are well satisfied with the results. The land is now under the plough, and is yielding good crops, while the whole appearance of the district has been greatly improved. “For this- Atherton experiment proves that our mining districts need not ho hideous, .and that the obnoxious waste heaps may not only be levelled, but turned to good account. What lias been done in Atherton can be done and should be done, in many other, places, and the saddest spots in the Black Country need not be regarded as Irreclaimable’. It .will cost money, but Hie money would be well spent, and there is an abundance of unemployed labour that might he turned on to I lie task. “in Hie near future, when factories are driven by electricity from central power-stations and the smoke-cloud is iiflcd from the industrial districts, even the Black Country may be green once more.”