In the early 1970's I read an article by a state department envoy to
Afghanistan who was served a fresh green salad. During the meal he noticed
that, while he and his family were enjoying this greatly, the rest of the
table ate it sparingly. The hostess explained later that green salad was
considered a delicacy because the soil and water in that area had been
heavily contaminated by the use of night soil for generations. As a result,
lettuce grown locally had to be soaked in bleach twice and then rinsed
several times and crisped in sterilized ice water.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Denis Gojak [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 7:03 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Don't drink the water or eat the produce
>
> Dear everyone enjoying their New years' dinners and Christmas
> leftovers,
>
> Dan W wrote [optimistically] "I have a feeling they were smart enough
> not to spread the "honey" on their veggie garden and there were plenty
> of other crops that were not consumed by humans or immediately by
> livestock."
>
> There is excellent  support for systematic purchasing of the untreated
> contents of cesspits and privies by the market gardeners of Sydney in
> the 1870s.  A Commission examining Sydney's sanitation and water supply
> needs documented that the cartel of night soil contractors in the city
> sold the material to the market gardeners on the suburban fringes, who
> used it untreated.  The city health inspector noted that it was usually
> full of old shoes, tins and bottles, although he neglected to be excited
> about its archaeological potential.  He got far more worked up about the
> prospect of it contributing to the food cycle.
>
> In Sydney's case the market gardens were generally located on low lying
> sandy soils of limited fertility and structure, so  manure from whatever
> source was needed.  The most common other source of manure was street
> sweepings from carriage and draught horses, but that is not a
> particularly good growing medium for vegetables.  Cow manure would be
> preferred but would have been extrememly expensive to collect when on
> the open range.   Survey of these gardens shows the usual range of 19th
> to mid 20th century artefacts in high density across the garden beds.
> The known ethnicity of the occupants in this time range included
> Germans, Cornish, Irish and Chinese, all of whom seem to have used the
> stuff.
>
> Now, back to the frittata.
>
> Denis Gojak
>
>
>
>
> ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
> Denis Gojak
> Heritage Asset Manager
> planningNSW
> 2-10 Wentworth Street
> Parramatta NSW 2150
> PO Box 404 Parramatta 2124
> Ph:    +61 2 9895 7940
> Fax:   +61 2 9895 7946
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 01/02 10:34 am >>>
> Jim Bowles wrote:
> >All these privy practices that've been posted have not mentioned
> Bacillary
> >dysentery .. spread by fecal contamination of food and water .. common
> where
> >sanitation is poor.
>
>
> Nobody said they survived 100% or that they knew what they were doing
> when
> they placed the privies.  I have a feeling they were smart enough not
> to
> spread the "honey" on their veggie garden and there were plenty of
> other
> crops that were not consumed by humans or immediately by livestock.
>
> The 18th and 19th century farmers and builders sure knew what
> dysentery
> was, the death certificates and news accounts attest to that, but did
> they
> know its source?  They eventually figured it out to be water-borne, but
> the
> dysentery bacillus was not even identified until the 1890s.
>
> Heck it was only in the 1870s when someone first suggested that
> doctors
> should wash their hands between patients.  Microbes was the word
> before
> that and they had no clue how to control them.
>
>         Dan W.