In many households a separate receptacle is kept for what is known as “hog-wash,” containing waste-food, often in a foul and putrefying condition. In well-ordered households, except in hotels and similar establishments, there is no necessity for a “hog-wash” tub, and its presence argues wastefulness and carelessness. Food which cannot be eaten because it has “gone bad” should be burnt. Two forms of receptacle are used for house-refuse, an ash-pit or a dust-bin. An =ash-pit= is a fixed receptacle for the reception of house-refuse. In many towns the same receptacle is used for excreta. Then we have a privy or privy midden, according to size (see page 196). Ash-pits for household refuse alone should be small, so as not to hold more than a week’s refuse. No part should be below the ground level. The floor and walls should be lined with impervious smooth cement, and the ash-pit should have a hinged cover to keep out rain, and a door on one side to facilitate emptying. The ash-pit should be at least six feet distant from any wall of the house. Even the best constructed ash-pit is as much worse than a dust-bin, as a privy is worse than a pail closet. A fixed is always less easily cleansed than a movable receptacle. A =dust-bin= is usually made of galvanized iron with a tight-fitting lid. This receptacle can be kept clean, and can be carried without any transference to another tub direct to the cart. The =removal of house refuse= constitutes an important part of municipal work. In most towns it is carried out weekly, sometimes less frequently, while in some towns removal twice or three times a week is secured. A daily removal is carried out in a few towns, and this is by far the best plan, as decomposition and the dangers associated with it have then no chance of becoming serious. The house refuse should always be conveyed through the streets in covered carts. The =disposal of house refuse= constitutes a problem of increasing difficulty. Unfortunately in the suburbs of many towns it is deposited on low-lying land in disused quarries and brickfields. When land has been thus levelled, it often next appears as “an eligible building site.” A very common practice has been to excavate gravel and sand upon the site of proposed dwellings, and allow the excavation to be filled with dust-bin refuse. Before building on such a soil it is necessary to excavate down to the virgin earth, and to render it impervious by a layer of cement concrete.