46 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



young forest trees^, growing from seed, as black walnut, wliite ash, sugar maple, 

 hickory, chestnut, Avhite wood, and others, and a smaller quantity of many 

 others which are not likely to prove of so much use for timber or ornament. It 

 also includes a good variety of young plants for samples of hedges, and quite a 

 lot of evergreens and other ornamental stock, samples of many of the rarer 

 shrubs of other parts of the country, also some which grew from seeds obtained 

 from the Kew gardens. It also includes a small quantity of young apple trees. 



THE VEGETABLE GAEDEif AXD SMALL FEUITS. 



The yield and quality of most varieties have been better than common. The 

 young curi-ant bushes have borne well and made a nice growth. Thej are 

 planted four feet apart each way, and have always been kept heavily mulched 

 with coarse litter. They now nearly cover the ground. In the spring we shall 

 extend the patch to one-fifth acre. The worm has not troubled the College 

 currants this season, although they have now for two years worked on the bushes 

 near the houses of two professors. We have Red Dutch, White Dutch, Cherry, 

 Victoria, Versailles, White Grape. The new asparagus bed has been consider- 

 ably enlarged, and will be still more next spring. Of strawberries, we raise about 

 twenty sorts : Wilson and Green Prolific for main crop, so far, in mixed rows. 

 In small quantity we have Charles Downing, Jucunda, Triomphe DeGand, 

 French, Emperor, Agriculturist, Downer's, Metcalf, Philadelphia, Wilder. Of 

 the last list named I have nothing much to say on our sandy loam. The Green 

 Prolific yields better than Wilson ; Colonel Cheeney has done nicely ; Michigan 

 very promising ; also Kentucky for late. 



CLOSETS. 



Several closets at the Agricultural College are built on ground slightly sloping, 

 with the back side toward the foot of the slope. jS'^o pits or holes are dug. 

 Along the back side are doors turned down horizontally and hung on hinges by 

 the upper edge. The doors usually hang down to the ground, but may be easily 

 raised to remove night soil when necessary. A small room in the same building 

 is filled, in dry time, with dry muck, loam, or dust from the road. Clay is bet- 

 ter than sand. Every day, or every other day, or twice a day, a small quantity 

 is shoveled into each closet. Copperas-water, lime, plaster, or other deodorizers, 

 are also used in addition to dry earth. Every fcAV weeks, or even once or twice 

 a year for a small family, the night soil is carted away to the compost heap. 



If cared for as above there is almost no unpleasant odor ; nor is it more dis- 

 agreeable to cart away than so much manure from a barnyard. The advantages 

 of some such mode are : The closets may be cheaply made and kept nearly 

 free from unpleasant odor ; they may consequently be placed much nearer the 

 house, or even connected with it ; there is no pestilential filth filtering into adja- 

 cent wells, or otherwise causing ' 'mysterious epidemics" in the family; the com- 

 post heap is increased in value. Something like this, or better than this, must 

 some day become the universal custom in all the best private houses, schools, 

 railway depots, and hotels. 



Slops from the kitchen can be run upon a heap of dirt which may be occa- 

 sionally shoveled over and changed after it has absorbed a good deal of filth. It 

 is then avcII worth removing to use as a fertilizer. It is better than running 

 underground into a pit Avliere tlie odors generally find some Avay of escape, often 

 into the kitchen, on account of some defect or stoppage of the pipes. 



The use of dry earth is vastly better than to Avash the filth into a scAver, 



