MANAGEMENT OF NIGHT-SOIL. 169 



Other instances are on record, some of which will not bear very close 

 scrutiny. 



It may be said that Herbert, whose work was referred to in the lecture, 

 held that genera can never be crossed. He believed, that, in all cases 

 where a hybrid results from plants of two so-called genera, the very fact 

 of fertility proves that the two plants should be assigned to the same 

 genus. 



The orders in which hybrids are most readily formed are the follow- 

 ing : Liliacese, Iridacese, Nyctaginacege, Lobeliacese, Solanacese, Scrophu- 

 lariacese, Gfesneriaceje, Primulacese, Ericaceae, Ranunculacese, Passiflora- 

 ceae, Cactaceae, Caryophyllacea3, Malvaceae, Gerauiaceae, Onagraceae, 

 Rosaceae. 



The orders not inclined to yield hybrids are Framineae, Urticaceae, 

 Labiatae, Convolvulaceae, Polemoniaceae, Saxif ragaceae, Papaveraceae, Cru- 

 ciferae, Hypericaceae, Papilionaceae. 



The genera of the same order behave very differently in respect to ease 

 of hybridization; thus Dianthus species cross readily, those of Silene 

 with difficulty. (Nageli, p. 401.) 



B. See a paper by Maximowicz on the Influence of Foreign Pollen on 

 the Form of the Fruit Produced, Journal Royal Horticultural Society, 

 1873, p. 161. 



C. The very valuable paper by Naudin is given in English in the 

 Journal Royal Agricultural Society, 1866, pp. 1-9. 



THIRD DAY. 



The morning session began at half-past nine o'clock. 



Capt. Moore called the meeting to order, and introduced as 

 the chairman for the day O. B. Hadwen, Esq., of Worcester. 



The CHAiE:MA]sr. Gentlemen, the subject for the morning 

 is the management of night-soil ; and a paper furnished by 

 Gen. N. N. Halsted of Newark, N.J., will be read by the 

 secretary. 



THE MANAGEMENT OF NIGHT-SOIL. 



BY GEN. N. N. HALSTED. 



" Whatever may be its constitution and physical properties, 

 land yields lucrative crops only in proportion as it contains 

 an adequate quantity of organic matter in a more or less ad- 

 vanced state of decomposition." These words were uttered 

 more than thirty years ago by no less an authority than the 

 celebrated I. B. Boussingault. In the experience of scien- 

 tific agriculture of to-day, they amount to a truism, and yet 



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