IRRIGATION. 167 



from an acre, and for what length of time ? &quot; To which he 

 replied, &quot; Four horses in a straw yard consumed in one day 

 seven yards by five and a half of the Italian rye grass, having 

 no other food, and not being in work, but running loose in the 

 yard at their own pleasure.&quot; The answer, I am aware, is indefi 

 nite, because the condition of the grass and the actual weight 

 gathered at the time of cutting are not given ; yet the fact is 

 worth something as the foundation of a conjectural estimate. 

 My readers may be curious to know the army allowance for 

 a horse of dry feed per day 14 Ibs. of hay, 10 Ibs. oats, 7 Ibs. 

 straw, each horse ; with hard work, less hay and more corn ; with 

 little work, less corn and more hay. 



But more important than any thing else is the illustration 

 which these results give of the extraordinary value of urine as 

 manure. I asked Mr. Dickenson if he would add the solid 

 manure, if it were at hand ; to which he replied, &quot;No.&quot; 



This is a very homely subject, I am aware ; but it is one of 

 the most important in the whole range of agricultural inquiry. 

 In cities, it essentially concerns decency, cleanliness, and health ; 

 arid I have yet to learn that to a mind with its moral taste not 

 depraved, and not cursed by a habit of vile associations, there is 

 any thing indecent in speaking of any of the processes of nature, 

 which are all recuperative, wonderful, and beneficent. &quot; Honi 

 soit qui maly pense&quot; Neither in Boston, New York, Philadel 

 phia, nor indeed in any other city in the United States, have I 

 known any systematic attempt to save the sewerage water for 

 agricultural purposes ; and yet I believe, at a very small expense 

 a vast amount of the urine might be collected and carried out 

 of the city by the neighboring farmers, without offence to any 

 body, and with very great public and private advantage. I be 

 lieve that, in many cases, it might, with a little pains, be collected 

 from private and public houses, from stables, and from public 

 urinals established in different parts of the city, which are very 

 much wanted in the great thoroughfares, on grounds of health 

 and comfort as well as decency ; and that the farmers, who are 

 now in the habit of buying solid manure, at the stables of the 

 city, at very heavy prices, would find even a much greater advan 

 tage in removing the liquid manure, after proper arrangements 

 for its collection and removal should have been made. A very 

 high authority states that &quot;human urine is particularly rich m 



