1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



155 



trous aciil is a eras, it must pass ofl" into the air, 

 uiKlerori.iinan,'ciiTiiriis1unoos, as llist as it»is t'orm- 

 eii, and bo cii'tirely lost. JJut as it is strongly at- 

 tractod l)y linio, it was supposed that a cover of 

 calcareous earlii would arrest it, and form a new 

 comliinafion, whirh, il'not precisely nitrate oflime, 

 woulil at least be coin[)osed of the same elements, 

 thouirh in diti'erent proportions. To ascertain 

 whether any such combination had taken place, 

 when the manure was used, a handful of the marl 

 was taken, which iiad been in inmiediate contact 

 with the carcass, and thrown into a glass ol' hot 

 water. Alter remaining lialf an hour, the fluid 

 was poured otf, tillered, and evoporated, and left a 

 considerable proportion of a white soluble salt 

 (supposed eight or ten grains). 1 could not ascer- 

 tain its kind— but it Avas not deliquescent, and 

 therefore could not have been the nitrate of lime. 

 The spot on which the carcass lay, was so strong- 

 ly impregnated by this salt, that it remained bare 

 of vegetation for several years, and until the field 

 was ploughed up forculiivation. 



But whatever were the products of fermenta- 

 tion saved by this e.'cperiment, the absence of all 

 offensive effluvia throughout the process sufficient- 

 ly proved that little or nothing was lost — as every 

 atom must be, when flesh putrefies in the open 

 air: and I presume that a cover of equal thick- 

 ness of clay, or sand, or any mixture of both, 

 without calcareous earth, would have had very 

 httle effect in arresting and retaining the aeri- 

 form products of putrefaction. All the circum- 

 stances of this experiment, and particularly the 

 good effect exhibited by the manure when put to 

 use, prove the propriety of extending a similar 

 practice. In the neighborhood of towns, or where- 

 ever else the carcasses of animals, or any other 

 animal substances subject to rapid and wasteful 

 fermentation, can be obtained in great quantity, 

 all their enriching powers might be secured, by 

 depositing then between layers of marl, or calca- 

 reous earth in any other form. On the borders of 

 the Chowan, immense quantities of herrings are 

 of^ten used as manure, when purchasers cannot 

 take off the myriads supplied by the seines. A 

 herring is buried under each corn-hill, and fine 

 crops are thus made, as far as this singular mode 

 of manuring is extended. But whatever benefits 

 may liave been thus derived, the sense of smelling, 

 as well as the known chemical products of the 

 process of animal putrcfiction, make it certain 

 that nine-tenths of all this rich manure, when so 

 applied, must be wasted in the air. If those who 

 fortunately possess this supply of animal manure, 

 would cause the fermentation to take place, and be 

 completed, mixed with and enclosed by marl, in 

 pits of suitable size, they would increase prodi- 

 giously both the amount and permanency of their 

 acting animal manure, besides obtaining the 

 benefit of the calcareous earth mixed with it. 



But without regarding such uncommon, or 

 abundant sources for supplying animal matter, 

 every farmer may considerably increase his stock 

 of putrescent manure, by using the preservative 

 power of marl; and all the substances that might 

 be so saved, are not only now lost to the land, but 

 eerve to contaminate the air while putretying, and 

 perhaps to engender diseases. The last consider- 

 ation is of most importance to towns, though 

 worthy of attention every where. Whoever will 

 make the trial, will be surprised to find how much 



putrescent matter may be collected from the dwel- 

 ling house, kitchen, and laundry of a I'amily ; and 

 which if accumulated (without mixture with cal- 

 careous earth,) will soon become so otiensive as to 

 prove the necessity of putting an end to the prac- 

 tice. Yet it must be admitted that when all such 

 matters are scattered about, (as is usual both in 

 town and country,) over an extended surface, the 

 same putrdaction must ensue, and the same nox- 

 ious effluvia be evolved, thouijh not enough con- 

 centrated to be very ofl'ensive, or even always per- 

 ceptible. The same amount is inhaled — but in a 

 very diluted state, and in small, though incesantly 

 repeated doses. But if mild calcareous earth in 

 any form (and fossil shells or marl present much 

 the cheapest,) is used to cover and mix with the 

 putrescent matters so collected, they will be pre- 

 vented Iroiri discharging offensive effluvia, and 

 preserved to enrich "the soil. A malignant ami 

 ever acting enemy will be converted to a friend 

 and benefactor. 



The usual dispersion and waste of such putres- 

 cent and excrementitous matters about a farm- 

 house, though a considerable loss to agriculture, 

 may take place without being very offensive to 

 the senses, or certainly injurious to health. But 

 the case is widely different in towns. There, un- 

 less great care is continually used to remove or 

 destroy filth of every kind, it soon becomes offen- 

 sive, if not pestilential. During the last summer 

 (1832) when that most horrible scourge of the 

 human race, the Asiatic cholera, was desolating 

 some of the towns of the United States, and all 

 expected to be visited by its fatal ravages, great 

 and unusual exertions were every where used to 

 remove and prevent the accumulation of filth, 

 which if allowed to remain, it was supposed would 

 invite the approach, and aid the effects of the pesti- 

 lence. The efforts made for that purpose served 

 to show what a vast amount of putrescent matter 

 existed in every town, and which was so rapidly 

 reproduced, that its complete riddance was impos- 

 sible. Immense quantities of the richest ma- 

 nures, or materials for them, were washed away 

 into the rivers — caustic lime was used to destroy 

 them — and the chloride of lime to decompose the 

 offensive products of their fermentation, when 

 that process had already occurred. All this 

 amount of labor and expense was directed to the 

 complete destruction of what might have given 

 fertility to many adjacent fields — and yet it served 

 to cleanse the towns but imperfectly, and for a 

 very short time. Yet the object in view might 

 have been better attained by the previous adop- 

 tion of the proper means tor preserving these pu- 

 trescent matters, than by destroying them. — 

 These means would be to mix or cover all accu- 

 mulations of such matters with rich marl, (which 

 would be the better for the purpose if its shells 

 were in small particles,) and in such quantity as 

 the effect would show to be sufficient. But much 

 the greater part of the filth of a town is not, and 

 cannot be accumulated; and from being dispersed, 

 is the most difficult to remove, and is probably the 

 most noxious in its usual course of lermentation. 

 This would be guarded against by covering thick- 

 ly with marl the floor of every cellar and stable, 

 back yard, and stable lot. Every other vacant 

 spaceshould be lightly covered. The same course 

 pursued on the ' gardens and other cultivated' 

 grounds, would be sufficiently compensated by the 



