136 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No 3 



increased products lliat would be obUiined: but in- 

 dependent of ilmt considerrtlion, the manures 

 there applied would he prevented from ei=<',apin<i: 

 into the air — and heiny wholly retained by the ?oil, 

 ranch smaller applications would serve. The 

 level streets ou<fht also to he sjirinkled with marl, 

 and as oi'ien as circumstances miixlit require. The 

 various putrescent matters usiually left in the 

 streets of a town, alone serve to make the mud 

 scraped Ironi them a valuable manure; lor the 

 principal part of the bulk oi' street nsud is compo- 

 sed merely of the barren clay brou<:;ht in ufjon 

 the wheels of wagons irom the country. Such a 

 cover of calcareous earth would be the most efiec- 

 lual absorbent and preserver of putrescent matter, 

 as well as the cheapest mode of kcepinir a town 

 ■ always clean. There would be less noxious or 

 offensive effluvia, than is generated in spite of all 

 the ordinary means of prevention ; and by scra- 

 ping up and removing the mail after it had combi- 

 ned with and secured enough oi' putrescent mat- 

 ter, a compost would be obtained Ibrlheuseof 

 the surrounding country, so rich and so abundant, 

 that its use would repay a large part, if not the 

 whole of the expense incurred in its production. 

 Probably one covering of marl for each year 

 would serve for most yards, &c. but if required 

 oftener, it would only prove the necessity ftr the 

 operation, and show the greater value in the re- 

 sults. 'I'he compost that miyht be obtained from 

 spaces equal to five hundred acres in a populous 

 town, would durably enrich thrice as many acres 

 of the adjacent cousitry: and alter twenty years of 

 such a course, the surroundin<i farms mitrht be ca- 

 pable of returning to the town a ten-lbld increas- 

 ed surplus product. Alter the qualities aud value 

 of" the manure so formed were t>roperly estimated, 

 it would be used lor farms that would be out of 

 reach of all other calcareous manures. Carts 

 bringing country produce to market, might, with 

 profit, carry back loads of this compost eight or 

 ten miles. The annual supply that the country 

 might be furnished with, would produce very dif- 

 ferent effects li-om the putrescent and fleeting ma- 

 nure now obtained fi'om the town stables. Of the 

 little durable benefit ]ieretoli)re derived from such 

 means, the appearance of the country ofiiers suffi- 

 cient testimony. At three miles distance fi'om 

 some of the principal towns in Virginia, more than 

 half the cultivated land is too poor to yield any 

 iarming profit. The surplus grain sent to market 

 js very inconsiderable — and the coarse hay fi'om 

 the wet meadows can only be sold to those who 

 feed horses belonging to other persons — and to 

 whom that kind of hay is the most desirable, that is 

 least likely to be eaten. 



But even if the waste and destruction of ma- 

 nure in towns were counted as nothing, and the 

 preservation of health, by keeping the air pure, were 

 the only object sought, still calcareous earth, as 

 presented by rich marl, would serve the purpose 

 far better than quicklime. It is true, that the 

 latter substance acts powerfully in decomposing 

 putrescent animal matter, and destroys its texture 

 and qualities so completely, that the operation is 

 commonly and expressively called -'burning" the 

 substance acted on. But to use a sufficient quan- 

 tity of quicklime to meet and decompose all pu- 

 trescent animal matter in a town, would be iniol- 

 erably expensive, and still mere objectionable in 

 iOther rejects. If' a cover of dry quicklime in 



powder was spread over all the surfaces requiring 

 it (or this purpose, the town would lie unfit to live 

 in; and the nuisance would be scarcely less, when 

 rain had changed the suffocating dust to an adhe- 

 sive mortar. Woollen clothing, carpets, and even 

 living flesh would be continually sustaining injury 

 from the contact. No such objections would at- 

 tend the use of mild calcareous earth; and this 

 could be obtained j)robably for less than one-fitih 

 of the cost of quicklime, supposing an equal quan- 

 tity of pure calcareous matter to be obtained in 

 each case. At this time the richest marl on James 

 River may be obtained at merely *he cost of dig- 

 ging, and its carriage by water, which if underta- 

 ken on a large scale, could not exceed, and pro- 

 bably would not equal three cents the bushel. 



The putrescent animal matters that would be 

 preserved and rendered innoxious by the general 

 marling of the site of a town, would be mostly 

 such as are so dispersed and imperceptible that 

 thev would otherwise be entirely lost. But all 

 such as are usually saved in jiart, would be dou- 

 filed in quantity and value, and deprived of their 

 offiMisive and noxious qualities, by being kept mix- 

 ed with calcareous earth. The importance of this 

 plan being adopted with the products of privies, 

 &c. is still greater in town than country. The 

 various matters so collected and combined should 

 never be ai'plied to the soil alone, as the salt de- 

 rived liom the kiictien, and the potash and soap 

 from the laundry, miirht be injurious in so con- 

 centrated a liirm. When the pit for receiving 

 this compound is emptied, the contents should be 

 spread over other and weaker manure, before 

 being applied to the field. 



Towns might furnish many other kinds of rich 

 manure, which are now lost entirely. Some of 

 these particularly require the aid of calcareous 

 earth to be secured from destruction by putrefiic- 

 faction, and others, though not putrescent, are 

 equally wasted. The blood of slaughtered ani- 

 mals, and the waste and rejected articles of wool, 

 hair, feathers, skin, horn and bones, all are manures 

 of great richness. We not only give the flesh of 

 dead animals to infect the air, instead of using it 

 to fertilize the land, but their bones, which might 

 be so easily saved, are completely thrown away. 

 Bones are composed of phosphate of lime and 

 gelatinous animal matter, and when crushed, form 

 one of the richest and most convenient manures 

 in the world. They are shipped in quantities 

 from the continent of Europe, to be sold for ma- 

 nure in England. The fields of battle have been 

 gleaned, and their shallow graves emptied, for this 

 purpose: and the bones of the ten thousand Brit- 

 ish heroes who fell on the field of Waterloo, are 

 now performing the iess glorious, but more useful 

 purpose of producing, as manure, bread for their 

 brothers at home. 



There prevails a vulgar but useful superstition, 

 that there is "bad luck" in throwing into the fire 

 any thing, however small may be its amount or 

 value, that can serve lor the food of any living an- 

 imal. It is a pity that the same belief does not 

 extend to every thing tliat, as manure, can serve to 

 feed growing plants — and that even the parings of 

 nails and clippings of beards are not used (as in 

 China) in aid of this object. However small 

 each particular source might be, the amount of all 

 the manures that might be saved, and which are 

 now wasted, would add incalculably to the usual 



