376 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6 



ry seasons, it will ripen about the same time. As 

 to its yield in iiour, f cannot speak, not liaving 

 had any jrround, but jiidtre fi-om the appearance 

 of the nrain, that it will not make as fair flour, as 

 any of the white varieties of wheat, but that it 

 wiil yield flour, in quantity and quality, equal to 

 the bearded winter wheat, or any of the red 

 wheat common amongst us. In answer to the 

 query, '-whelher the irrain can be advantageously 

 substituted, in whole or in part, for the coiimion 

 winter wheat," — I have no hesitation in saying, 

 that it should not be substituted in whole, but tliat 

 I am of opinion that it may be advantageously 

 substituted in pari. I think that corn land is the 

 best preparation, and that all, or so much of it, as 

 cannot be well preparetl, and sowed in <rood time 

 with winter wheat, should be reserved for this 

 crop. Every ll^rmer will at once see how much 

 such an arrangement would relieve him in his fall 

 labors, and with what ease, and how handsomely 

 he could prepare his corn land for a spring crop, 

 by removing the stalks o(f the land at his leisure 

 in the winter to the barn-yard. 



Your last query is, whether I have seed to dis- 

 pose of I have raised mure than I wish to sow 

 — but many persons have made application lor 

 seed, and until they call and receive what has 

 been promised, I am unable to say how much 

 I will have to spare. 



It is my desire to dispose of it in small parcels, 

 and to spread it as widely as possible, believing 

 as I do, that it will be a valuable crop, particular- 

 ly in situations, and on land subject to injury 

 from the action of the frost. I believe I have an- 

 swered all your queries, in a hasty and imperfect 

 way to be sure ; but I hope, that as other farmers 

 in tile neighborhood have tried the same crop, 

 they will, through your paper, favor us witli their 

 experience and views, and thus any omission of 

 mine wiil be supplied, or error into which I may 

 have fallen, corrected. 



Very respectfully, 



A. T. Barclay. 



P. S. I ought to have stated that the seed pro- 

 cured from the north, had in it a considerable 

 quantity of oats, and that I was not so particular 

 as some others, who sowed less, in picking them 

 out; consequently, there is still mixed with my 

 wheat, some oats, but not so miich as came in the 

 seed. 



A. T. B. 



From the New Yorit Farmer. 



ORIGIN OF THE MANUFACTURE OF " POU- 

 DRETTe" of the FILTH OF PARIS. 



I have read with much attention and pleasure, 

 the useful information contained in your late No., 

 relative to poadrette. In France it"^is an article of 

 great value, and a source of much profit to the 

 companies vested with the exclusive right (dispo- 

 sed of at auction) of cleaning the privies in laro-e 

 cities. 



Soriie sixty years ago, Paris was in a state of 

 shocking filthiness, and the police by no means as 

 well directed as at present. Fountains furnishing 

 throughout the day, streams of pure and fivsh wa"^ 

 ter— sewers of ample dimoiibions 6 li;et deeji and 



5 feet wide,) emptyin^r into the river; companies 

 appointed to sweep and clean the streets every 

 evening before ten o'clock, and to make a proper 

 disposition of the manure, were not then in exis- 

 tence. The streets were narrow and badly light- 

 ed, and that part of Paris, yet called the city*, 

 would give but an imperlect idea of what the vviiole 

 metropolis was before the revolution. 



M. Boursault, who had been unsuccessful on 

 the stage of' one of our minor liieatres, was the 

 first man who entertained the idea of regulating 

 and improving the administration of this depart- 

 ment of the police, lie solicited from the Corpo- 

 ration the use of a piece of ground, where the dai- 

 ly produce of the cily might be deposited until con- 

 verted into good manure, his plan, being founded 

 upon free ventilation and action of thesun, requir- 

 ed a iarije space of ground. He vvas authorised to 

 use the Petit Pantin better known as Mont Fau- 

 coa, and that place has since been the rendezvous 

 of all manuliictories of dangerous and disagreeable 

 nature, horse and dog slaugliter houses, &c. 



For several years M. Boursault carried on his 

 business to the general satisfaction, and to the ben- 

 efit of" agriculture, lie made an immense fortune 

 which he used nobly. * # * * 



If the Corporation thought it just and fair that 

 he who had lieen a benefactor to the city should 

 be allowed to enjoy the profit of the business he 

 had so well organized, it was reasonable that his 

 profit should not pass entire to his successors, and 

 since JV'l. Boursault has left the management of 

 the general cleansine of' Paris, it is every year 

 given to the highest bidder as you term it, and is 

 not left to adventurers as the Editor of the Farm- 

 ers' Register states. 



But as in society we constantly aim at perfec- 

 tion, the process which has been found so useful 

 for 40 years, has become insufficient, and a posi- 

 tive nuisance. While the Corporation looks f()r 

 another and more remote location, science has been 

 consulted for a process that would dispense with 

 so many reservoirs, the emanations of which are 

 very disagreeable, if not dangerous, and even in- 

 jurious to the manure prepared. 



Long ago, M. Cliajilal endeavored to remedy 

 the mode of evaporation in the sun; but the sug- 

 gestions, of that great chemist were then only 

 pursued in their application to the arts and manu- 

 faclures, while his ideas on agriculture, though 

 considered good and advantageous, were not so 

 generally admitted into practice. But the benefits 

 of 20 years peace, and the ffeneral improvement 

 have set many minds to work, and Chaptal will be 

 found once more a benefactor of mankind. 



You are perfectly correct Mr. Editor, when you 

 say that a French chemist has found in a vegeta- 

 ble matter, the means of drying and pulverizing 

 in a few iiours, tlte contents of privies. The con- 

 tracts that exist between the Corporation of Paris 

 and the bidders of the general cleansing of the ci- 

 ty, prevent the immediate applicadon of the pro- 

 cess — but as no such obstacle exists in New York, 

 I think you deserve credit, encouragement and 

 protection, for your eflbrts to found in your city so 

 desirable an establishment, in which I wish you 

 complete success. 



* Tlie reader may form some notion of tliis Parisian 

 "Five Points" when it is recollected, that it was built 

 before carriajjes were in use. 



