THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Vol. VI. 



MAY 1, 1838. 



No. ^. 



EDMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



NEW DISCOVKRY IN MAKING MANUUK. 



To Ihc Editor of Bell's (London) Weekly M.'ssonger. 



Corner of Half- Moon Street, Picadilly, > 

 London, December 30, 1837. $ 



Sir— I beii to hiuid you a copy of a prospectus 

 relative to anew manure, which I drew up in the 

 course of last sprinij, by the requet^t of the Earls 

 of Leven ami Melville, from the Report of the 

 Committee of the Academy of Ao-riculture at Pa- 

 ris, and from the ceriificaies given to the inventor 

 by Ihirty-eio'ht large landed proprietors in France, 

 testifying tiie value of his invention. 



Lord Leven considered, and in which opinion I 

 had the honor to concur, that the best mode ot 

 giving the benefit of the discovery to the British 

 itarme'r would be, for a committee to be formed for 

 the purpose of collectinga subscription sufficient to 

 defray !\]. Jautl'ret's expenses to this country, for 

 the purpose of his making experiments before 

 some person appointed for the occasion. 



That an agreement should be entered into with 

 M. Jaud'retilhat should his invention answer the 

 description given of it, that he should communi- 

 cdte the secret by which he eOected the operation, 

 for a sum ol" money previously agreed upon, and 

 that experiments should be made with the manure 

 under diH'erent circumstances, as to soil, &c. to as- 

 certain its relative value with regard to other ma- 

 nures, taking all things into consideration. 1 

 have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient ser- 

 vant, 



HUMPHREY GIBBS, 



Honorary Secretary of the Smithfield Club. 



Prospectus of a process for ohtamin^ cheap and 

 valuable Manure, without the aid of Cattle, in- 

 vented by M. Jauffret, of Aix. 



A method has been discovered in France, of 

 making manure as it may be wanted, without cat- 

 tle, in twelve days, and with great economy, as 

 appears I'rom a report maile to the committee of 

 the Academy of Agriculture at Paris, by M. Cha- 

 telain, its secretary, who, with M. Cailleau. presi- 

 dent of that committee. JNl. de la Gerandiere, pre- 

 sident of the Academy of Agriculture of Blois, and 

 the Marquis de Saint Croix, were appointed to ex- 

 amine into the merits of M. Jauffret^s invention. 



These gentlemen report "that by a cheap wash 

 or lye, the ingredients of which are to be fbnnd in 

 all places, and which every cidtivatorcan make on 

 his own land, all sorts of herbaceous and ligneous 

 substances, such as heather, furze, brambles, and 

 even the living dogstooth, can be put into a state of 

 rapid lermentation, and not only these substances, 

 but even earth itself, be its nature what it may, 

 can be converted into a valuable manure. 



''That the manure produced by this new system, 

 is quite as valuable as the best horse-liller; its ef- 

 fects are visible upon several successive crops, and 

 it can be obtained with perfect facility, at pleasure. 



"That M. Jaull'ret suiii)iied the committee with 

 Vol. VI— 9 



numerous and undeniable proofs of experiments, 

 ranging over a period of nine years, in five com- 

 munes of the department ot the Bouches-du- 

 Rhone, in which trials were made upon an exten- 

 sive scale, on different kinds of soils, and on va- 

 rious seeds, plants, and trees. The success of 

 those trials surpassed the most sanguine expecta- 

 tions, as has been attested, 1st, by the Academy 

 of Aix, (annual public session 1885, at 88 and fol- 

 lowing |)ages of the 'Report'); 2d. by the circular of 

 ihe prelect of the Bouches-du-Rhone; 8d, by 38 

 certificates* from most respectable inhabitants and 

 farmers of that department, founded upon repeat- 

 ed experiments made by themselves; and 4tli, by 

 the declaration of well-informed proprietors of the 

 department of Vaucluse, who lor years have atten- 

 tively watched the trials of the Jaufi:'ret manure. 



"That in order to convince themselves more 

 thoroughly on the subject, the committee wrote, 

 unknown to M. Jauffret, to some individuals who 

 were most distinguished by their agricultural sci- 

 ence, and who had given certificates to the inven- 

 lor, and that their replies, which are annexed to 

 the report, are of so satisfactory a nature, as to 

 leave no doubt on the minds of the committee of 

 the importance of the discovery. f 



* A printed copy of these certificates may be seen at 

 Messrs. Thomas Gibbs &. Co., seedsmen and nursery- 

 men to the Hon. Board of Agriculture of England, and 

 to the Board of Agriculture of Sweden, corner of Half- 

 Moon street, Picadilly, London. 



t Mons. Gauthier de Vancluse, who is about to pub- 

 lish a new Atlas of Agriculture, says, (in print at Mar- 

 seilles, 1832) "M. Jautfret, an intelligent farmer and 

 acquaintance of mine, possesses exclusively the val- 

 uable power of converting, in less than a weeii, all 

 vegetable substances, whether dry or not, into dung 

 of good quality, without spreading them as litter, or 

 even submitting them to the tread of cattle. The 

 change is effected, as if by enchantment, by means of 

 a lye, with which he sprinkles the straw, herbs, 

 leaves, plants of all kinds, even woody stalks of a fin- 

 ger's thickness, previously dividing them to a certain 

 extent by a very ingenious operation. Such is the ac- 

 tion of the lye, that forty-eight hours after the matters 

 are heaped, their iermentation becomes, as it were vol- 

 canic; volumes of smoke announce the decomposition 

 at a considerable distance; and a poor and spent soil 

 may, without delay, receive, in the form of an excel- 

 lent manure, that which a week before could have 

 done nothing towards rescuing it from a state of ex- 

 haustion." 



Like all other interesting discoveries, this has been 

 the subject of fierce attack; bul experience has vindi- 

 cated the inventor. Following the example of many 

 landed proprietors, I determined upon making trial of 

 this important manure, and I declare it equal to that of 

 well-fed horses. M. Jauffret asserts that he can at 

 pleasure increase the dose, and even confer all proper- 

 ties required by the nature of the soil on which he 

 uses it. 



One single horse-cart load of straw, or other dry 

 material, produces more than two of ffood dung. The 

 invtntor charges 5 francs (2s. 6d.) for each cart load : 

 probably, to those who should etfect the operation 

 themselves, the expense would be diminished by one- 

 half. 



The advantages^of such a process are incalculable. 



