196 VALUE OF LIQUID MANURE. 



in the United States ; add to this thirty millions of 

 human beings, and, at a low estimate, the value of 

 their liquid manure is worth one hundred millions 

 of dollars annually. It has been said that that of 

 Great Britain would, if saved, pay her whole in- 

 ternal tax. What an addition would this be to the 

 farming capital of our country ! 



The waste of valuable manurial substances in this 

 country is enormous ; but, as it increases in popula- 

 tion, more regard will probably be paid to it. The 

 soil of China is forced to produce bread for such a 

 teeming multitude, that no fertilizer is allowed to 

 waste which can enrich the land. The Madras 

 Almanac for 1841 says : " Most of the individuals 

 met in the paths of the fields are provided with a 

 basket and rake ; and every evening the cottager 

 brings home a certain quantity to add to the dung- 

 heap, which is a most important appendage to every 

 dwelling. Having but few sheep and cattle, they 

 are obliged to make the most of the stercoraceous 

 stock of men and swine. This is carefully collected, 

 and actually sold at so much per pound ; while 

 whole strings of scavengers may be seen cheerily 

 posting into the country every successive morning 

 with their envied acquisitions, little heeding the 

 olfactory nerves of the less interested passengers. 

 Every other substance likely to answer the end is 

 anxiously collected, and carefully disposed, so as to 

 provide for future exigencies. Decayed animal and 



