184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



sauds of barrels of flour yearly come down the Erie canal, into 

 New England, and pass through the alimentary canal into the 

 vault, we should suppose poudrette would be specially adapted 

 for raising wheat ; but of this we have had no experience. A 

 prejudice exists in the minds of some against the use of night 

 soil, arising from its odor, and a fear prevails that its presence 

 in the soil will taint the growing crop. Nature's laboratory is 

 too skilfully managed to give any occasion for such apprehen- 

 sion. Every pile of manure is a mass of filth and is full of 

 disgusting odors, but placed in the soil, the living plant sepa- 

 rates and sublimates the particles, with a skill which distances 

 all science, and returns them to us, glowing with life, beauty 

 and fragrance, every Avay adapted to supply the wants of man 

 and the inferior animals. Tiiis resurrection of these vile parti- 

 cles, so purified, is analogous to the resurrection of which Paul 

 speaks : " It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 

 body ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." 



Much night soil is wasted by not frequently coating the vault 

 with some absorbent. Economy and health alike demand that 

 this should be done. In warm weather especially it decomposes 

 rapidly, and the gases, noxious to man but vital to the plant, 

 pass oft' abundantly, unless retained by some absorbent. A fre- 

 quent sprinkling of plaster or charcoal dust will save this waste. 

 Muck, sods, sand or any soil will answer for an absorbent, and 

 will serve as a deodorizer, so that the contents of the vault can 

 be removed with less discomfort. 



Another neglected source of manure is the hennery. We 

 send vessels around Cape Horn to import the deposits of the 

 birds on the Pacific islands, but think lightly of the equally val- 

 uable deposits of our domestic fowls. Distance lends enchant- 

 ment to the view of guano on the Chinchas, while the home-made 

 article seems too homely to be noticed. Fowls are high livers. 

 Their bill of fare is meat and vegetables for tlie first course, 

 grain for the second, and fruits for dessert. Their excrements 

 are therefore rich, abounding in urate of ammonia and phos- 

 phate of lime, the two most valuable substances in manure. If 

 exposed to winds and weather, much of the value vanishes into 

 thin air. It doubtless comes back to the earth again in the 

 rains and dews ; but is more likely to fall on some neighboring 

 farm or State than on the land of its rightful owner. It is not 



