24 



-IHK FAKMEliS' REGISTEK 



which these mailers are eomeiimee managed 

 des<>rves no ligl)t ceiieurc. I knew a case in 

 wliicli, in ilie opinion ol his physicians, ihe iile of 

 a resjiectHlile iiniividual was a eacnfice lo one ol 

 these neirjigenlly manajred depot-iies made hy a 

 rieighhor in liis immediate vicinity. I do not 

 know wliy, in a civilized coa)muiiity, ilic puMic 

 have not an efjuai riglii to claim ih;it ilie air fcliall 

 not he needlessly corrupted, any more than the 

 wells in a neiglit)orliood poif^oned, whe'her it be 

 by the effluvia ol' some odious m aiure-heap or 

 the scarcely le^is disiJiusiinjr odors of i()t^)acco. 

 These phicts ol deposile, as niaittr ol pnhlic de- 

 cency, ouirht never, under any preit-nci', to be 

 permiiied tiy the hiirhway. By caidul manage- 

 ment of them in some suitable place on liie larm, 

 remote lioni the road and the divelling, this great 

 nuisance might be abaied. 



I am aware u|)on what a homely subject I have 

 fallen ; but I know how essentially it concerns 

 the larmer's interest and ihe (lublic healih. " Evil 

 be to him who evil thinks." I would advise a 

 I'astidious reader to pass over this whole chapter, 

 but that I .'ear il 1 did, as it happens wiili Ibrbid- 

 den passages in the classics in college, he would 

 think that lie owed it to himsell' lo determine on 

 the propriety of such advice, by first reading 

 with increased ailenlion what (he chapter con- 

 tained. 



Every advance in cleanliness is an advance in 

 civilization, a coniribuiion to health and an equal 

 help to good morals. The unfortunate beings 

 who live in cities, are doomed to inhale and ex- 

 hale the innumerable odors, wliich are there com- 

 mingled from cellars occasionally filled with bilge- 

 water, muddocks, which tlie receding tide has left 

 bare, common sewers, and broken gas-pipes. In 

 the country there is no apology lor allowing any 

 thing offensive on the premises. The farmers 

 who obtain the night-soil from cities, would find 

 an advantage in digginir a long and deep vault, 

 at least four feet in depth, walled up wiih stone 

 and plastered and floored so as to be made 

 thoroughly light, and having a close and movea- 

 ble covering. Into tills the contents of the carts 

 should be careliiily turned, with such a constant 

 supply ol" soil or muck or ashes or efl'ete liaie or 

 gypsum as would C(^mplelely absorb the liquid 

 parts, and miijlit lie so iniimatdy incorporated 

 with the solid parts as to bring all into a (easibie 

 state of application to the land. This vault or 

 Btercorary should hkewise serve as a place of de- 

 posile forall dead animals in the place, and all other 

 offensive mailers, which might be converted into 

 manure. The contents of the family vault, being 

 freely mixed with mould or spent tan, should 

 likewise be conveyed thereat least once a week. 

 This would be a great gain to comlbrt and health. 

 I saw much an arrangement on one (arm, and its 

 advantages were most obvious. Ft Ibrmed an ex- 

 cellent bank of general deposite, whose discounts in 

 the spring were always most liberal and useful. 



Tite |)reparaiion of night-soil for easy use and 

 tran-poriation, has been the subject of various 

 chemical experiments. The prepared article goes 

 under the name o( fioudrette ; and though there 

 have been occasional disappointments, I have 

 seen it used with great success. The admixture 

 of effete or slacked lime with it has the same 

 effect as any other absorbent ; but the application 

 of quick lime, while it deetroys its offensive odora, 



expels its ammonia and proportionately reduces its 

 value. Liebig recoiiiinends its mixture with 

 gypsum or chloride ol calcium, or sotne mineral 

 acid. 1 have not known this tried. This would 

 fix the ammonia and give it out to the plants as 

 llievita! process is prepared to take il up. The 

 mode of preparing it in Pari=:, is by drying it in 

 large vats in the sun until it can be reduced to a 

 fine powder and loses all smell, fts best proporiies 

 are then gone. Fine pea', muck, fine mould, 

 powdered charcoal, tanners' bark burnt and char- 

 red, are substances which may be mixed with it 

 10 great advantage. It is beyond all question one 

 of liic most power.'ul of manures, but can only be 

 applied advantageously in a prepared stale. An 

 es:ablishment (or this purpose is about being made 

 in the county which may prove eminently 

 beneficial. 



Bone manure has been tried to some extent ; in 

 some cases within my knowledge, with great and 

 decided success ; in otherf-, without perceptible 

 benefit. These diverse results convince us of 

 our ignorance, and show how much we have to 

 hope from the investigational of chemistry and 

 philosophical experiments in relation both to ma- 

 nures and soils, and the hitherto scarcely approach - 

 ed mysteries of vegetable Iile. Much o( the bone 

 manure v/hich has been used has been Irom bones 

 which have passed first through the hands of the 

 soap-boiler, and after all the gelatinous parts have 

 been extracted. A considerable portion of their 

 fertilizing properties has thus been taken away. 

 The most successliil applicaiion of bone manure 

 which I have known was where they were mixed 

 at ihe rate of about one part to eight with leached 

 ashes or mould, and a fermentaiion brought on 

 belore they were applied. They were then 

 spread lighily in the lurrow, where carrots were 

 soivn. 'Fhe effects were most favorable, and 

 surpassed a Iree dressing ol barn manure in the 

 neighboring part of the field to the same kind of 

 crop. 1 have known this manure applied likewise 

 with great advantage to corn in the hill, a small 

 amount in each hill without other manure, and to 

 turnips in ihe drill. Peal mud is used with much 

 success by many persons. Its application, when 

 spread directly Irom the bog upon the soil, has not 

 been approved ; but when it has been thotoughly 

 decom|)osed and rduced by a mixture with stable 

 manuie, with ashes, or with quick lime, it has 

 lurnished a valuable manure (or spreading upon 

 grass ground or putting in the hill with corn. 



Various other manures have been used with 

 great success. Ashes are every where commend- 

 ed as excellent (or corn and wheal, and likewise 

 lor grass. Ashes being the dirtct result of vege- 

 table combustion, contain olcourse that which is 

 essential to vegetable growth and Iile, and being 

 constantly carried from the earth by the removal 

 of its vegetable products, must in some (brm be 

 returned lo it. 



in some cases the waste Irom the cotton mills 

 has been used with much advantage. This con- 

 sists of that which is thrown out when the cotton 

 passes through the picker, and is made up not 

 only of the wool itself but a considerable amount 

 of the seeds, which are known to abound in oil, 

 and at the south are much valued as a manure. 

 This manure is sometimes spread thinly on grass 

 land, and at other times put into the compost 

 heap. It has been too little employed for ub to 



