172 MANURE. 



The materials should be moist when put mto the furnace. 

 This prevents combustion on the lower plate, and the steam 

 from the moisture pervading the whole furnace, excludes the 

 air, and so carbonization takes place without combustion. 

 A furnace 18 feet high, wMU char 15 to 18 cubic yards in 

 twenty-four hours, and in France it has been found that the 

 cost, per cubic yard, is 96 cents — say, $1. 



The whole cost of an establishment, capable of converting 

 into poudrette, the night-soil of a city of 20,000 inhabitants, 

 is about $4000 to $5000. Theactual cost of the manufacture, 

 including all expenses, is about 20 cents per year for each 

 inhabitant. 



The product is about 136 cords, or 17,000 bushels annu- 

 ally. The poudrette contains about 3 per cent, of nitrogen, 

 and under the name of " animalized black," it sells for about 

 34 cents per bushel. This leaves a profit of between $1700 

 and $1800 per annum. 



Experience determines the value of manure. Its decisions 

 are without appeal. It has proved that from 22 to 28 bushels 

 per acre of animal black, are equal to four tons of yard- 

 manure. 



The preparation of poudrette so extensively pursued in 

 France, Continental Europe, and England, has been also 

 attempted in this country with varied success. Many estab- 

 lishments, unfortunately, have been abandoned, but the 

 " Lodi Manufacturing Company," situated about three miles 

 from the city of New York, perseveres and produces a good 

 article, which is entitled to the farmer's confidence. It is 

 sold at the works at about $1.50 per barrel, of four bushels, 

 or 374 cents per bushel. 



210. There is yet another form of poudrette, which, though 

 much used in France, has not been introduced here. It 

 contains more than | animal matter, and it is formed with- 



