G4 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 



slaked lime, the evil complained of would, no doubt, be 

 removed,* 



All unpleasantness of odour may indeed be prevented by the 

 mere use of ashes; and were those thrown upon the night-soil, 

 or into privies which liave no communication with sewers, the 

 ashes made in every dwelling-house would so completely 

 absorb the fluid, that a solid heap of manure would be pro- 

 duced, that might afterwards be removed without difficulty or 

 offensiveness. This, besides being common in many parts of 

 the continent, is the regular practice throughout Hull ;t and 

 were it more generally followed in other towns, there can be 

 no doubt that it would be attended with very beneficial effects 

 to the agriculture of their neighbourhood. It is also collected 

 in considerable quantities in Ijondon; and there was, a few 

 years ago, a large manufactory for its preparation, in which it 

 was dried and exposed to the sun by spreading it upon flag- 

 stones gently inclined, to allow it to drain, after which it was 

 broken into pieces, and removed under cover, where it was 

 partially mixed with lime and completely reduced to powder. 

 In this state it was packed into barrels, and exported even to 

 our colonies, where it was used as a top-dressing, but was 

 chiefly employed by market-gardeners, who used to sow it in 

 drills along with their seeds, and, judging by the price at 

 which they bought it, there can be no doubt that they found 

 its use to be singularly advantageous; but the process has 

 been abandoned, for, having been carried on in the heart of 

 th# town, it occasioned complaints of its offensiveness. This, 

 from the inconvenience attending its conveyance, unless by 

 canals, has greatly prevented its use: considerable difficulty 

 has also been found in reconciling farm-servants to working at 

 the preparation of this manure ; but that objection can be 

 easily overcome by'a slight gratuity, and, considering its great 

 value as a dressing, it ought not to be neglected. It is said 



♦Russell's Treatise on Practical and Chemical Agriculture, p. 205— Der- 

 bysh. Rep. vol. ii. p. 454. It is also contradicted by Count Gyllenborjr, in 

 his very erudite treatise on Chemical Agriculture, in which he mentions an 

 instance of his having regularly watered a vine with putrid urine, but neither 

 the grapes nor the wine contracted any bad taste. — Pilkington's Translation, 

 p. 78. Slaked lirm is, for this purpose, preferable to that which is hot; for 

 the latter, when combined with animal matter, forms u manure which is 

 not soluble in water. 



t See a letter on the subject, detailing the practice, together with remarks 

 on its extension, in the Farmer's Macazine, vol. x.-p. 497. Also the General 

 Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 525 ; and Communications to the Board of Ag- 

 riculture, vol. i. p. 317. 



