ON MANURE. 



amination cf the juice of the plant, or of the component parts of 

 the seed or fruit, would be an easy means of detecting the 

 differences. 



In respect to the quantity of nitrogen contained in excrements, 

 100 parts of the urine of a healthy man are equal to 1300 parts 

 $t' the fresh dung of a horse, according to the analysis of Macaire 

 and Mareet, and to 600 parts of the fresh dung of a cow. 

 The powerful effects of urine as a manure are well known in 

 Flanders, and they are considered invaluable by the Chinese, who 

 are the oldest agricultural people we know. Indeed, so much 

 alue is attached to the influence of human excrements by these 

 People, that laws of the state forbid that any of these excrements 

 should be thrown away, and reservoirs are placed in every house, 

 m which they are collected with the greatest care. No other 

 kind of manure is used for their corn-fields. 



On the assumption, that the liquid and solid excrements of man 

 \mount, on an average, to only 1£ lb. daily (|- lb. of urine and 

 J lb. faeces), and that both taken together contain 3 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, then, in one year, they will amount to 547 lbs., con- 

 taining 16*41 lbs. of nitrogen, a quantity sufficient to yield the 

 nitrogen of 800 lbs. of wheat, rye, oats, or of 900 lbs. of barley. 



(B0USSINGAULT. , ) 



This is much more than it is necessary to add to an acre of 

 land, in order to obtain, with the assistance of the nitrogen ab- 

 sorbed from the atmosphere, the richest crops every year. By 

 adopting a system of rotation of crops, every town and farm might 

 thus supply itself with the manure, which, besides containing 

 the most nitrogen, contains also the most phosphates. By using, 

 at the same time, bones and the lixiviated ashes of wood, animal 

 excrements might be completely dispensed with on many kinds 

 of soil . 



When human excrements are treated in a proper manner, so as 

 to remove this moisture, without permitting the escape of am- 

 monia, they may be put into such a form as will allow them to be 

 transported even to great distances. 



This is already attempted in many towns, and the preparation 

 of night-soil for transportation constitutes not an unimportant 

 branch of industry. 



