292 FLEMISH MANURE. 



as it eomes from the privy. In some parts of Tuscany it is mixed 

 with three times its bulk of water, and so applied to the surface. I 

 have myself seen night-soil as it was obtained, and without prepara- 

 tion, spread upon a field of wheat without any ill effect : so that the 

 Tuscan preparation may be regarded as a simple means of spread- 

 ing a limited quantity of manure over a given extent of ground. 



It is in French Flanders, however, that human soil is collected 

 with especial care ; it ought to be so collected everywhere. The 

 reservoir for its preservation ought to be one of the essential articles 

 in every farming establishment, as it is in Flanders, where there is 

 always a cistern or cess-pool in masonry, with an arch turned over 

 it for the purpose of collecting this invaluable manure. The bottom 

 is cemented and paved. Two openings are left : one in the middle 

 of the turned arch for the introduction of the material ; the other, 

 smaller and made on the north side, is for the admission of the air, 

 which is requisite for the fermentation. 



The Flemish reservoir may be of the dimensions of about 35 

 cubical yards. Whenever the necessary operations of the farm will 

 permit, the carts are sent off to the neighboring town to purchase 

 night-soil, which is then discharged into the reservoir, where it usual- 

 ly remains for several months before being carried out upon the land. 



This favorite Flemish manure is applied in the liquid state (mixed 

 in water) before or after the seed is in the ground, or to transplanted 

 crops after they have been dibbled in. Its action is prompt and 

 energetic. The sowing completed, and the land dressed up with all 

 the pains which the Flemish farmer appears to take a pleasure in 

 bestowing upon it, a charge of the manure is carried out at night in 

 tubs or barrels. At the side or corner of the field there is a vat that 

 will hold from 50 to 60 gallons, into which the load is discharged, 

 and from which a workman, armed with a scoop at the end of a 

 handle a dozen feet in length or more, proceeds to lade it out all 

 around him. The vat emptied in one place is removed further on, 

 and the same process is repeated until the whole field is watered.* 



The purchase, the carriage, and the application of this Flemish 

 manure cannot be otherwise than costly ; we therefore see it given 

 particularly to crops which, when luxuriant and successful, are of the 

 highest market value — such as flax, rape, and tobacco. 



This manure, the sample of it, at least, which M. Payen and I 

 examined, is of a yellowish green color, and with reference to smell 

 cannot be compared to any thing belter than a weak solution of 

 hydrosulphate of ammonia. This salt is undoubtedly present ; but 

 exposure to the air converts it rapidly into the sulphate of the same 

 base. According to M. Kuhlmann, the quality of the liquid Flemish 

 manure is to be judged of by its smell, its viscidity, and its saline and 

 ^harp taste. By the fermentation which takes place in the cess- 

 pools, which are never emptied completely, the feculent matter, kept 

 for some time there, does in fact acquire a slight viscidity. When 

 solid excrementitious matter predominates in the fermented maaa 



* Cordier, Agriculture of French Flanders, p. 24a 



