476 [Assembly 



thing else, even in proper proportion, except nitrogen, to growing 

 cereals, and the result will be straw, hut no grain — starch but no 

 gluten. Nitrogen enables plants to attract carbon from the air, 

 and fix it in their organism. The faeces of men living in cities 

 where meats are generally eaten, is very rich in nitrogen, much 

 more so than the faeces of peisons living In the country upon 

 bread, potatoes, and other like substances. The excrements of 

 human bfings is riclier in nitrrgen than any other manure : 200 

 parts of the urine of a man in good health, are fully equal to 

 2,600 parts of fre^h horse manure, and to 1,2U0 parts of cow 

 manure. 



Human ordure is considered in China of inestimable value in 

 agriculture. La^\s of great severity tor bid the waste of any. 

 Tubs are placed in every dwelling, for its collection ; and it is 

 Invaiiahly used upon plants in a liquid form; the Chinaman 

 always steeps his seed in liquid preparations until germination 

 appears before he sows them. The waste in our cities of these 

 incomparable manures, is immense in the extreme ; take New- 

 York for example; the liquid and solid excrements of each per- 

 son, contains over sixteen pounds of nitrogen, per annum, a suf- 

 ficient quantity to afford all that is required to raise eight hun- 

 dred and fifty pounds of wheat; therefore, our 700,000 citizens 

 would raise 595,000,000 of pounds ot wheat. 



For ordinary crops, sixteen pounds of nitrogen would be suffi- 

 cient lor an acre of land ; therefore, 700,000 acres might be sup- 

 plied annually with that substance by the inhabitants of that city 

 alone. On all our farms, we might mix our night soil with wood 

 ashes, coiitaining a large percentcige of caustic lime and muck or 

 animal charcoal, which entirely fries it of smell ; although this 

 manure so treated, would be deprived of its ammonia, still its 

 phosphates would be very valuable. Wool, lioofs, hair, horn and 

 bones, contain phosphates and nitrogen, and so do butcher's offal, 

 blood, &c. I have noticed many faimers using large bones for 

 manure, and if they knew that such btmes in dry soils would 

 remain unchanged for one thousand years, and that a generation 

 of men pass otf every thirty ye^rs, I ujuch doubt if they would 

 be guilty of such lolly. The fertility of all soils is influenced 



