898 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JINE 31. IS!7 



^JSW Sl^f^S'J.JiSS'S' ^^t^t^^^a 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1S37. 



FAKSIER'S WORK. 



PouDRETTE, ti valualilc Miiimrc. — Extracts from a let- 

 ter from the editor of tlie New York Farmer, to the ed- 

 itor of tlie New England Farmer : — 



*• I have heard much said of late, in rehition lo a ma- 

 nure much used in France and Germany, called Poa- 

 dreite. It is made from the contents of Privies, or of 

 human excrement, and is said to he very powerful and 

 valuable. 



" I am of opinion thata very valuable and large quan- 

 tity of manure may be made from the contents of priv- 

 ies, which are now, much to tlie shame of our city, 

 thrown into the river, for ilie comfort of salt water bath- 

 ers, I suppose. My aim is to abate this nuisance, if 

 possible, and at the same time, apply the filth to useful 

 purposes, and thereby aid the cause of agriculture in the 

 vicinity of this city, and elsewhere, perhaps. But my 

 information relative lo the mode of preparing and using 

 it, is too limited, at present, to undertake to produce a 

 revolution in this department of our city economy, and 

 therefore desire to avail mysu-lf of the aid of your great- 

 er experienee, and more extensive reading in relation 

 to agriculture and its improvements. Will you do mo 

 the favor to communicate such information in relation 

 to this subject, as you may possess, which will aid me 

 in the undertaking ? 



" Your early answer will much oblige 



Your ob't servant, 



D. K. MiKoR." 



Ed. JV". E. Farmer. — We are happy to comply with 

 the request of our respected coadjutor, and hope he will 

 excuse us for jaaking the N. E. Farmer a vehicle of our 

 correspondence ; for discussions and information which 

 have the public good for their object, in which all man- 

 kind possess an interest, should be made as public, as 

 possible. But before we undertake to contribute our 

 mite to the treasury of this department of agricultural 

 science, we beg leave lo siate that our main motive is 

 rather to solicit than to communicate information ; and 

 any of our friends or correspondents, who can throw 

 any light on this important subject, will confer a great 

 oI»ligation,'by firwarding their remarks for publication, 

 in the N. K. or N. Y. Farmer. 



The celebrated Lord Erskine, in a speech delivered 

 at one of the annual Sheep Shearings at Holkliam, in 

 England, made ihe following excellent re.niarks : 



" If we consider the subject of manure, we shall per- 

 ceive one of the most striking beauties and benefits of 

 divine ordination, and of that wisdom with which we 

 are blessed in a thousand ways without knowing it. — 

 This very substance, bad it been useless, must have ac- 

 cumulated in heaps, intolerably noisome and perpetually 

 pestilential; but by the blessing of Providence, it is ev- 

 ery man's interest to remove these otherwise increasin» 

 itiountains of filth, and by decomposition in various 

 ways, in a great measure concealed from us, it gives in- 

 crease :p our fields, and adds to our means of industry, 

 and the reward of the husbandman.' 



By preventing its accumulation in heaps, and by ma- 

 king a proper application of manure, we at once cause 

 mankind to be liealthy and wealthy, and enrich the 

 6eld of the farmer, instead of poisoning the atmosphere 

 of the citizen. The matter which indolence suifers to 

 become the germ of cholera, and the hot bed of yellow 

 fever, by industry and cleanliness, is converted into t!ie 

 indispensables of human existence, as well as into the 



sinews of national power, and the basis of private jiros- 

 perity. 



Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia, under the article 

 Manure, observes that " the I'Xcrementitous matter of 

 privies, i.« supposed to exceed every other kind of ma- 

 nure, during the first year it is applied ; in the second, 

 its beneficial effects are less evident; and|inlhe third 

 year, they almost wholly disappear. The quantity nec- 

 essary for land in a good condition, is, by Mr Middle- 

 ton, computed to be about two loads per acre, annually ; 

 which in his opinion, will always preserve its fertility. 

 He farther remarks, that exhaust.'d ground may be per- 

 fectly restored, by laying on four or five loads of night 

 soil per acre, for the first vear, after which two loads 

 annually, will be found am|ily sufficient to.keep the land 

 in the highest degree of cultivation." 



The matter of privies is known to be a most valuable 

 manure. In Chiua and Jajian, there are laws to pre- 

 vent its waste. The cultivators prefer it to the manure 

 from horses and cattle, as it does not contain 'the seeds 

 of weeds, r.nd is much stronger than stable manure. 



If the piivies of families were lined with Cement, so 

 as to retain the moisture, (the most enriching part,) 

 and if earth, fine silled coal ashes, but more especially 

 fresh slacked lime, were frequently thrown down the f 

 privies, all disagreeable and unwholesome smells would 

 be prevented, and ihe quantity and value of the compost 

 greatly increased. By this management, its removal 

 would also be rendered inoffensive to those employed. 



From Simoruh's View of tlie Agriculture of Tuscany, 

 a very interesting work, it appears that night soil is as 

 highly prized there, as in China and Japan ; but he re- 

 marks on the very disagreeable effluvia, which exhales 

 from it when spread upon the ground. It should nerer 

 be used, except when joined with earth or vegetabla 

 matters in the proportion of one to five or six. 



Sir Humphrey Davy assers that " night soil," (privy 

 manure) " it is well known, is a very powerful manure, 

 and very liable to decompose. It differs in composi- 

 tion, but it abounds in substances composed of carbon, 

 hydrogen, uzaie. ana oxygcn. Jroiii the analysis of 

 Berzelius, it appears that a part of it is always soluble 

 in water; and in whatever state it is used, whether re- 

 cent or fermented, it supplies abundance of food to 

 plants. 



" The disagreeable smell of night soil, may be des- 

 troyed, by mixing it witli quick lime; and if exposed 

 to the atmosphere in thin layers strewed over with quick 

 lime in fine weather, it speedily dries, is easily pulver- 

 ized, and in this state may be used in the same manner as 

 rape cake, and delivered into the furrow with the seed. 



" The Chinese, who have more practical knowledge 

 of the uso and application of manures than any other 

 people existing, mix their nigiit soil with one third of 

 its weight of a fat marie, make it inlo cakes, and dry it 

 by exposure to the sun. These cakes, we are informed 

 by the French missionaries, have no disagreeable smell, 

 and form a common article of commerce of the empire. 



" The earth by its absorbant powers, probably pre- 

 vents, to a certain extent, the action of moisture upon 

 the dung, aud likewise defends it from the effects of 

 air." 



Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Agriculture, after 

 quoting the above from Sir H. Davy, observes " that 

 desiccated night soil in a slate' of powder, forms an ar- 

 ticle of internal commerce in France, and is known un- 

 der the name of poudrette. In London it is mixed with 

 quick-hme, and sold in cakes, under the designation of 

 ' desiccated night soil.' 



In China " in various parts of a farm, and near the 

 paths and roads, large earthen vessels are buried lo the 



edge in the ground for the acconimod/itioii of the labo- i 

 rer and passenger, who may have occasion to use them. I 

 In small retiring houses, built also on the brink of the 

 roads, and in the neighborhood of villages, reservoirs • 

 are constructed of compact materials, to prevent the ab- 

 sorption of whatever they receive, and straw is careful- 

 ly thrown over the surface from time to time, to prevent 

 evaporation. Such a value is set upon the principal in- 

 gredient, called ta feu for manure, that tlie oldest and 

 most helpless persons are not deemed wholly useless to 

 the family by which they are supported." 



Chujilal's Chemistiy applied to Agriculture contains 

 the following passages relative to this subject: " Night 

 soil forms an excellent manure ; but fanners allow it to 

 be wasted, because it ii too active to be employed in its 

 natural slate, and they know not how either to moder- 

 ate its action, or to appropriate it during dilferent sta- 

 ges of fermentation to the wants of various kinds of 

 plants. 



"The Flemings value this kind of manure so much 

 that the cities set a high rale npon the privilege of dis- ( 

 posing of the ckansings of their privies; and there are, ' 

 in each of them, sworn oflicers for the assistance of 

 those who wish to make purchases. These officers know • 

 the degrees of fermentation suited to each kind of plant, 

 and to the different periods of vegetation. 



" We shall find great difficulty in bringing this branch 

 of industry to the same degree of perfection among U9 

 that it has arrived at in Belgium, because farmers do not 

 realize its importance, and have a repugnance to em- 

 ploying this kind of manure. But cc uld they not col- 

 lect carefully all these matters, mix them with lime, 

 plaster or gravel, till the odor was dispelled, and then 

 carry the whole upon the fields .' 



" Already in most of our great cities, the contents of 

 the privies are used for forming ;i?oi/(/)eHc ; this pulver- 

 ulent product is sought for by our agriculturists, who 

 acknowledge its good effects ; let us hope that becom- 

 ing more enlightened, they will employ the fecal mat- 

 ter itself, as being more rich in nutritive principles, and 

 obounH^n- oq,.«li j^ itIiIi sults ; thcycau easily govern 

 and moderate the loo powerful action of this, by fer- 

 mentation, or what is still better, by mixing with it 

 plaster, earth and other absorbants to correct the odor.' 

 —Boston Ed. of ililUard Gray S,- Co. 



MASS.4.CHUSETTS HORTICUiTlRAI, SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS. 



Saturday, June 9, 1S37. 



From J. P. Gushing, Esq., Belmont Place,— by Mr 

 Haggerston— a superb specimen of Cactus speciosissi- 

 mus,aud a beautiful new species. 



From John A. Kenrick — 7 varieties of Pa;onies, andS 

 varieties of Azaleas. 



Fruit. — A pot of Keene Seedling Strawberries, by 

 Mr Haggerston; the fruit of extraordinary large sizo. 



Saturday, June 17, 1837. 



Mr Johnson, of Charlestown, exhibited a beautiful 

 branch of Austrian Rose Bush, containing numerous 

 buds and expanded flowers. The outside of the petal 

 is a fine orange yellow, while the opposite side is a bril- 

 liant scarlet. It is a single rose, and we think one of 

 Ihe finest we have yet seen in the whole tribe. 



From the same gentleman, — Polenionium cerulea. 



From S. Walker, — fine boquets containing, among 

 other beautiful flowers, Dictamnus frasinella, Lychners 

 floscuculi plena, Spirea filipendula plena, Iris pallida, 

 Hespens matror.alis plena, Polenionium, and some of 

 his beautiful seedling pansies. For the Committee. 



JOSEPH BRECK. 



