1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



285 



eased." The Smithsonian Institute and Secretary 

 Flint, by microscopic examination, have seen the 

 insects. The U. S. Patent Office, l)y long and rig- 

 id microscopic and other examinations, acknowl- 

 edge the fact ; and Judges, composing the "Board 

 of Appeals," confirm all by their Report to Com- 

 missioner of Patents. This I consider a conclu- 

 sive answer to Mr. Goldsbury's seven reasons. I 

 must respectfully question Mr. Goldsbury's asser- 

 tion that "Insects are the consequence of the dis- 

 ease." I ask him to cite the authority to estab- 

 lish the fact. I maintain that the question as to 

 the predisposing cause of the blight and rot is not 

 "unknown." Mr. Goldsbury frankly admits his 

 ignorance touching "microscopic" researches, not 

 having "glasses to look through." Which au- 

 thority will be the most reliable for farmers, Mr. 

 Goldsbury's individual opinion, without "looking 

 through the microscopic glasses," or the opinion 

 of seventeen National Representatives ? They 

 devoted a day in the Agricultural Committee- 

 Room of the Capitol to examination. They had 

 numerous specimens fresh from the Held, also 

 epecimens in glass jars and boxes, with micro- 

 scopes to place before them ocular facts. They 

 finally declare that there has been revealed to 

 them "A new and important discovery." 



Lyman Reed. 

 Baltimore, Md., April 14, 1860. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LIQUID MANURES. 

 BY JUDGE FRENCH. 



A large proportion of the grain and flesh pro- 

 duced in any country is consumed in cities and 

 towns, and is lost in the sea and rivers, never re- 

 turning to enrich the soil. Baron Liebig, the great 

 German chemist, is raising his warning voice 

 against this enormous waste of substances which 

 ought to be re-applied to the farm. A scheme is 

 now in progress for collecting the drainage of the 

 city of London, containing more than two mil- 

 lions of people, which is now poured into the 

 Thames, and conveying it back to fertilize the 

 land. This has brought out in English papers 

 many facts of interest to us all, as to the value of 

 the sewage of towns, and of liquid manures in 

 general. 



The experience of Mr. Mechi, of Tiptree Hall, 

 England, is familiar to many of our readers. His 

 farm of one hundred and seventy acres is all un- 

 derlaid with iron pipes, and all the manure is ap- 

 plied to it by means of a steam-engine, which 

 forces it in liquid form over the surface. To ren- 

 der the manure liquid, it is conveyed into a res- 

 ervoir into which a stream of water flows, and is 

 etirred constantly by a current of air forced in at 

 the bottom- 

 In this country, we occasionally see arrange- 

 ments, on a limited scale, for applying liquid ma- 

 nures to the soil. We read, also, of some experi- 

 ments in irrigation, which give results very satis- 

 factory. 



We regard all these eflforts with interest, but 

 are inclined to think a careful investigation ne- 

 cessary before concluding as to what we can afford 

 to expend in either operation. In a former paper, 

 we undertook to show that Mr. Mechi's high farm- 

 ing, with our higher prices of labor and lower 

 prices of products, would be ruinous to any far- 

 mer in America. We do not say that in market 

 gardens and the like, as much capital may not be 

 profitably worked in this country, but we do say, 

 that American prices substituted for English pri- 

 ces in ^Ir. IMochi's farm accounts, would change 

 his large balance of profits to a large balance of 

 loss. 



The Craigentinny Meadows, watered by the 

 sewage-fluid of the city of Edinburgh, furnish the 

 most noted instance of the effect of liquid manur- 

 ing. The stories of the grass product of those 

 lands are so large that a modest man hardly dares 

 state the whole truth with regard to them in a 

 public assembly. 



We have, however, from reliable sources, the 

 fact that those meadows produce from seventy to 

 eighty tons of green grass per acre, annually, 

 which sells at from one hundred twenty-five to 

 one hundred seventy-five dollars. This statement 

 is valuable as showing the possible products of 

 grass land, without regard to expense. If, how- 

 ever, we look at the estimates of the quantity and 

 value of this manure, we shall see that even these 

 famous meadows, in an agricultural aspect, do not 

 pay. The quantity of sewage-liquid applied, per 

 acre, annually, is estimated at nearly ten thousand 

 tons, which does not seem absolutely incredible, 

 when we learn that it is applied at eighteen differ- 

 ent times, being 500 tons at each application. 

 This would be equivalent to covering the surface, 

 at each irrigation, Avith about five inches in depth 

 of the liquid. It is, of course, gradually applied, 

 only so fast as the soil can absorb it. 



It is not unusual in New England, that we have 

 a fall of two or three or more inches of rain in 

 twenty-four hours, which is readily absorbed by 

 our fields. The estimated value of the Edinburgh 

 sewage-fluid, as compared by chemical analysis 

 with other manures, is shout four cents per ton, 

 and the annual application of 10,000 tons is worth 

 about $400 per acre, or more than twice the value 

 of the crop ! 



What the cost of thus applying it may be, we 

 have no means of estimating. The main object 

 in the arrangement in the sewers of cities, is, of 

 course, to dispose of the surplus filth and water, 

 so as not to injure health and comfort. The use 

 of it for agriculture is a secondary object, and is 

 not, therefore, to be charged with the cost. When, 

 hoAvever, we design to convert all our liquid into 

 manures, as Mr. Meclii and others do, merely by 

 way of economical farming, the question is quite 



