338 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



integration required for productive application is rendered perfectly com- 

 plete, and the time of the application wonderfully shortened, and the con- 

 sequent loss, from adverse weather, saved. Extensive distributions of 

 sewer water, as manure, and of other substances in the liquid form, have 

 proved that parks in the vicinity of towns may, by tliie easy method, re- 

 ceive dressings of manure, at an early hour in the morning, and be free by 

 the time they are visited, of all the offensiveness usually engendered by 

 the common applications of manures. If the ground in the parks happens 

 to be clay, the action of the urine and other liquid manures will not be me- 

 chanical only, but chemical, so that a beneficial combination will immediately 

 be furmed. A large portion of the valuable properties that are lost from 

 decomposition and evaporation, by the retention of manure in the dry 

 state, or in its application as top dressing, is saved by its being diluted 

 and carried in water under the surface of the soil, among the roots of plants. 

 The more minute the subdivision of manure is in the liquid form, the more 

 rapid will be the decomposition, and consequently more complete the ab- 

 sorption. Mr. Barber had twenty-seven acres of land of such a quality na- 

 turally, that it was only capable of aflbrding two cows a scanty allowance 

 of food. He placed the manure of thirty-five cows and five horses in a 

 tank, fed by a stream of water, and with the liquid he irrigated twenty-one 

 acres, and with his house refuse six acres, and from the produce of this 

 land he now fodders forty-four cows and five horses. Adjoining this farm 

 there were some liigh knolls of land on which he placed a large share of 

 solid manure, but could only obtain one fold, when the other gave him five. 



Sir Joseph Paxton collects, at Chatsworth, the manure water from water- 

 closets, horse dung and other sources, into large covered cisterns. 

 The waste also of a small bath is emptied into one of these, by which 

 means the solution becomes thin. The liquid so collected passes almost 

 immediately into a state of incipient decomposition, and becomes well fitted 

 for the pabulum of vegetation. When drawn oif for use, it is greatly 

 diluted with water, and never supplied except when the plants are in a 

 state of active growth. At any other time, he thinks, the effects would be 

 prejudicial. It is used by Sir Joseph, liberally, on vine borders, melons, 

 cucumbers, pines, peaches, and various other fruits, with the most power- 

 ful and satisfactory effects. In fact, the use of plant food in a liquid state, 

 if properly prepared and administered, supercedes the necessity for manure 

 in the solid form; and the produce in favor of the liquid predominates in a 

 wonderful degree — being richer in color, larger in quantity, greater in 

 weight, and of superior flavor. 



These advantages, however, are not certain, unless the liquid is prepared 

 in such a manner as to suit the requirements and habits of the plant to 

 which it is to be applied. The preparation is of two kinds: first, by 

 sufficiently diluting with water to prevent the fibers from becoming over- 

 burdened with too great a supply of nourishment; and secondly, by render- 

 ing it of a proper temperature, by the sun's heat or the addition of warm 

 water. Pines require the liquid to be raised to 80" of heat, and other 

 plants in proportion. Out-door products do not require this attention, but 

 still they are greatly benefited by receiving it in a moderately warm state. 



