PROCEEDINaS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 357 



mon salt to the house sewage, as plants require it for their sustenance and 

 growth, which they generally obtain from the soil. If the soil in any field 

 contains naturally a sufficient quantity of common salt, or of chlorine and 

 soda, in any other state of combination, it will be unnecessarj' to add this 

 substance, or if added, it will produce no beneficial effect. If, on the other 

 hand, the soil contain but little, and has no natural source of supply, the 

 addition may cause a great increase in the crop. There are manj'^ localities 

 in which we know it abounds, such as lands that He along the sea coast, or 

 which are exposed to the action of sea winds. Over such districts the 

 spray of the ocean is constantly borne by the winds and strewed upon the 

 land, or is lifted high in the atmosphere from which it descends afterwards 

 in the rains. The quantity of rain which falls in the interior of Long 

 Island in a year, brings upon each acre of laud in that neighborhood 650 

 pounds weight of salt. This would be an excessive dressing if it all 

 remained upon the soil. Heavy rains carry off a large portion of it. It is 

 to gentle rains we look for the enrichment of our fields with the saline and 

 other matters they contain. Tin's consideration affords us the practical 

 rule in regard to the application of salt, that it will be beneficial in places 

 which are remote from the ocean, or are sheltered from prevailing sea 

 ■winds. 



Waste of urine on the generality of farms is enormous; the solid sub- 

 stances contained in it, if added to the land, would be far more fertilizing 

 than guano, now worth $100 per ton, as it is worth much more pound for 

 pound. If a farmer keeps one hundred cows, and suffers tlieir urine to go 



to waste, his loss will be at the end of a year 1,300,000 lbs. 



Twenty horses for the farm 20,000 do 



Six carriage horses 6,000 do 



Ten oxen 130,000 do 



Ten calves 10,000 do 



Two hundred sheep 60,000 do 



Family, servants and workmen, 40 persons, a 



small calculation, as I have 80 on my farm. . . . 40,000 do 



Total 1.626,000 lbs. 



The saving of all this manure would pay the entire expenses of the farm, 

 and leave a handsome balance for improvement. And if it could be pre- 

 served in our cities, villages, prisons, &c., it would be a great national 

 benefit. What is thus carried off by the sewers, and ultimately conveyed 

 to the ocean, is lost by the land, which must, to that extent, be impover- 

 ished, because we do not, in the form of sea weed, sea mud, fish or spray, 

 get back a tenth part of the enriching matter it daily extracts from the 

 land. And even those who do collect the urine in tanks, and preserve the 

 liquids of their cow houses, fold yards and stables, meet with great loss by 

 natural fermentation, because they neglect to wash out their buildings with 

 water, which by daily diluting the liquid in their cisterns, would preserve 

 the constituents from escaping into the atmosphere. And even when pro- 

 perly diluted, I think it is always best to convey it to the land without any 

 unnecessary loss of time, for even in this state there is a constant escape 

 of properties which impairs its value. But these remar^ks only apply to 



