442 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



mud, as dry as may be. Or if this cannot be obtained, the same 

 object may be attained by the application of charcoal dust, light 

 soil from under the hedgeways, mixed with decomposed leaves or 

 soil from the borders of the forest. The compost should be forked 

 over two or three times, until it becomes uniform throughout. 

 With this manure, a poor farm can very soon be made fertile. 



Mr. Carpenter. — The slops from the kitchen also are very valu- 

 able, especially for the vegetable garden. 



The Chairman mentioned the results produced by using these 

 systematically, by one of his neighbors, who had built a cistern 

 to receive everything from the house, together with a portion of 

 the rain from the roof. This produced a liquid manure which 

 w.is pumped up and applied to the land, resulting in large crops, 

 and costing nothing beyond the original outlay. 



Prof. Nash. — If applied in the form of a weak solution, differ- 

 ing little in appearance from rain-water, the resources of any 

 family would enrich the farm, and obviate the necessity of buying 

 manure. But for every shovelful of manure there would be a 

 barrel or hogshead of water, and consequently the weight and 

 expense of removal would be so great as to be impracticable, 

 excepting upon a large scale, where appliances may be brought 

 to bear to move that weight with ease and cheapness. Mechi 

 estimates that two mills will carry a ton of manure to any part 

 of his farm. With such means, this process could be carried out 

 with great advantage. 



Mr. Lawton. — I wish to make a few remarks upon the connec- 

 tion between animal and vegetable life. There is a life, death, 

 and resurrection of plants, and it produces a life, death, and 

 resurrection of animals, for vegetable and animal life are each 

 dependent upon the other. There is no corruption in nature ; 

 what is sown in corruption, rises in beautiful incorruption. When 

 every object fills its proper position, it is not only true to nature 

 but is adapted to beautify and ornament the earth. Some ma- 

 nures may be very good in themselves, but not good enough to 

 pay, for carrying long distances. It becomes the more important 

 to save the manures which are to be found everywhere. It is 

 from the little that the big arises ; and the smallest possible por- 

 tions of that which is too often wasted, will, by their fertilizing 

 properties, contribute to improve the soil. Grass lands are 

 benefited for many years by an application of plaster of Paris, 

 because it requires from five to seven hundred times its weight 



