100 ^^ SOAP-SUDS AS A MANURE. 



had the greatest probable appearance of succeeding, it oc- 

 curred, that possibly some trivial advantage might be de* 

 vived from the oil and alkali suspended in the waters of a 

 enriched by washingf. Pits were immediately ordered to be made, and 

 in them the contents of a tub, which my servant usually 

 committed to the common sewer, were carefully deposited : 

 as washing succeeded washing, other pits were dug and 

 filled; so that the whole garden, a small portion only ex- 

 cepted, has in this manner been watered and enriched : that 

 small portion remains a visible demonstration of the utility 

 of this manure. There vegetation is still languid; while the 

 residue of the garden, invigorated by the suds only, annually 

 exhibits a luxuriance almost equal to any thing this fertile 

 neighbourhood can produce. 



I am. Sir, your humble servant, 



GEORGE IRWIN. 



Remarks, hy the Rev. T. Falconer. 



Dr. Hunter's 1. The above important experiment may perhaps remind 

 oil compost, ji^g reader of the principal ingredients of the oil compost, 

 suggested by Dr. Hunter of York. In the simple fluid 

 manure we have an animal oil, potash, and water; in the 

 compost are the same oil and the same 'alkali, but neither 

 of them perhaps in so pure a state as in the manure, with 

 the addition of " fresh horse-dung." The fresh horse-dung 

 is added, in order to produce " heat and fermentation ;" 

 and a delay of " six months" is supposed to be necessary, 

 to make the compost " fit for use." All, however, that 

 seems to be gained by the horse-dung, is the animal oil, 

 which may be united to the alkali during the process of fer- 

 mentation, and the straw, which in the fermentation of the 

 compost will bind the mass together, and when decomposed 

 on the ground will afford a small supply of vegetable mat- 

 ter. If we make the comparison strictly accurate on the 



•f- It is the common practice of some partsat least of the west of Eng- 

 land, to use a lixivium, made by passing water through an appropriate 

 strainer containing wood ashes, for the purpose of washing. This was 

 probably the case here, though not mentioned by the author. 



other 



