THE OULTUEE OF THE GRAPE. 285 



manures acquire the JdgTi value which belongs to them, — 

 a just remark, not only in relation to the manure above 

 named, but to all the substances usually classed under 

 this head, such as the offal of all animals and birds, the 

 decayed matter from flesh or fish, whether of the soft 

 material which dissolves, or of the bony substances which 

 are a long time in crumbling away, guano, poudrette, 

 &c. 



Dr. Xindley refers to the plants in a greenhouse, that 

 were almost destroyed by the gases arising from the pu- 

 trefying body of a hedgehog, and thinks that is proof 

 that the vines were injured at the ends of their shoots 

 by the gas from the carrion. It may have been caused 

 by the,confined air inside of this house, which prevented 

 the escape of this gas. I must confess, that I think there 

 may have been some other cause, that affected the plants, 

 and produced the disease. In the newly settled parts of 

 our country, it is customary to leave the dead bodies of 

 animals unburied. I have never noticed any effect pro- 

 duced upon the foliage of tree or herb from the odor or 

 gas arising therefrom. In the valley of the Connecticut, 

 where reside some of our best agriculturists, they ma- 

 nure the land with fresh white fish, that are caught in 

 great quantities, (I believe in the spring season of the 

 year.) They spread them broadcast over the fields, and 

 any one who has ridden through this district, about this 

 time of application, can most assuredly say that the cus- 

 tom "is not inviting," and can bear ample testimony 

 that the air is charged with gas from putrefying matter, 

 yet we hear of no bad effect from this ; and, if a single 

 hedgehog in a greenhouse would kill plants, it wculd ap- 



