62 EXPLOITATION OF THE MARITIME PINE. 



after a chemical change, able to rival the ordinary charcoal in the 

 furnaces and kitchens of Paris. This new article has to make its way 

 against the prejudices of servants, but it may be hoped that at length 

 it will be justly appreciated. 



" Charcoal dust is used largely in the manufacture of artificial 

 manures. It is known that carbon disinfects and solidifies the 

 material. It is used for this purpose in several important towns. 

 It is to be wished that this process of disinfection of drainage were 

 more general. If it were so, what great services would be rendered 

 to agriculture and the public health ! In the first place, it opens a 

 market for charcoal dust, which it is difficult to dispose of at present j 

 and it preserves, for the benefit of agriculture, a great quantity of 

 useful substances, which in towns are wasted, while at the sametime 

 the air is vitiated and the public health endangered. 



" Of two almost worthless articles, the bourrees of Sologne and the 

 drainage of large towns, is thus composed a powerful manure, each 

 hectolitre of which represents at least a hectolitre of wheat. When 

 viewing the numerous advantages of such a manufacture, one is 

 surprised that there has not been established long ago an interchange 

 between Sologne and Paris of charcoal and disinfected and solidified 

 sewage. What could be better than the carbonised heath being 

 saturated in Paris with fertilising nature, and again restoring in 

 Sologne fertility to the sterile soil which had produced it ! 



" If Sologne exchanged charcoal dust for disinfected drainage, the 

 Landes which only require manure to be productive, would be cleared 

 as if by enchantment, and would soon be covered with rich harvests. 



" The improvement in the healthiness of the country which follows 

 the progress of agriculture and this marvellous result, would both be 

 attained by the use of fertilising substances which would otherwise 

 be a powerful cause of disease. 



" It would be a bold thing to say that such an end can be attained 

 without difficulty. In the first place, there must first be invented a 

 simple and easy way of making charcoal dust. 



" When the dust is made, negotiations must be entered into with 

 municipalities. Finally, to extend the sale, the resistance and 

 prejudices of farmers must be subdued ; but these men have been 

 so often deceived by pretended artificial manures, that they stand 

 aloof from any new substance." 



There are given, by M. Boitel, the following details of the manu- 

 facture of charcoal dust : 



