THE WHEAT CTJLTUEIST. 



175 



late a quantity of poudrette every year sufficient to 

 produce all the wheat required for their daily bread 

 through the entire year. It is true that the fecal mat- 

 ter of a single person amounts to only a small quantity 

 per day. We will suppose the average accumulation 

 will not exceed one pound. At this estimate, the quan- 

 tity collected in one year would amount to three hun- 

 dred and sixty-five pounds for each person, of superior 

 fertilizing material, which will produce as much wheat 

 as the same number of pounds of Peruvian guano, pro- 

 vided the former be properly composted. It seems 

 quite unnecessary to enlarge, in this place, on the man- 

 urial value of human excrement and human m^ine, as 

 every person of ordinary intelligence must know that 

 such raw material abounds largely in just such substance 

 as the growing wheat-plants must have in abundance, 

 in order to develop a bountiful }deld of grain. 



The question then recurs, how may such offensive 

 material be utilized in an advantageous manner so as to 

 promote the growth of the wheat crop ? I answer, by 

 having the privy properly constructed, so as to save 

 both the solid and the liquid portions, and render the 

 mass inodorous, so that the compost may be easily ap- 

 plied to the soil. If the privy is pro23erly constructed, 

 there will be little difficulty in handling the fecal mate- 

 rial with a shovel. 



The accompanying cut, Fig. 33, will convey a fair 

 idea of a convenient manner of making a privy for the 

 purpose of saving the manure. The illustration hardly 

 needs an explanation. It will be perceived that the 

 building is supported on brick pillars. Stone, or durable 

 wood posts, would subserve a satisfactory purpose. A 

 water-tight box, with sides about a foot high, should be 



