274 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



in full bloom, and the chrysanthynums are larger 

 than usual. Several gentlemen in the vicinity 

 have tried it this fall on wheat, which looks 

 finely. 



Upon the whole, I consider it at three cents 

 per pound, (the price it sells for in Petersburg,) 

 as, beyond all question, the cheapest manure we 

 have. It recommends itself by the, strongest 

 considerations to the agriculturist and horticul- 

 turist ; first, from its incredible fertilizing power ; 

 secondly, in the facility of its application ; and 

 thirdly, in its durability when amalgamated 

 with the soil. An acre of ground may be hea- 

 vily manured in a few hours by a single hand. 

 Probably the best method of applying it to small 

 grain crops, is to mix it with about four times 

 its bulk of gypsum, woods earth, ashes, or pul- 

 verized charcoal, and sow it at the rate of 300 

 lbs. per acre, with the last harrowing. To to- 

 bacco or Indian corn one tea-spoonful, pure, or 

 mixed as above, around each stalk or plant. — 

 For plant patches, it must be first rate, as it 

 keeps off insects and gives great energy in a 

 very short time. 



Your friend, A. Peticolas. 



Petersburg, Nov. 1; 1844. 



P. S. — I omitted to mention that I cut down 

 two crops of weeds in my manured bed of tur- 

 nips, and pulled up in a few minutes the large 

 weeds in the guano bed, there being no small 

 ones introduced with the guano. A. P. 



POUDRETTE. 

 Some time since we stated that Mr. Minor, of 

 New York, had promised to furnish us with di- 

 rections that would enable every farmer to con- 

 vert the night soil of his farm into poudrette. — 

 This promise excited a good deal of interest, 

 and we have had frequent inquiries for the di- 

 rections ; we have not heard from Mr. Minor, 

 but substitute the following excellent article, 

 taken from the Cultivator, for his communication: 



DISINFECTION OF FECAL MATTER— ITS 

 CHEAP AND IMMEDIATE CONVERSION 

 INTO MANURE. 



Agriculturists are acquainted with the pow- 

 erful properties of poudrette manure. The ex- 

 pense of its preparation and transport has hitherto 

 limited its use to gardens and farms in the neigh- 

 borhood of its manufactory. From the facts 

 contained in the following letter, laid by M. Du- 

 mas before the French Institute in July, and 

 which we commend to the serious attention of 

 our readers, we learn that this potent auxiliary 

 of production may be made quickly and at a 

 trifling cost on every farm. The disinfecting 

 agent used, is the sulphate of iron, or the cop- 

 peras of the shops, which can be purchased at 



$1 37^ the hundred pounds. Should the prac- 

 tice of using it for this purpose become general, 

 it is evident a great addition will be made lo the 

 resources of agriculture, particularly in the neigh- 

 borhood of towns and villages. There is one 

 application of the solution of copperas, not al- 

 luded to in the letter, which we would suggest 

 to those who shall make a trial of it ; we mean 

 its application to the ordinary dung-hill. If each 

 new layer added to a manure heap were sprin- 

 kled with copperas water, much, if not all of 

 I hat most valuable element, the ammonia, which 

 is now lost by its volatility, would be converted 

 into a fixed salt, and thus saved. We suppose, 

 of course, that the double decomposition which 

 ensues on the addition of sulphate of iron to 

 human excrement, would take place equally in 

 the farm yard, a fact easily determined by expe- 

 riment. T. 



Translated from the Moniteur Industriel of July 11, 

 for the Cultivator. 



Sir, — In experimenting upon the simplest and 

 most economical practical means of saturating 

 the carbonate of ammonia of fecal substances,, 

 I have ascertained that sulphate of iron is to be 

 preferred. This salt in small crystals and of the 

 commonest quality, may be had for eight or ten 

 francs the quintal metrique, (220^ lbs. avoirdu- 

 pois — in Albany, copperas is sold at from $1 

 37| to $1 75 per 100 lbs.) and is more easily 

 transported and managed than acids, which may 

 occasion accidents in unpracticed hands. But 

 sulphate of iron offers another remarkable ad- 

 vantage which must secure for it a preference. 



The noxious and disagreeable effluvia exhaled 

 by fecal substances, proceeds chiefly from the 

 volatilization of carbonate of ammonia and sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen gas, which has been often 

 fatal to scavengers. If we pour a solution of 

 sulphate of iron into fecal matters, a double de- 

 composition immediately takes place ; the sul- 

 phuric acid of the sulphate combines with the 

 ammonia, converting it into a fixed salt, and the 

 iron forms with the sulphur, sulphuret of iron. 

 The exhalations of ammoniacal vapor and sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen immediately disappear, and 

 the fecal substances lose all but a slight smell 

 peculiar to them, combined with the odor of the 

 little vegetable matter they contain, and are not 

 at all offensive. 



When these substances are sufficiently liquid, 

 the solid excrements are dissolved (in great part); 

 what remains, precipitating as a blackish slime. 



I obtained this result by treating in the above 

 manner, the contents of my house privy. The 

 liquid I used at two degrees of strength for wa- 

 tering my garden, and the blackish deposit of 

 trifling volume which had subsided, was spread 

 upon the beds without occasioning the least in- 

 convenience. 



Fecal matters saturated with a solution of 



