Flemish Maimre. 
323 
by the plants. This opinion is also that of the most famous of 
modern agiicultui'ists. 
The Aj^ricultural Committee of Lille, feeling a lively in- 
terest in the public good, cannot too strongly urge the authorities 
to take all necessary measures for furthering the use of night- 
soil in all the rural districts of France. If the great value of 
this powerful fertiliser be taken into account, the childish preju- 
dice which puts an obstacle to its use cannot be too much 
deplored . * 
Attempts to distribute liquid manure throughout every section 
of a rural occupation by machinery and pipes are not to be 
condemned. A considerable outlay at the beginning may often 
save much subsequent expense in hand-labour ; and, besides, the 
distribution is thus effected in a regular manner and in due 
season. At the same time, the Committee is of opinion that 
more may be done towards introducing the general use of night- 
soil in agriculture by starting after the rough and primitive 
fashion of Flanders — that is, by conveying it in carts to the 
fields when the weather is suitable, and spreading it subse- 
quently by means of scoops, or any other simple manner. The 
farmer unacquainted with the practice of the North would see in 
this an undertaking quite within his means. If, on the contrary, 
he imagines that night-soil cannot be'made use of without expen- 
sive machinery, of which he could never dream of becoming the 
owner, he will abandon all idea of employing it, to his own loss 
as well as that of the commonwealth. 
XIX. — -On the Wear and Tear of Agricultural Steam-Engines 
and Threshing Machines, whether Fixed or Portable. 
By Henry Evershed. 
In this paper an attempt is made to estimate the cost of repairs 
and other charges on agricultural steam-engines and threshing 
machinery. The costs in question vary largely, according to 
circumstances. We adhere strictly to actual returns and to cases 
that have come within our own knowledge, selecting specimens 
of various results — good, bad, or moderate^ — in the hope that the 
reader may be able to strike an average applicable to his own 
case, and to establish a reliable basis for calculations as to the 
* Few persons are aware that under the blue sky of Nice the night-soil is care- 
fully collected to serve as manure. Our new countrymen use it for their vines, 
their orange-trees, their violet-plants, &c., which nevertheless does not hinder their 
oranges from being delicious, their grapes excellent, and their violets from forming 
the delight of their " elegantes,'' and the favourite perfume in winter for drawing- 
rooins and boudoirs. 
Y 2 
