1863J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1G9 
The "Night Soil" of Hew- York City. 
That night soil is one of the most concen- 
trated and powerful fertilizers, has long been 
known ; though from natural aversion, for wise 
reasons made instinctive, few persons are wil- 
ling to turn this material to practical account. 
There are in this City, at all times, more than a 
million of resident and transient persons. If 
we estimate the night soil at only eight ounces 
per' day for each inhabitant, the yearly amount 
would reach 182 i million pounds, or ninety-one 
thousand tons ! This material would doubtless 
be worth to the fields of the Eastern States at 
least two cents per pound, if it were properly 
saved and mixed with the soil, or more than 
three and-a-half million dollars ! Indeed we 
believe it would produce an increased product 
of crops worth five or ten fold this sum. Since 
the introduction of Croton Water, a large pro- 
portion of this night soil is washed into the 
sewers, and then out to mingle with the waters 
of the ocean. Still, according to the City In- 
spector's report, about 9,000 privies, vaults, etc., 
are annually cleaned by night scavengers, the 
contents being conveyed away in covered carts. 
The number of cart loads (25 bushels each) rang- 
es from 40,000 to 50,000 a year. The extension 
of water pipes is constantly decreasing this 
amount. The carts are dumped into barges at 
a few points along the river. For the five years, 
1861-5, the barges are furnished by the Lodi 
Poudrette Company, the City paying them 
about $15,000 per annum. We recently visited 
the works of this Company, located on the west 
side of the Hackensack River, N. J., about half 
way between New- York and Newark, in order 
to see how they disposed of the material, and 
to learn from observation, whether it was 
honestly prepared for use by farmers. For 
twenty years past farmers have heard of the 
Lodi Poudrette, and large numbers have used it. 
Some of our acquaintances have purchased it 
regularly for from five to twentyyears, and be- 
lieve it a good investment. We made our visit 
to the works without previous notice, to the 
end that we might see just how the manufac- 
ture was carried on in the ordinary daily rou- 
tine. The accompanying sketch gives a general 
view of the works. About six acres of swamp 
marsh, along the bank of the Hackensack river, 
are occupied by the buildings and drying beds. 
This is, we believe, the most extensive estab- 
lishment of the kind in the world, exceeding 
even the noted Poudrette Works near Paris. 
As will be seen in the engraving, there is a long 
wharf (about 1000 feet in length). Running par- 
allel with this are a series of canals, or reser- 
voirs, for holding the night soil as it is raised 
from the barges by means of buckets and poured 
into them. Sixteen of these barges (holding 
about 8000 bushels each) are constantly plying 
back and forth to the city, or lying at the 
wharves to receive the material. The end of 
one of the reservoirs is seen in the foreground. 
The emptying of the barges is done by a port- 
able steam engine moved along the wharf to 
the different landing places. The material is 
dropped from the buckets upon a coarse screen 
•which separates the larger rubbish — bricks, 
pails, boots, etc. In the reservoirs the dark 
green, semi-fluid mass partially dries down, the 
odors arising being from some cause much less 
offensive than we expected to find them. Back 
of these reservoirs are the drying beds where 
the men are seen at work with shovels. These 
are in part covered with board flooring, and in 
part are the smooth ground surface. 
The manufacturing process is begun by 
spreading over the surface of the floors, a thin 
layer of muck dug near by, or alluvial soil 
brought from a point where it is washed out by 
the Hackensack and Passaic rivers. The night 
soil is then taken from the reservoirs, and a thick 
coating spread over the layer of muck. As it 
gradually dries out, the mass is shoveled over 
by large gang3 of men, of whom 100 to 120 
are employed at the works. This shoveling 
over and mixing is done several times, be- 
fore the whole is dry enough to be taken in 
wheelbarrows to the screening buildings. In the 
latter it is thrown into large heaps, and again 
shoveled over to make the whole mass as uni- 
form as possible. This is important, for if not 
done, the variable character of the night soil, 
as gathered from different parts of the city, might 
make one batch inferior to another. 
The next process is to pulverize and screen 
the mass. To do this, it is shoveled into box 
sieves, and worked over and over, and beat 
with shovels until the finer portions fall through 
the screens. It is then ready for packing into 
barrels. These 
are all man- 
ufactured on the 
spot, the sawn 
staves being 
brought from 
Maine, the ready 
made heads from 
Massachusetts, 
and the hoops 
from various 
places. (Tiie 
staves, heads, 
and hoops now 
cost about 18 cts. 
per barrel, and 
the men get sis 
cents per barrel 
for putting them 
together, averag- 
ing 35 per day 
per man.) — We 
were greatly a- 
mused at seeing 
the immense 
masses of rub- 
bish separated 
from the night 
soil, during the different screenings, show- 
ing the privy vaults to be an "omnium gath- 
erum " for all conceivable things, deposited in 
part by design, and in part by accident. We no- 
ticed brick bats by the scores of cartloads ; bottle 
corks by the million ; broken crockery of every 
possible kind, and some not broken ; stove 
pipes ; tin pans, tin pails, tin funnels, tin kettles, 
and about everything else made of tin ; children's 
toys in inconceivable numbers, and of evciy kind 
ever made; beer bottles, stone jugs, glass bottles, 
and glass ware of all kinds ; oyster cans, sar- 
dine cases, brooms, oil cans, carpets, old gar- 
ments of all sorts ; hats, boots, shoes, books, 
clock wheels, etc., etc.— not to mention bones, 
(some of them evidently human), many watch- 
es, gold rings, and other jewelry, precious stones, 
coins genuine and counterfeit in large numbers, 
counterfeit dies, etc. The workmen often find 
valuable prizes, which is perhaps one incentive 
to the following of a business at best unpleas- 
ant. Women gather the glassware and sort it, 
selling the different kinds at various prices, to 
be melted over, or ground up. They also gath- 
er the bones, the company paying a stipulat- 
ed price per bushel. The establishment is 
worth visiting as a "curiosity shop" quite equal 
in some respects to Barnum's. Any one going 
there will need to provide himself with a good 
pair of boots, and, if having over sensitive nasal 
organs, to take along a bottle of hartshorn. 
Strange to say, however, the manufactured pro- 
duct, though containing but a small proportion 
of muck as an absorbent or dryer, is in the 
form of a dry powder, and nearly inodorous. 
After being put in barrels, it is taken to the 
city warehouse, and delivered to the different 
steamboats, railroads, etc. Farmers take away 
large quantities in bulk. The fact that there 
are regular customers who come year after year, 
(we conversed with some of them who chanced 
to come while we were there), is fair evidence 
that the material is of practical value. It is 
used most largely for corn, a handful in the hill 
with the seed, to give it a vigorous atari, a good 
developement of the first roots whether on 
poor or good soil. Its great merit seems to be 
quick action upon young plants. It is not in- 
jurious to the seed, though in contact with it. 
Poor or heavy soil needs also coarser barnyard 
manure, to improve both the tilth and fertility. 
