THE PLEASURES OF IICtR'77CULTURE. 
, 6 
profusely committed to the soil. A similar system 
ETwght be advantageously introduced on a portion of 
the cultivated land, in this country, even with our 
comparatively sparse population, not only with the 
above manures, but with all other artificial ones, such 
as peat and its mixtures of fish or other purely ani¬ 
mal matters, ashes, lime, plaster, salt, the nitrates, 
sulphates, &c., with a vast advantage both in the sav¬ 
ing of labor and the increase of crops. 
Buffalo , January, 1845. E. L. A. 
(a) We will make a simple suggestion to the pub¬ 
lic without charge. Insert under each aperture of a 
privy, drawers made of wood, iron, or metal, two 
feet wide, two feet deep, and any required length, 
with handles attached at each end, so that they can 
be as easily drawn out and handled as those of a 
desk. Put into these drawers peat, mixed with a 
little plaster of Paris, or charcoal dust mixed with 
plaster, to the depth of six inches or a foot; or, as 
the faeces accumulate in them, add a pound or so of 
copperas dissolved in a few quarts of urine, to eve¬ 
ry fifty pounds of fasces. Thus arranged, not the 
slightest unpleasant smell would arise from the privy; 
and every week or fortnight, carts with tight boxes 
on them, should call at the houses, and these drawers 
be taken out and emptied into them. In this way the 
yards would be purified of a shocking nuisance, and 
vast quantities of poudrette would be weekly manu¬ 
factured, for which any company could well afford 
to pay the city of New York $100,000 per annum. 
In building a large hotel at Morristown last year, 
Mr. Gibbons directed a long vault of stone to be laid 
in water cement, to be constructed under the row of 
privies, gradually declining it one foot to the end of 
'the row. Into this vault charcoal dust and plaster is 
thrown every little while; these mix with the faeces, 
and all settle to the lower end, whence the poudrette 
is taken in carts and applied to the laird. Such a 
vault ought to come up one or two feet above the 
surface of the ground, and not be over two feet below 
it, so that the poudrette thus made could be easily 
loaded into carts. 
Oil of vitriol diluted in water, at the rate of five 
tbs. to a barrel, poured into a vault of moderate size, 
vvili completely disinfect it. When drawers are 
placed to catch the freces, as directed above, no other 
liquid save urine should he emptied into them. 
Boussingault estimates the solid and liquid excre¬ 
ment of a man at 618 lbs. per annum, containing 18 
lbs. of nitrogen; a quantity sufficient to grow 886 lbs. 
of wheat. 
THE PLEASURES OF HORTICULTURE. 
In a very interesting book on the Art of Living\ 
by Dr. Henry Duhring, published in London in 1843, 
the author introduces the subject thus: 
“ Of all the various branches of useful knowledge 
which it can be the object of our endeavors to possess 
and to promote, none appears to me of greater import¬ 
ance to every human being, than that knowledge 
which teaches us in what manner, and by what 
means, we may hope to render our existence as plea¬ 
sant or happy as it possibly can be. Taking as a 
principle, that the study of Nature, and the practice of 
Horticulture, constitute the surest foundation of man’s, 
happiness” 
The Dr. then proceeds to point out how this is, 
and it will not be uninteresting or unprofitable to hear 
what he says. Listen, then, for we are sure you will 
be pleased. “ As, in order to secure health and cheer¬ 
fulness, it is not only a condition of our nature that 
we must labor, but also that we labor in such a way 
as to produce something useful or agreeable ; what¬ 
ever lives, grows, and undergoes changes before our 
eyes, if produced by our own labor, must be more 
productive of enjoyment to us than mere brute mat¬ 
ter. Hence a man who plants, prunes, and trains trees, 
strikes plants from cuttings, or sows a grass-plot in 
his garden, lays, as it has been well observed by Mr. 
Loudon, a more certain foundation of enjoyment than 
he who builds a wall, shoots at a mark, or plays at 
bowls. The pleasure which is enjoyed from the con¬ 
templation of what we have planned and executed 
ourselves, is also infinitely greater than the pleasure 
which can be experienced by seeing the finest works 
belonging to, and planned by, another. For our own 
work is endeared to us by the difficulties we have 
met with and conquered at every step; and every 
such step has its history, and recals a train of inte- 
; resting recollections connected with it. The love of 
the beauty and sublimity of nature is also an inhe¬ 
rent principle in the human soul, though it may no? 
be equally developed, or of the same strength, in 
every individual. The good and the wise of all ages 
have enjoyed their purest and most innocent pleasures 
in a garden, from the beginning of time, when the fa¬ 
ther of mankind was created, until, in the fulness of 
years. He, who often delighted in a garden, was at 
last buried in it.” 
Who, after reading this, will not be ready to admit* 
that the science of Horticulture has the strongest 
claims to our regard, and should be fostered and en¬ 
couraged to the greatest possible extent ? Who does 
; not feel, that of all pleasures, that to be derived from 
a well regulated garden is infinitely more delightful 
than any other? If there be those who are insensi¬ 
ble to every such emotion, it is to be hoped they will 
be regarded as exceptions to the general rule, for we 
hold it to be an admitted truth, that most men are at¬ 
tached to horticultural pursuits, and contemplate with 
admiration, the inimitable work of God. 
As a recreation, gardening has ranked among its 
, votaries the most renowned philosophers and illus- 
! trions princes, and has ever been the favorite amuse¬ 
ment of the most eminent and worthy of mankind 
It is an enjoyment for whieh no man can be too high 
or too low ; a pleasure to the great, a care to the hum¬ 
ble. The interest which Sowers have excited in the 
; breast of man has never been restrained to any par¬ 
ticular class of society, or limited to one particular 
quarter of the globe. Over the whole world we find 
them liberally distributed, as mental medicaments, to 
impart cheerfulness to the earth, and to furnish agree¬ 
able sensations to its inhabitants. The savage of the 
forest, in the joy of his heart, binds his brow with 
the native flowers of his romantic haunts, while a 
taste for their cultivation increases in every country, 
in proportion to its advancement in civilisation and 
refinement. A garden is powerfully attractive in 
binding men to their homes, therefore, every encou¬ 
ragement given to promote a taste for ornamental gar¬ 
dening secures an additional guarantee for domestic 
! comfort, and the unity, morality, and happiness of the 
