326 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB. 
A desultory conversation then ensued as to the 
future proceedings of the club. Much diversity of 
opinion appeared to exist as to the propriety of 
holding the meetings weekly, fortnightly, or month¬ 
ly, when a committee was appointed to report up¬ 
on the subject. 
Dr. Field next called the attention of the club to 
a subject which he considered deserving their se¬ 
rious attention, viz: the present condition of the 
children now in the alms-house on Long Island. 
He thought they might be employed advantage¬ 
ously to themselves and the public, either in the 
cultivation of the mulberry, and general manage¬ 
ment of silk, or in horticultural occupations. He 
then proceeded to describe with feeling eloquence, 
their present deplorable condition, both morally 
and physically, arising from the system of idleness 
they are now allowed to pursue. 
He was followed by Mr. Stevens, and Mr. Car¬ 
ter, who both agreed that it was high time some 
steps should be taken to ameliorate the condition 
of the poor children, and it was finally resolved: 
That a committee consisting of Dr. Field, Mr. 
Stevens, and Mr. Carter, be appointed to investi¬ 
gate the subject, and petition the corporation that 
the pauper children of this city, now on the Long 
Island farm, be employed in horticultural pursuits 
generally, and also in the raising and manufacture 
of silk. 
Mr. Stevens then made some remarks on the sub¬ 
ject of wax-flowers and fruits, a specimen of which 
was exhibited by Mr. Lane. Mr. Stevens thought 
that a model of every new variety of fruit ought 
to he taken in wax, and preserved at the Reposito¬ 
ry of the Institute. 
A motion was made and carried that the execu¬ 
tive committee be instructed to consider the sub¬ 
ject. 
Gen. Tallmadge suggested that a list of donors 
of fruits, &c., he kept by the secretary, and placed 
on the records of the club at every meeting, which 
was unanimously agreed to. 
The meeting then adjourned to Tuesday, the 
28th November. 
The following are the extracts on refuse gas, 
sent to the club by the President of the Manhattan 
Gas-Light Company:— 
“ If the properties of manure, and its agency up¬ 
on the growth of the vegetable world, can be ex¬ 
plained by chemistry, we shall find the ammonia- 
cal liquor produced in gas-works, to be a valuable 
substitute for those manures, by the application of 
which it is intended to supply the soil with nitro¬ 
gen. 
“ One of the most valuable manures is urine, 
and its excellence depends almost entirely upon 
the ammoniacal salts which it holds in solution. 
The relative value of urine as manure, depends 
upon the quantity of nitrogen the different kinds 
yield. Thus human urine is the most esteemed, 
and that of horned animals the least.”— Clegg's 
Treatise on Gas-Making. 
According to Liebig, 547 pounds of human ex¬ 
crement contain 16.41 pounds of nitrogen; a quan¬ 
tity sufficient to yield the nitrogen of 800 pounds ot 
wheat, rye, oats, or of 900 pounds of barley. How 
much more, then, will be supplied from an equal 
weight of ammoniacal liquor! 
Mr. J. Watson, the manager of the gas-works 
at Kirriemuir, has favored me with the following 
facts:— 
“ The ammoniacal liquor on the surface of the 
tar-well has been found a very great improve¬ 
ment as a manure for raising crops of grass in this 
quarter, by being sprinkled on the field in the 
same way as water is put on public streets in large 
towns, to keep down dust in dry weather. I have 
myself seen an experiment of this tried, and can 
say that part of a field of grass sprinkled in this 
way, after the first cutting, was far superior to any 
other part of the field receiving manure of any 
other kind, and that the part so sprinkled, or 
showered over, was ready to be cut down a second 
time in the course of between fourteen days and 
three weeks; whereas, the other part of the field 
cut at the same time, was only beginning to spring 
or rise from the roots in that time. It must be 
mixed up before use with four parts of common 
water. In particular, the said experiment of the 
gas-water has been used by David Naim, Esq., 
Doumkilba, near Meigle, in this neighborhood, 
with success; and I am informed that he has pur¬ 
chased and taken a lease of the ammoniacal liquor 
from different gas-companies in this country. 
“ I am convinced much good might be derived 
from different qualities of the refuse products of 
gas-works as manure. An inquiry into this sub¬ 
ject would remunerate the engineer or agricultur¬ 
ist to the full, and would besides confer a consider¬ 
able benefit upon his fellows, and give that prac¬ 
tical proof of the correctness of a theory so wel¬ 
come to the man of science.” 
“ The fertilizing power of gypsum has been ex¬ 
plained by its supposed action on the ammonia 
which is presumed to exist in the atmosphere. If 
this be the true explanation, a substance contain¬ 
ing ammonia should act at least as energetically. 
At all events, the action of foldyard manure and 
of putrid urine, is supposed to depend chiefly on 
the ammonia they contain or give off. 
‘‘Now among "the substances containing ammo¬ 
nia in large quantity, the ammoniacal liquor of the 
gas-works is one which can easily be obtained, 
and can be applied in a liquid state at very little 
cost. It must be previously diluted with water 
till its taste and smell become scarcely perceptible. 
“ I would propose therefore, as a further exper¬ 
iment, that along with one or more of the substan¬ 
ces above mentioned, the ammoniacal liquor of the 
gas-works should be tried, on a measured portion 
of ground, and, if possible, in the same field. 
