1807.] 
AMKRICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
59 
jn coiisrilulion for the general use of farmers. I 
then commenced crossing the “ Alclerneys” with 
all these breeds, and after careful observation I 
am convinced that Alderneys crossed with Ayr- 
siiircs produce the best and most desirable cow 
to be had for all purposes. The Ayrshires are of 
giMid size, extremely hardy, and good milkers, 
but the (pialily of milk is no better than the Dev¬ 
ons, natives, etc.; but cross the Alderneys with 
them and you get a hardy animal, with the rich 
milking quality of the Alderney. You increase 
the size over the thorough-bred Alderney. Half 
Alderney and half Ayrshire is, I think, the very 
best cow extant. I have now in my herd several 
heifers of this cross, three years old last spring, 
that the past season gave 12 to 14 quarts milk 
l>er day each, and made 12 pounds of siilendid 
butter per week on good p.asture. If the farm¬ 
ers in the dairy sections of our country would 
try the crossing of their present breeds of cows 
•with thorough-bred Alderney bulls, they would 
greatly improve their stock, increase both the 
quantity and quality of their butter, and benefit 
the millioHS of con»urmr$ of these articles of 
necessity and luxury in every family. T. F. 
Night Soil as a Manure. 
The use of night soil as .a fertilizer has fro- 
quently l>een advocated in these columns, and 
we have cndeavorcil to show how a generally 
wasteil article might be turned to account. Re-> 
cently we have had sent to us, by several corres- 
pondenLs, an article that originally appeared in 
the Sprinafield Itepublican, which w’C quote; 
“ Very severe prohibitions have been issued 
in France, Kngland and Germany, against the 
use of poudrette, imperfectly preparcxl, it hav¬ 
ing iMjen proven by careful e.xperiments that the 
ffircal m.atter of sinks cannot be converted wkh 
safety into garden manure under five years’ 
careful preparation. Pestilential and other dis¬ 
eases are propagated by vegeUblcs grown in 
soil thus manured. Yet, it is stated that these 
de.alh-dispensing deposits are absolutely used in 
the market gardens around our large American 
cities in their natural state, and many of the 
fruits and vegetables so grown can be told by 
the nostrils or the taste before they are cooked, 
ami in the process of cooking. It is the opinion 
of skillful medic.al observers, that nearly all the 
novel diseases which now afilict many American 
cities, owe their origin to the organic diseased 
matter taken up by vegetables and Iruits grown 
in soil dressed by the fcccal m.iWer of the sinks, 
and transferred to the stomach. Galloping con¬ 
sumption in persons whose families have never 
been subject to this terrible disea.se have been 
traced to the use of vegetables grown by pou¬ 
drette.” 
These are serious charges, which if true w'ould 
warrant the denunciation contained in the arti¬ 
cle, and our readers need not be told that if there 
were the least foundation for such an alarming 
report we should not only not advocate the use 
of night soil, but bo among the first to condemn 
it Let us look a little at the alleged facts in the 
above sutement Are there any ” prohibitioms ” 
in France, England and Germany ? As to the 
last named country, we cannot speak so posi¬ 
tively, but in England, the use of city sewage 
has been attended with such profitable results, 
that one of the important problems of the day 
i* to increase its employment, and prevent a 
fjarful waste. In olden times, 1789, there was a 
proiiibiUon in France, but the restriction was 
.Ion- ago removed,and we are quite certain tha 
it has not been renewed, a.s the most recent 
French work on gardening, only a few weeks 
old, speaks of the use of night soil. Tbe jor 
of .M. Gressent, 1805, gives plans of some of he 
celebrated market gardens, in which are tanka 
for holding liquid manure, made from this 
“ death dispensing deposit.” Joigneaux, in the 
most recent and most elaborate work on gar¬ 
dening yet published in France, says that the 
exclusive use of fujcal matters may give a bad 
flavor to vegetables, but advises their use when 
composted with other matters. It is very pro¬ 
bable that a plant, especially an edible root, if 
grown in ground containing a large quantity of 
recent night soil, would have an unpleasant 
flavor. Yet we have eaten vegetables from a 
garden where this manure was used exclusively 
for a series of j’cars, and though our prejudices 
kept us on the lookout for something unpleas¬ 
ant in their flavor, we failed to detect it. 
In China and Japan their success in gardening 
—for their agriculture is almost all gardening— 
has for centuries depended upon the use of this 
manure, as they have scarcely any other. 
As to the medical view of the case, no names 
being given to the “medical observers” we 
attach no weight to their “ opinion.” As far as 
negative testimony to this point goes, we have 
consulted with two of the most eminent physi¬ 
cians—men who arc known everywhere as' 
among the first in their profession—and they 
have never heard of, or readof, any disease being 
attributed to the use of vegetables treated with 
this manure. 
In all cases we have advised the composting 
and deordorizing of the night soil, and we be¬ 
lieve that when prepared thus, it may be used 
with as much safety as any other fertilizer. We 
regret that a paper so generally correct as the 
Springfield Jlepublican should have given what 
seems to us an unfounded and needless alarm. 
Sense at the “Farmeus’ Club.” —Doubt¬ 
less many who read the reports of the so-called 
Farmers’ Club, really believe that a meeting of 
farmers assembles in New York to discuss 
farming matters. It is simply a miscellaneous 
gathering, including persons, who, by carrying 
on business in the city, arc enabled to keep up a 
farm in the suburbs; doctors whose practice does 
not seem to occupy all their time ; men who 
have given up farming to earn a living by their 
wits, and everlasting talkers, who are always 
delighted with the sound of their own voices. 
These people get together and discuss, with 
equal gravity, tbe influence of the moon, or the 
last invention in the way of bitters. The re¬ 
ports of what they do are about the funniest 
reading extant, and were it not for their comical 
character, it would be a great waste of paper 
on the part of the Tribune to publish them. 
These reports, however, have some good things 
put in by the reporter, or from lus correspon¬ 
dence ; these save the whole thing from being 
utterly ridiculous. Of late, the Club, having ex¬ 
hausted agriculture, have turned their attention 
to medicine-and as the talkers there seem to 
know as much aboutone subject as Uiey do abou 
another, they discoursed about cunng fcvei am 
a-ue as glibly as they would the sticking of pig . 
There is no knowing but the Club won d have 
exhausted medicine and tried its facile hand at 
theology, had not a live farmer happened m, who 
entertained the singular notion that a Faimeis 
Club was for the purpose of discussing fanning. 
We read iu the report; “ Dr. Ilexainer in¬ 
veighed at some length against the discussion of 
medical questions by a Farmers Club. I ecp 
on Doctor, with your “inveighing;” you used to 
be’a good practitioner before you turned farmer 
and if you will only cure the Farmers Club of 
'caeoetfL loquendi, we 'Jf 
skill is equal to the most despemte cases. 
How New York is Supplied with Flowers- 
■ V 
In a large city the sale of cut flowers, in the 
form of bouquets, baskets, table decorations, and 
the like, in the aggregate amounts to a very 
large sum. Every wedding, parly, or similar 
occasion makes a great demand for flowers, and 
during the holidays all the sources of supply 
are taxed to their utmost. It would not be ex¬ 
travagant to estimate the expenditure for flowers 
ill New York City on New Years day at from 
thirty thousand to forty thousand Dollars. 
The little bunch of violets offered on the 
streets, by the flower girls, for a dime, as well 
as the choice bouquet furnished at the florists’ 
stores for $20 and upwards, all require flow¬ 
ers, and for a good part of the year flowers that 
are grown under glass. In all sorts of odd and 
out of the way places we find small greenhouses, 
in which these are iiroduced. The neighborhood 
of Hoboken, N. J., is especially noted for the 
quantity of flowers produced by the German 
growers. These are frequently mechanics, shoe¬ 
makers, tailors, etc., who have small glass struc¬ 
tures, and generally grow but one or a few kinds 
of flowers. One will groiv violets, another car¬ 
nations, another heliotropes, and so on. By giv¬ 
ing attention to only one or two varieties, these 
humble cultivators often attain greater perfec¬ 
tion in their products than do larger establish¬ 
ments where there are niany varieties. The 
floAvers are gathered from these places by mid¬ 
dlemen, Avho bring them to New York for sale 
to the bouquet makers. These flmvers are cut 
Avith great care, and the buyer gets flowers only, 
Avithout any extra buds, and seldom any stem. 
Indeed, the bouquet maker can furnish a better 
stem, for his purposes, from a bit of broom com 
or a sliver of AA'Ood, than the one naturally be¬ 
longing to the flower. The green-houses lefei- 
red to are, hoAvever, small affairs Avhen compar¬ 
ed Avith the large establishments, in Avhich suf¬ 
ficient capital alloAvs the erection of the best 
houses and the use of all the modern appliances. 
One of the most extensive florists’ establish¬ 
ments in the vicinity of Ncav York, is that of 
John Henderson & Co., Flushing, L. I., Avhere 
the production of cut floAvers is made the lead¬ 
ing business. The range of glass is extensive, 
there being tAvelve houses, each 100 feet long, 
built on the Ioav roofed plan, described in Oct., 
1865; these houses are all side by side, on Avhat 
is called the ridge and furrow system. Besides 
houses there is about as much area occupied by 
buildings of other styles. The camellia house is 
very spacious, and the camellias are planted out 
in the open ground of the house. Each of the 
tAvelve buildings above referred to is generally 
occupied by one kind of plant. To look throug i 
a house a hundred feet long, entirely filled with 
Carnations, Bouvardias, or other plants, has a 
sin-ular effect. Those who pet a single plant 
with great care will experience no great amount 
of pleasure at seeing things they have learned 
to regard as individuals, massed into suci 
croAvdl and with no more personal identity than 
r^ldim- in an army. In looking through such 
an establlsliment, OM almost 
ers. A sheet of scarlet is seen m one home,_a 
broatl bed of tvhite in 
another and one goes aAvayAA ith lus senses 
Ti t and smell so ovetrl'd™"' *'J' 
“ fl, “ lost all idea of quality. It .s only wheu 
he has (OS t out of the crowded 
"tmses Ld pa-"g 
^'[.“"expert’ bouquet-maboi- are worked up m- 
lutimi combluatlons, 
to US objects of beauty, and not stock in 
