314 
VALUE OF URINE. 
Geological Surveyor of Delaware, the fore- 
named deposite from the river contains the follow¬ 
ing ingredients :— 
Protoxide of iron,.6.609 
Silica, . 64.600 
Alumina,.12.510 
Manganese, trace. 
Lime, combined with sulphuric 
acid, . 0.311 
Lime, . 0.170 
Magnesia,.0.860 
Soda, . 0.404 
Potassa, . 0.465 
Phosphoric acid, . 0.982 
Sulphuric acid,.0.485 
Chlorine, . . . 0.140 
Organic matter, . . . . . . 6.080 
Water,. 5.500 
99.116 
This soil is considered as of the first quality and 
contains all the elements essential to fertility. 
The Messrs. Reybold are still going on draining 
these marshes, and for the purpose are erecting 
windmills to pump out the water, of which I may 
speak more particularly hereafter. Mr. John 
Reybold has erected one to supply his spring house 
with water. Of their dairies, I examined only one, 
consisting of 48 cows, from which were made and 
sent to market, in the month of June last, 1,225 
pounds of butter. Among these cows were some 
young heifers, a few strippers (cows nearly dry), 
while there were others suckling their calves ; so 
that, with what milk and butter were used in the 
family, 40 of the number would be a fair estimate, 
yielding within a fraction of a pound of butter to 
each cow per day. Some years since, Mr. R. pur¬ 
chased an entire herd of Holstein cows of a person 
who imported them, from which he has been breed¬ 
ing ever since, crossing them with other blood, 
mostly Short-Horns. Had he been careful in pre¬ 
serving a thorough-bred strain of the Short-Horns, 
now, with his rich pastures, he would probably 
have had a herd superior to any in America. The 
cows, however, on all the farms, are generally good, 
but more pains ought to be taken in breeding. 
Mr. R. puts up his butter in half-pound blocks 
in boxes 12 by 18 inches and 2 feet deep, shelved 
all round the inside with six shelves, one above 
the other, having a copper tube, 6 inches in diame¬ 
ter, in the middle, which is filled with ice. In the 
lower end of this tube and also in the bottom of 
the box, there are holes to let off the water formed 
by the melting ice. In this manner, the butter is 
sent to the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets, 
where it sells readily for 25 cents per pound. The 
churn consists of a revolving cylinder, holding from 
100 to 120 gallons, not quite so long as a hogs¬ 
head, but larger in diameter, and less bulging in 
the middle, and is worked by a windmill. The 
milk house is half under ground, having a cement¬ 
ed stone or brick floor, with streams of cold water, 
constantly running through broad, cemented gut¬ 
ters, two or three inches deep, all about the pans. 
The milk of one of the other dairies is made into 
ice cream, which is sent to market with the but¬ 
ter. As it was six o’clock, of a hot afternoon. 
much fatigued with the labors of a long day, I did 
much better justice to myself in testing the quali¬ 
ties of the ice cream, than to the owner thereof. 
The peach orchards of Messrs. Reybold are no¬ 
torious throughout the country. The trees are 
generally planted about 20 feet apart, with the 
branches interlocking each other, and are loaded 
with fruit, presenting the appearance of a forest. 
They sent to market, last year, upwards of 90,000 
baskets, and this year, 1848, they think that they 
will have double the quantity ! Mr. Clayton Rey¬ 
bold, the owner of the sheep before described, has 
about 400 acres of land, a part of the old home¬ 
stead, where he has a peach orchard, on which he 
employed, last year, two yokes of oxen, five pairs 
of mules, and other hired teams in conveying his 
peaches to market. Much of the labor of gather¬ 
ing the fruit is performed by mechanics and other 
people, from Philadelphia, who come more for a pas¬ 
time than for profit. They live and sleep, during 
their stay, in a large building on the farm, which is 
occupied a part of the year for storing grain. 
I am no agrarian, and have no disposition to see 
this large estate cut up and divided among those 
who have been less successful in accumulating 
wealth. Such a numerous and enterprising family, 
with such industrious and economical habits, who 
have shown themselves in so striking a degree, I 
for one, wish to see them live and prosper together. 
I have said nothing of the sons-in-law, not having 
had the pleasure of meeting them at their houses. 
I understand, however, that they are contributing 
their full quota to the prosperity of the concern. 
One of them, a Mr. Clark, is a very successful ag¬ 
riculturist, and is president of the Delaware State 
Agricultural Society." There is one thing, how¬ 
ever, which I wish the reader to understand ; that 
is, the repeated observations which I have made, 
from time to time, in the Agriculturist, of too much 
land, does not apply here ; for, although the farms 
are all large, they are well cultivated, and produce 
fair crops. Samuel Allen. 
Delaware City , July \9th^ 1848. 
Value of Urine.— It is calculated that the urine 
of the twenty millions of inhabitants of Great 
Britain, if saved and applied to the growing crops, 
would be worth annually, $25,000,000 ! This 
would be equal to 500,000 tons of Peruvian guano, 
valued at $50 per ton! What an item to be 
saved among the farmers of that country; yet, 
it nearly all goes to waste there. In the United States, 
it is still worse; for we save comparatively but 
little from our domestic animals, whereas, in 
Great Britain they save a great deal. 
(a) The subject of the apparent spontaneous 
growth of vegetation has been a theme of much 
speculation, and has drawn out many curious facts 
useful to be known, without arriving at any defi¬ 
nite or satisfactory results. The following article 
on the Spontaneous Growth of Vegetation, although 
not according, in all respects, with our own views, 
contains some interesting information on the sub¬ 
ject, and is well worthy the perusal of all those 
who are engaged in speculations or investigations 
of the kind. 
