USE OF LIME IN VAULTS, ETC. 
53 
ing than are to be found in the perishable materials 
of wood and stone. This was the feeling that 
prompted the last breath of our late deceased pre¬ 
sident. When his “ earthly tabernacle” was about 
dissolving its original elements, the remarkable 
words, “ This is the last of earth f was intended, 
in his comprehensive and ever-active and intelli¬ 
gent mind, to include the whole pageantry of mat¬ 
ter in all its forms : and his moral and intellectual 
Fig. 39. Hermitage—Residence of Jackson. 
fame was all the glory that was hereafter to re¬ 
main of that patriot sage. Similar sentiments have 
been eminently characteristic of all our presidents 
deceased. 
The mansion of the elder Adams, which was 
also afterwards occupied by his son, affords a fine 
specimen of the better class of New-England 
Fig. 40. Residence of Taylor, Baton Rouge. 
architecture nearly a century ago. Those of Jef¬ 
ferson and Jackson are samples in building, which 
are to be found among the variety of style in the 
middle states. That of President Taylor shows 
the prevalent fashion of planters’ houses through¬ 
out most of the southern states, especially in 
Louisiana. The latter combines the greatest sim¬ 
plicity and convenience, with the least pretension 
and show, being admirably suited to the comfort 
and wants of the occupants. 
USE OF LIME IN VAULTS. 
There can be nothing more wasteful to the fer¬ 
tilizing properties of night soil, than throwing 
quick lime into the privies. It expels the offensive 
odors, it is true, but these are precisely what are 
most efficient and desirable as manures. It is a 
practice only to be tolerated by those who never 
make any use of the contents of their vaults. The 
strongly alkaline properties of the lime combine 
with the carbonic and other acids, already in com¬ 
bination with the ammonia, thus driving off the in¬ 
valuable fertilizing materials of the latter. Fine 
charcoal, charred peat, plaster of Paris, sulphuric 
acid, and common copperas, (sulphate of iron,) are 
the best additions for vaults, where the contents are 
to be used as fertilizers, as they absorb the gases, 
ammonia, &c., and retain all for manure. If these 
are wanting, add dry mold, or peat, tan bark, or 
sawdust, though these are much more bulky than 
the former, in the ratio of their absorbent powers. 
These may be added from time to time, and when 
sufficiently accumulated, withdrawn for use. 
When the earth contiguous to privies is -exposed 
to saturation, by which the contents may be diluted, 
and thus drained off, the vaults should have per¬ 
fectly tight boxes, which can be easily drawn out 
from behind as fast as filled. The addition of 
wood ashes is to be placed in the same category 
with lime, though these are less objectionable. The 
alkalies of the ashes operate in the same way as the 
stronger and more active alkali of the lime, though 
in a less intense degree. But the cinders of the 
ashes are absorbents of the gases, and, to the ex¬ 
tent that they exist, are directly beneficial in this 
combination. 
GUANO vs. FOUDRETTE. 
We notice with some surprise the constant in¬ 
crease in the consumption of guano, when large 
quantities of fcecal matter, which constitute.the fer¬ 
tilizing properties of poudrette, are suffered to go 
to waste. The cities of the United States annually 
expend large sums, in the aggregate, to get rid of 
the ordure of their yards, which, if properly manag¬ 
ed, would bring them an income even larger than the 
amounts they now pay to have it removed. 
Did it ever occur to the reader that these same 
excrements, which are thrown away, or are washed 
through sewers into the rivers, and thence floating 
along their currents to the ocean contribute to the 
growth of fishes and sea plants 1 That these same 
fishes and plants are devoured by seals and aquatic 
birds, which drop their offal on islands off the 
coast of Africa, Patagonia, or Peru, and there form 
the guano of commerce ? And that this same guano, 
after many years, is brought back to us again, thou¬ 
sands of miles, at no small expense, to fertilize our 
land I Truly, this is a round-a-bout way of feeding 
our crops. 
Would it not be more economical to save, and 
apply these manures directly to our fields, and thus 
benefit the present generation, instead of letting 
them pass off into the ocean to be returned to our 
successors, in an expensive form, perhaps fifty years 
hence ? If we are parsimonious in saving money, 
why shpuld we not be the same in husbanding the 
fertilizing substances of the stable, the sink, or of 
any similar matter within our reach ? 
