BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 157 
in the city; for the reason, as they say, that the liquid portion of 
the night-soil may be absorbed by the straw, and the offensive smell 
diminished. But it is plain that by this method of procedure they 
really prepare a complete manure, which from some points of view - 
might be regarded as an almost perfect mixture of fertilizers. It is 
no wonder that these skilful persons should have reason to believe, as 
they do, in the peculiar efficacy of night-soil, or that they should 
marvel at their brother farmers’ persistence in a prejudice against it 
which to them seems highly absurd. Equally good results could 
probably be obtained by using night-soil in conjunction with potash 
salts from Stassfurt, or with wood-ashes brought by rail from the 
interior. So long as the cesspool system of disposing of night-soil 
continues to find place in our cities or in their suburbs, this substance 
will be one cheap resource for the neighboring farmers. There may, 
I think, have been a time in the history of the country around Bos- 
ton when one at least of the best systems of farming possible under 
the circumstances of the locality, might have been based upon the 
combined use of horse-manure and night-soil brought from the city ; 
though probably it would usually have been best to use some wood- 
ashes also. It would be an interesting question, to be determined in 
actual farm practice, how much the system of farming just indicated 
could be improved upon to-day in the environs of Boston, in so far as 
the economical use of fertilizers is concerned.* A very good appre- 
ciation of the matter was shown long ago by a successful farmer of 
West Cambridge, Mr. George Pierce. In 1841 he assured Mr. Col- 
man, at that time State Commissioner for the Agricultural Survey of 
Massachusetts, that he valued very highly stable manure, brought 
from Boston, and night-soil that had been composted, and that he had 
a high estimation for wood-ashes. ‘When the soap-boiler calls to 
buy Azs ashes for the customary price of ten cents a bushel, he re- 
plies by offering the soap-boiler twenty cents a bushel for all he has, 
* As regards the continued use of night-soil by itself, the following passage from 
Oliphant’s Narrative of Elgin’s Mission to China, Vol. I. p. 252, is of interest. 
Near Shanghai the author saw “fields of wheat, beans, etc., reeking with high- 
flavored manure, but bearing, nevertheless, thin crops and abundance of weeds. 
The land in China, even in the elaborate cultivation of their kitchen-gardens, is 
never properly worked. The surface merely is scratched and then deluged with 
strong manure. The consequence is, that though the young crops sometimes look 
green and promising, they seldom bear heavily.” 
