The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-06-18

-,s,o,afion to the earth, toie7,ce IL origi-
Fs,isI necessary for iadmtai,aing produc-
s" ,;,,,,,ass as ,cell us for the preseTvationo of
%( Itglh Of communities. "a
ga meeting of the committee on sani-
- measures at Cologne, in Prussia, re :.
%:,,y MIR. Eisbein, a gentleman who is
"I '[;nr agriculture a science, made some
i...srrSiing remarks upon the question Of
vtr,rc. Mr.. Eisbein said The question
,.Erc rs is not only a sanitary one, or one
,S,s zinc the culture Of our fields, but even
'', , snc;aI one, that concerns every class oi.
We need not only, pure air and pure
rs,cr ~a, Of both of which articles VIC have
'.rccIv 's1 sufficientsupplyin our large cities
fC,l.,nc has about one-third to one-half,
.,rs inhabitants than Richmondl, but ,alsa;
prasd and meat. II is q much-used COM
".nr,oce Wv that if man had no stomach the
lions of master and servant, friend and
,,,rny. right and wrong, would ceases and,
,Lst the fundamental principle of POLITICAL,
,,';al. @ and family life, Of commerce, trade,
.lo arts, etc, is that man issubject to law
- e n.tnre that forces him every day TO take
ccr,ain quantity of nourishment, which
hrer he has to get by the sweat OF his.
Low -
There is nothing so natural as that al of
,le causes that affect In any way, the pro-,
Inetion of this food, either furthering or
Iiplerinc it, must react upon all relations
II human life. 1t is factthat intno civil
;,,J country have the productions. Of, the
,n;l in given number of decades kept
.ep with the consumption and this annu-
sIy-incrcasing inequality has but one
r,1se-yiz., the interruption of the circu-
hon Of primitive matter In air, water
and soil. Wherever we turn We see this
CIRCULATION of matter-the evidence that
matter, whatever form it may take,
!. still present, and that none Of the
clements are destroyed. We see this
in the impenetraJle forests, on the prairie,
in the marine fora, &c. All matter, re-,
turns, if even in greatly changed form,
to where it originates. 80. ...s - - = : ~ s.
The science of agriculture is based on
The restoration of the equilibrium which
has been disturbed by the taking from the
.oi! those elements contained in the crop.
Silence and history have shown this con-
AS long MS all mankind lived
by the proceeds of the, chase
and the increase of their herds, circulation
was uninterrupted but soon after the in
Of agriculture, and the formation
Of villages and towns, the organic elements
.0ntained in the food Brought to the cities
allied to return to whence they originated !.
REGULATION was stopped, and then began
he exhausting process man commenced
o prey on the resources of the earth, In
arious ways and degrees it is true, but
ending in the deterioration, the
ruin of agriculture of the respective States.
This process of the impoverishment of
the soil may 60 OH gradually for centuries,
As in Greece, Rome, and Spain; but it can
also he accomplished in very short time,
flor example, in our OWN cotton and tobacco
rowing States.-EditorS DiSpatch.l as we
earn from the reports of the Congress of the
United States, which show clear evidence
that in several States the production Of
wheat has diminished within ten years one
of potatoes one-third So it is
ayerrel that, notwithstanding the increased
,rosrcss in agricultural science and the
letter manipulation Of the soil in that
country, England produced in the year
lI7l 100000 bushels more OF wheat
than in 1880. 1t is a striking fact
that England imports very largely guano,
bone dust, Gillian saltpetre, rapeseed, and
ether fertilizers and consequently, not
outstanding its dense population, ought
not to need imported brcadstnffs, if she
lid not, i'll a spirit Of improyidence, cast
The eXcrcmcntitious matter of this same
population into her rivers by means OF cul-
verts--a loss of such fertilizing material, ).
Of the value of 92,000,000 sterling per
annum alone for London although, accord
ing to Professor Liebig's views and demon
STATIONS, their ralue Is beyond estimation,
for they contain the conditions Of the repro
ductOu of the food from which they orlgl-
mated. No country is rich enough to batybacc
the wantonly-wasted prime conditions OF
life aud were ii even rich enough, it could
not find Il market where to buy them, With
IN adult person, the eXecrements and the
urine contain to within q small fraction the
same ingredients Of the food consumed;
which latter averages about six pounds per
head day. The refuse Of this food ave-
r'ses daily for zach inhabitant a quarter Of a
pound of eXecrements and two and quarter
pounds Of urine. In one year both combined
contain, besides ingredients less important
ioSegetahlc life, Is to IS pounds azote, at 70
celtS (nGermany); Sto9poundsphosphorlc
acid ,at l5cents; and 6to 7poundspotasslum,
at about 10 cents consequently represents
Il value Of more than Sc, supposing the wa
Ter TO be separated from it, and the prepara-
Non to be concentrated SO that it might be
transported like guano, bone dust, &c.
The considerable proportion of Water-74
percent. in the eXcrements, and SO per cent.
o. the urine-renders transportation to any
distance an impossibility. Furthermore, the
unreasonable keeping of them in II mixed
state, which aecelerates decomposition to
an enormous degree, thereby diminishing
'Seir value as manure, would undermine,
slowly but surely, the health Of the neigh
orhOod. Another difficulty is the dilutlon
+" excrcmcnts in the sinks by slops, soap
sadS, &C., whereby the infiltration OF the
surrounding soil is but hastened for the
nest cement resists the influence OF decom-
posing matter but few years, n z
For the gathering and treatment OF hu-,
nan excrements there have been pro-
posed, especially within the last few years,
humber of systems of which, however,
We will mention but those designed to pro-
'ect the inhabitants Of cities from the de-
ie!opment of noxious gases in the dwell
iAss and infiltration Of the soil, and to pre-
serve for the agriculturist the fertilizing
clements. e,
The canalization or washing away Of the
tserementa into neighboring rivers has
isled signally in England, for it neither
checks the development of miasmatic gases
and their return to the habitations, nor
aoes it even remove the noxious arr
lees from the neighborhood Of the
etles; for they generally are washed