Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-03-18
agricultural.
Waste of Manure.

VI
In an address recently delivered before the
Massachusetts Board Of Agriculture, b. Alex
ander Hyde of Lee we find the following
sensible and practical remarks on the subject
of waste in manurcs
- Another neglected source o f fertility is
night soil Partly from ignorance Of it's value
and partly from prejudice, night soil has new
er received that attention in this country
which its merits deserve. By most families
it Is considered nuisance. to be abated as
best it may, often ny bonus To any one who
will remove it. Handling it is indeed not
gathering roses, but the roses may derive
from it their exquisite cOloring and fragrance
1t is one of those fragments that should be
gathered if we desire that nothing be lost.
We carefully save the deposits of that stable
and shoveIing amidst the filth Of the BARNARD
seems to us but play, as we are accustomed to
1t and know that what has fed our cattle must
go to feed our crops, or farm and farmer viii
alike be impoverished. but the richer deposits
of the vault are neglected, and the aggregate
waste immense. No manure we have ever
tried will c0m!ar in cheapness and fertility
with night soil. HE value of animal
manure. depends greatly on the quality OF
the food which the animal consumes, and as
man is the most richly fed, so his excrements
are of the richest nature. In the vault il
found focal matter derived from flour, eggs,
butter, beef and pork, all well sailed and
peppered, and necessarily containing the
clements fitted to produce this highly c0ncen-
trated food. Theory and practice agree in
placing poudrette Mt the head of animal
manure. Johnston says dried night soil is
equal to thirty times its bulk in horse manure.
This is the calculation of the chemist. Cur
experience with it for many years may not
Justify 80 high an estimate, bat from no
manure have we derived 30 satisfactory re
suits. Living near a pOpulOus village, we
have had an opportunity to obtain an abun-
dance, and have not been slow to improve the
privilege. Our practice has been to compost
1t with muck or the refuse charcoal of a
neighboring furnace Coal ashes. sods from
the roadside or leaf mold from the forest will
answer good purpose for the base of the
compost. We have also tried pure sand in
composing, and when tie manure Is to be
applied to clay loan nothing is better.
Night soil is ada pied to all kinds of crops.
We have never known it to fail wherever
applied As it is the result Of the decom-
position of many varieties Of food, 50 it con
tains the elements for the decomposition OF
many. As nation we are beef consumers
even to a greater extent than john Bull him
self, and as all flesh is grass, or mainly de-
rived from grass, we might conclude the
compost of night soil would be good for the
meadows and so we have found it. For corn
and roots 1t seems equally efficient 1t is so
good for every crop, that We are at a loss to
decide where Its application is best. As so
many thousands OF barrels Of flour yearly
comes down the Erie canal into New England
and pass through the alimentary canal into
the vault, we should suppose pOudrette would
be specially adapted for raising wheat, but OF
this we have had no experience \ prejudice
exists in tie midst OF some against the use
OF night soil, arising from its odor, and a fea1
prevails that its presence III the soil Will taint
the growing crop. Nature 5 laboratory is toe
skillfully managed 10 give any occasi n fol
such apprehension. Every pile of manure Is
a mass of filth and i full of disgusting Odors,
but placed IN the soil, the living plant sepa
rates and sublimates the particles. with a skill
which distances all science and returns them
to us, glowing with life, beauty and fragrance
every way adapted to supply the wants o
man and the inferior animals This resur
rection of these vile PARTICLES, so purified il
analogous to the resurrection Of which Pau
speaks: 81 1t is sown a natural body, it il
raised a spiritual body; it Is sown in weak
ness, it is raised in power"
Much night soil is wasted by not frequently
coating the vault with some absorbent
Economy and health alike demands that THU
should be done In warm weather especially
it decomposes readily, and the gases, noxi-
Gus to man, but vital to the plant pass of
abundantly unless retained by some absorbent
A frequent sprinkling of plaster or charcOa
dust, will save this waste. Muck, sOds
sand or any soil will answer for an absorben
and will act as a deodorizcr, So that the
contents of the vault can be removed with
less discomfort.
Another neglected source of manure ii
the henery. We send vessels around Cape
Horn to import the deposits of the birds on
the Pacific islands, but think slightly of the
equally valuable deposits Of our domestic
fowls Distance lends enchantment to the
view of guanO on the Chinchas, while the
home made articles seem too hOmely to be
noticed. Fowls are high livers. Their bill
of fare is meat and vegetables for the first
course, grain for the second and fruits foI
dessert Their excrements are therefore rich
Astounding in urate of ammonia and phosphate
of lime, the two most valuable substances in
manure If exposed to winds and weather
much of the value vanishes into thin air
1t doubtless comes back to the earth AGAR
IN the rains and dews, but is more likely tt
fall on some neighboring farm or estate, thar
on the land of its rightful owner. lt is not
much less mistake TO permit the dropping
of our fowls to lie under cover, but uncover
Gu Will eOInt CUlH posting h."eSA-~- III VII
situation there is less waste from decomposi-
ton. but we have found the dry excrementi
filled with vermin Of various kinds, that make
their abode in it and feed upon it and conse
auently demnish it's value. 1t is wonderful
to see the provisions which a kind Providence
thus makes for turning all forms of decayine
matter again into animal life and keeping
the air pure and the world full of the higher
order of existence. We would not counter
act this benevolent plan of the Creator, but
rather be co-workers with Him, and turn al
this vile, decaying matter, first into such
vegetation as we may choose, and then into
such animal life as we may select. This Is
mans legitimate province, and herein he
exhibits his skill. We have found the best
mode of preserving the droppings of ouI
domestic fowls, is to keep the floor or ground
under their roosts well Uttered with muck ol
earth of some sort. As both the solid and
LIQUID excrements are voided at once, thit
litter is very essential for its proper retention
and the quantity of the manure is greatly
increased without much diminution of it,
quality.
We might speak of the hog yard as a
mandatory of manure on large scale, but