, 1873-05-21
The Editor Of the "St. CrOix Avis"
Dear Sirl

Dear Sir!
l must return you many thanks for the space
you afforded me in your issue Of No. 40, and
will with your permission intrude again upon
your columns with a few more remarks on the
same subject, which ought to have great
weight with our Planters, it being their espe-
oial interest to obtain an efficient Fertilizer
with which to ~renovate the worn out lands Of
this Island so as to make them WELD as plenti-
full crops, as they did in former years.
The Planters will likely say, "let us get the
same quantity of rain as in those days, and we
will yet make good crops, - but this [ doubt very
much simply, because the soil has become i'm
poYerished since then, and requires to have re-
turned to it all that has been taken from it in
the shape of Sugar, M0lasSes, Rum, Stock, Pro
visions &C &c; and this can be effected through
the use of good manure, together with the much
desired rain.
Allow me therefore to quote the opinion of a
very eminent and successful farmer Mr.. Geo.
r. Warning ir. of Ogden Farm, New Port,
Rhode Island u. S. A. who says ''that the
Earth Closets and Dry Earth System when
compared with the Water Closet is so much
cheaper, and so much less liable to get out of
order and to need expensive rapairs, that it's
use would relieve landlords and tenants of an
onerous tax, while its greater efficiency, and
AUS III BlGdUC1 dUlltby " WltuSbduQ dUuS8 WlJu-
out becoming dangerously offensive, are such
that, if the single difficulty Of earth supply and
removal were obviated, its use would extend
almost as fast as the conviction of its advan-
tages".
at will be found, by computation, that this
difficulty is much less serious than at first
would be supposed.
For instance, ] will assume (aocording to
his views in regard to the City of New York1
that the Dry Earth System is put in general
use in both towns of this Island which con
tain on an average a polulatiOn of 5000 in
diyiduals. Under these circumstances there
will probably be IL, 1000 uses of the closet per
day. This would require according to Profess
sor joys estimate 500 cubic feet of earth, or
about 90 one horse cart loads. With proper ar
rangements in convenient situations for redry-
ing and sitting the earth so that each
lot should be used five times, 4 loads Of
fresh earth would have to be brought
into both towns for every days use and, if tha
waste and evaporation counterbalanced the So
lid dry matter of the feces, an equal amount
would have to be removed daily.
BY this computation, if the annual voidingS
of each person are valued at SIS, each load
taken out after five uses would be worth 1927.
This would allow SO for the first cost of the
earth, and S. for each handling.
Basing the calculation upon MIR. Moule's
estimate of Il lbs. for each use, the daily re-
quirement would be 8 tons, or, if used five
times over, a trife less than 2 tons or eight
times over a little more than ton. BY these
calculations the manure being worth SIS pr
individual, the manure, after five uses, would
be worth scoop ton, and after eight uses
500 pr ton, allowing fully $l2 per ton for
each handling.
There can be no doubt whatever that earth
which has been used five times in the Closet
will find a ready sale at $50 pr ton in New
York (for it is usual in England to estimate