Dave

Good question.  I'm grappling with the same issue myself, as far as likely use of nightsoil on vegetable beds by market gardeners can be assumed.  My sites are three Chinese-operated market gardens [truck farm in American, I believe] that have been used as such for in excess of 150 years, on the periphery of Sydney's urban area.  Prior to Chinese lessees from c. 1900 there were Irish, Cornish and German farmers on the sites.

My working hypothesis is that the garden beds have a fairly uniform scatter of artefacts [ceramic, a little bit of glass, some burnt/ unburnt bone, rust blobs etc]  exposed on top, and presumably in the matrix.  The uniformity appears on eyeball survey to relate to both general density of material and its composition across a farily large vegie farm .  There is an article in HA on this sort of use of nightsoil [sorry, author escapes me at the moment].  These would be broadly consistent with privy contents.

Alternative explanations would likely be a centralised refuse dump that has gradually been ploughed out across the paddock - but you would expect a single or clear concentration to remain in the original site, or soil with artefacts being brought in, but also how to explain its uniform presence.  The presence of burnt and unburnt bone also suggests that general kitchen refuse was also either broadcast directly or added to a compost pile that was then also used to fertilise the beds.

There are chemical markers for the presence of human faecal material.  Whether they would survive in an operating environment like an open well-watered farm system, where chemical and other animal manures were also used I couldn't guess.

I also know from farmers who use the manure of their own animals for fertiliser that rather than just whipping it straight out onto the crops they will pile it to further breakdown bacteria and, in the case of cows, poorly digested veg. matter, and also mix in clay or lime or whatever else they need to add at that point.

Hope this helps.

Denis

 



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Denis Gojak
Heritage Asset Manager
NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning
2-10 Wentworth Street
Parramatta NSW 2150
PO Box 404 Parramatta 2124
Ph:    +61 2 9895 7940
Fax:   +61 2 9895 7946
Email: [log in to unmask]

>>> [log in to unmask] 03/29 1:06 pm >>>
Is there a step by step process for positively identifying night soil? Such
as, sample A is night soil because it contains this, this and this, but
lacks this, and this.

I would appreciate any help, or just being pointed in the right direction.
Thanks, Dave Stinson.


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