At 10:02 AM 11/13/97 -0500, Cathy Spude wrote:
> So the folks in the 17th and 18th century probably had equally
> inventive ways of taking care of their waste material, if they
> cared about sitting out in the cold weather. The rest of the
> time...well, they weren't Victorians, so why do you even need the
> woods?
Actually, you have to remember that urine was used as a bleaching agent for
textiles as well as one of the ingredients for making that wonderful
dendogram pattern on pearl and white wares.... So modern attitudes don't
necessarily apply. Also, if you are on the farm and composting why not add
it to the compost? Don't forget that saltpeter is extracted from the bottom
of 'compost' piles--how often did people have to resort to manufacturing
their own gunpowder?
Mary Ellin D'Agostino
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