MANURES. 



No subject possesses greater interest to the farmer than this, and 

 the present opportunity would be embraced to present a prize 

 essay by Dr. Voelcker, published in the Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England, " On the Composition of Farm 

 Yard Manure, and the Changes which it Undergoes on Keeping 

 under Different Circumstances," did not its great length, which is 

 due to the minute scientific detail with which his experiments are 

 related, forbid. We give, however, the conclusions at which he 

 arrived, and these are followed by an extract from another essay 

 upon the same general subject : 



Having described at length, my experiments with farmyard 

 manures, it may not be amiss to state briefly the more prominent 

 and practically interesting points which have been developed in 

 the course of this investigation. I would therefore observe : 



1. Perfectly fresh farmyard manure contains but a small pro- 

 portion of free ammonia. 



2. The nitrogen in fresh dung exists principally in a state of 

 insoluble nitrogenized matters. 



3. The soluble organic and mineral constituents of dung are 

 much more valuable fertilizers than the insoluble. Particular care, 

 therefore, should be bestowed upon the preservation of the liquid 

 excrements of animals, and for the same reason the manure should 

 be kept in perfectly waterproof pits, of sufficient capacity to ren- 

 der the setting up of dung heaps in the corner of fields, as much 

 as it is possible, unnecessary. 



4. Farmyard manure, even in quite a fresh state, contains phos- 

 phate of lime, which is much more soluble than has hitherto been 

 suspected. 



5. The urine of the horse, cow, and pig, does not contain any 

 appreciable quantity of phosphate of lime, whilst the drainings of 

 dung heaps contain considerable quantities of this valuable fertil- 

 izer. The drainings of dungheaps, partly for this reason, are more 



