94 [Senatk 



of (iuno- should be taken while fresh, one analyzed at the time, and the 

 other when fermented and rotted. This course, it is believed, would 

 show a result in favor of the unrotted. There can be no doubt, how- 

 ever, that straW; stable litter, &,c. should be partially fermented be- 

 fore using, and the moisture necessary for the process should, if pos- 

 sible, be the urine of the animals or the drainings of the yards. 

 Straw, in dung intended for a particular crop, is of little use unless, 

 the fermentation has far progressed^, and a distinguished German far- 

 mer has asserted that he considered straw as of no consequence in 

 manure, except as acting the part of a sponge to retain the fluid parts 

 of the animal manures. There are some exceptions to this remark, 

 as when straw is applied to heavy clay grounds before rotting. Im 

 this case, when plowed under^ it gives a degree of porosity to the' 

 soil, absorbs part of the moisture, and acts the part of a valuablig. 

 amend er, while it is eventually converted into a manure, or a source 

 of carbonic gas. Where the unfermented dung of the yard or sta- 

 ble is applied to the soil, it should be covered at once by the plow^ 

 that the gases liberated in fermentation may not be lost^ and that the 

 moisture necessary for fermentation may be secured. When rotted 

 or fermented, the covering is not of so much consequence, audit may,, 

 without loss, be scattered on the surface and mixed with. it. If used 

 without fermenting, it should be applied to hoed or summer crops, 

 such as corn or roots, as these are in that state while the manure is 

 at the height of its fermentation, when forcing manures are the most 

 useful; but if applied to the smaller grains, they are most active 

 when matter for the perfection of the seed, not the enlargement of 

 the straw, is most needed, and the last is increased at the expense of 

 the first. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, there 

 can be little question that the most economical way of making 

 and using manures, is to convert the stable and barnyard manure into 

 eompost, by the addition of peat, swamp muck, cleansing of ditches, 

 wash of roads, leached ashes, or even common loam or earth, taking 

 care, when the manure is wanted for heavy soils, that the earth used 

 in the compost should be as light or sandy as may be; and where the 

 soil is light, that the compost earth should be marly clay. Into such 

 a compost heap, all weeds, straw, litter, animal matter of all kinds, 

 night soil, &c. &c., may be thrown, and upon it all the wash of the 

 yards and urine of the stables may be poured; and if the animal and 

 vegetable matters as they accumulate, are kept covered and moist, the 



