No. 63.] ^ 



fermentation will g-o on successfully; the alkalies and salts of the ani- 

 mal matters will act on the vegetable part and saturate the earths 

 used, and the whole will be converted into manure of the most valu- 

 able quality. The labor of preparing compost,, it is true, is much 

 Preparation greater than merely drawing it from the yard, but the qnan- 

 compc^ tity is so much increased, and the quality so much improv- 

 ed, that it is the most economical in the end. The only method that 

 can compare with it, is to place these matters over the yard, and let 

 them be composted or fermented in that place; but there will always be 

 great waste in this way; and where turf or vegetable mokl is used for 

 composting with the animal manure, the compost heaps can frequent- 

 ly be made where they are to be used, and the labor of drawing ma- 

 terials grreatlv lessened. Bommers patent manure is only compost 

 made in a scientific and accurate manner, every part of the process 

 so managed as to produce a perfect fermentation, without the loss of 

 any of the valuable parts of the -constituents used. From a know- 

 iedee of the processes employed by him, we are able to say that 

 where his directions are followed, a powerful and valuable manure 

 cannot fail to be produced. The fundamental principle upon which 

 composts have been made, is that of impregnating the earths used in 

 the process with the soluble salts and the gases, which, in the ordina- 

 ry methods of rotting, are wholly or partially lost to the farmer. 

 The discussions which have been carried on, as to the propriety or 

 impropriety of burying manures in the soil, have arisen from not stat- 

 ing the kind of manure to be used. The solid and soluble parts of 

 manures have a tendency to sink into the soil; the gases evolved in 

 fermentation a tendency to rise. The true principle, then, is to bury 

 the unfermented matters no deeper than is necessary to secure the 

 moisture required for fermentation, while the fermented or decomposed 

 dunff. havincr no fertilizing gases to lose, mav be mixed at once with 

 the surface earth. Some of the greatest crops of Indian com ever 

 grown in the United States, have been produced by placing a heavy 

 dressing of unfermented manure on turf land, and turning it under 

 with the plow. The surface is then rolled to press the sod close upon 

 the manure, and afterwards harrowed, to loosen the earth for the re- 

 ception of the seed. Into each hill, a small portion of fully rotted 

 manure or compost is put at planting. This promotes germmation, 

 gives the young plant a vigorous start, and by the time the roots have 



