MANURES. 107 



fully conducted experiments on record prove the greatest 

 value is obtained by placing it near the surface. 



Some of the most eminent agricultural chemists of this 

 country and of Europe seem to prove by experiment, and do 

 assert, that worn-out lands may be reclaimed to fertility, at 

 small cost, by the use of chemicals alone ; and that all the 

 fertilizing value of a large load of barn-yard manure may be 

 chemically represented by a basket of various salts obtainable 

 at the druggists, that may be easily carried upon one's shoulder. 

 And yet your committee observed the effects of a formula, 

 prescribed by Dr. J. R. Nichols, on a part of a field of pota- 

 toes in comparison with another part manured with barn 

 manure. (For the particulars we refer to the Report of the 

 Committee on Farms, published in the Transactions of the 

 society this year.) 



And to read many of the circulars of manufacturers of 

 special and general fertilizers, backed up as they are by rec- 

 ommendations, evidently obtained by friendly or mercenary 

 inducements, is sufficient, in many cases to make the more 

 credulous part with their hard earnings, to secure what ap- 

 pears to them the panacea for impoverished fields and short 

 crops, usually ending in disappointment. 



Now, midst all this confliction of opinions and interests, 

 what is the farmer to do, who is anxious to improve his farm, 

 his crops and his purse ? Your committee would answer by 

 some suggestions, based upon many years' experience and 

 observation. It is evident that the main dependence of the 

 farmer must be upon the deposits of the barn-yard and cellar, 

 and a judicious system of composting. 



The importance of getting all he can and saving all he gets, 

 to be used in the most economical and judicious way, cannot 

 be too strongly urged. All animal and vegetable substances 

 are valuable and should be carefully gathered and added to 

 the compost-heap. Meadow-muck and some kinds of salt 

 marsh should be dug in dry seasons, in quantities to last for 

 several years, for the longer it has been dug the more val- 

 uable it becomes. 



The barn cellar and yard, together with the hogpen should 

 be sufficiently supplied to absorb and hold the urine from the 

 cattle, and no more. The process of composting can be more 



