THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



421 



of vegetable return than when applied in the solid form. 

 This is a fact that no theory not founded on precise truth 

 can interfere with ; but it is not a fact that everj' farmer is 

 so positioned as to supply all the conditions called for in the 

 foregoing. Those who have soils fully charged with clay 

 and carbonaceous matter, may bury long manures in the fall 

 with profit, leaving them to undergo decomposition in a 

 soil capable of receiving and retaining the resulting gases 

 from the decomposition of the organic portions, while the 

 moisture in such soils, particularly those of an aluminous 

 character, will, during fall, winter, and spring, disseminate 

 the portions rendered soluble throughout the mass in degree, 

 but not so perfectly as when applied in a dilute state after 

 being rendered soluble ; nor will such treatment produce 

 the same amount of manure applied in the liquid form. 



Partial decomposition in the manure sheds, without the use 

 of water, must always bs attended with partial loss from the 

 escape of ammonia, and from the inorganic portions being re- 

 duced to the ash state by fire-fanging, without having under- 

 gone the necessary chemical changes to render them in new 

 proximate forms as ready and immediate pabulum for plants. 

 In very wet soils manure so prepared will part with ammonia 

 without its being absorbed by the soil ; for close observation 

 will detect a continuous escape of ammoniacal gases from the 

 surface of a heavily-manured shallow-ploughed wet soil. 



Those who imagine they find good results from the spread- 

 ing of manure on the surface, and leaving it for days, weeks, 

 or mouths, before it is ploughed under, mistake the action of 

 the litter or longer portions of the manure as a mulch for the 

 action of the manure on the soil. A coating of carpenter's 

 shavings or salt hay, applied as a mulch, will do the same ; and 

 when the manure is so used, the bile and chyle of the animal, 

 with all the nitrogenous portions, as fast as they assume a 

 gaseous form, escape into the atmosphere, and the mulch-like 

 action is, in error, supposed to arise from these lost portions 

 being carried into the soil by rains, dews, &c. 



Those who argue that small heaps of manure undergo no 

 loss during winter, forget that they cannot tell when one sea- 

 aou leaves off and another begins, relatively to the amount of 

 heat in the centre of these heaps. Under certain states of 

 the humidity of the atmoiphere in winter, and sudden and un- 

 usual changes of temperature, partial decomposition does take 

 place and loss of ammonia does occur. During rains the more 



soluble portions are washed into the soil, instead of remaining 

 in contact with the straw or litter to insure the necessary che- 

 mical changes. These portions so washed out at least lose a 

 large part, if not the whole, of their free ammonia. Place a 

 bottle of smelliug salts in a freezing mixture, and find the tem- 

 perature, if you can, at which it will cease to be in degree vo- 

 latile ; and if this degree could be ascertained, and it should 

 be found to be one or two degrees above the freezing point of 

 water, still a higher temperature than this, and one at which 

 it would escape, would exist whenever it rains or whenever a 

 dew is observable. 



When manure-sheds cannot be supplied with the necessary 

 arrangements, such as we have already noted, their contents 

 may at least be kept in that state of humidity that will per- 

 mit decomposition with a small loss of ammonia to go on. 

 They may be supplied with water containing minute quantities 

 of sulphate of ammonia, whenever a paper wet with muriatic 

 acid held above them shall show that ammonia is escaping. 

 To such heaps may be added charcoal dust, decomposed swamp 

 muck, head-lands, and such other inert materials as are capable 

 of retaining ammonia when generated and given off by the 

 mass ; it should be remembered that a single cord from the 

 bottom of this heap may sometimes be worth five cords taken 

 at its top, and unless the admixture be perfect at the time of 

 removal no correct calculations can be made on the value per 

 load. It should also be remembered that the liquid manure of 

 three animals is worth the solid excrement of four ; and, there- 

 fore, the fluid portions from his stable should receive his care, 

 so that he need not depend upon their being absorbed by the 

 bed of the animals. 



Those who advocate the box-feeding need not exercise any 

 great stretch of imagination to comprehend that the fluid ex- 

 creta represents in degree the pump and drainage system. 

 Every time the animal voids its urine it passes it into the manure 

 on which it is compelled to stand, before the chemical changes 

 take place which liberate the nitrogenous portions, and it is 

 only to this extent that the box-feeding has an advantage over 

 some other plan in rendering the manure more valuable. If 

 all the solid and fluid excreta: should find their way to a well- 

 regulated manure shed, the manure would be of more value 

 than from the system of box-feediug, while the health of the 

 animal would be much better than when compelled to stand 

 constantly in the efl[luvia of its own dung. — Worldng Farmeu 



THE RESULTS OF THE HARVEST, AND THE PROSPECTS OF 



THE CORN TRADE. 



Having allowed a sufficient time to elapse aitei" tlie 

 conclusion of the harvest to be able to form an opinion 

 as to the general results, we propose now to consider 

 what may be the course that the grain trade, and 

 especially that in wheat, is likely to take in the season 

 that has now commenced. Many circumstances have 

 occurred of sufficient importance to affect materially 

 the supply, and consequently the price of corn in the 

 United Kingdom. It is therefore desirable to ascertain 

 as far as possible the present condition of the country 

 as regards the prospect of obtaining a sufficient quan- 

 tity of bre.id-corn to meet the consumption. 



It is admitted on all hands that, taking the whole 

 kingdom, the crop of wheat just harvested is a full 

 average one, and probaljly rather more. The draw- 



backs occasioned by the violent and extensive .storms in 

 the north of England and Scotland, and also in some 

 of the midland counties, are considerable. But we 

 look upon the loss sustained by these casualties as more 

 than made up by the extraordinarily largo produce in 

 other parts, especially those districts where high farm- 

 ing is practised. The accounts given from week to 

 week in this journal, by our country correspondents, 

 from different counties, will enable our readers to 

 judge how far we are correct in this opinion — which, in 

 the main, will be found consistent with the facts ad- 

 duced in those reports. 



By the Board of Trade returns, we find that during 

 the six years from 1851 to 1856 inclusive, we have im- 

 ported of wheat, and flour as wheat, 28,632,873 qrs,— 



