288 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



average from 45,000 to 50,000 gallons per acre, 

 are annually distributed by the steam engine 

 through pipes over his Tiptree Farm ; or at from 

 about 200 to 223 tons per acre. Such a large 

 amount, if it were only mere water, however, must 

 be productive of considerably good effects : it is 

 equal to a depth of two inches of water per acre, 

 or one-tenth more than the average fall of rain in 

 Essex, The value of this large amount of water, 

 especially for grass land, must be considerable ; it 

 is one, however, which the Professor does not in- 

 clude in the following estimate of its value. He 

 observes, when speaking of the Tiptree liquid 

 manures, that, "assuming its composition not to 

 vary materially at different periods, 50,000 gallons 

 of liquid manure, with the sediment, would yield 

 50,000 + 5-476 grains, or 273,800 grains, or in 

 round numbers 39 lbs. of ammonia. 



"Peruvian guano yields from 16 to Is per cent. 

 of ammonia. To produce the above-mentioned 

 39 lbs. of ammonia, we should require 2 cwt. of 

 Peruvian guano of the best quality. At £13 per 

 ton, the 2 cwt. would cost 25s, For this outlay of 

 money the same amount of ammonia would be ob- 

 tained which is yielded by 50,000 gallons of Mr. 

 Mechi's muddy tank-liquid, 



"Deducting the clay and earth which swell the 

 amount of solid matter in the muddy tank-liquid, 

 and taking no account of the suspended organic 

 matter, which may be done with propriety, since 

 account has been taken of the nitrogen, the only 

 valuable portion in it, we have as nearly as possible 

 the same weight of solid matter in 2 cwt. of Peruvian 

 guano which is contained in 50,000 gallons of the 

 Tiptree liquid manure. But the solid constituents 

 of Peruvian guano being more valuable than those 

 in the liquid, a balance would be left in favour of 

 guano. Allowing 48. for sowing 2 cwt., 30s. would 

 cover the cost price and expense of applying the 

 guano, 



" If 1 ton of liquid manure, according to Mr. 

 Mechi's estimate, costs for delivery 2d., 50,000 

 gallons=500,000lbs., will cost £1 I7s. 2d, 



" The fertilizing matters in 50,000 gallons of 

 liquid manure thus will cost for delivery 7s. 2d. 

 more than the price of the materials and e.Ypenses 

 of application would amount to, were they put 

 upon the land in the shape of Peruvian guano. 

 Whether or not it is good economy to spend 

 £1 17s. 2d. for the delivery of fertilizing materials 

 which are intrinsically worth about 26s., or at the 

 most 30s., is a question which may be safely left in 

 the hands of practical men. It is a question which, 

 I think, cannot be auswered in a general way. On 

 some soils, I believe, even a larger expense for de- 

 livery may be incurred, whilst on others less than 

 a quarter the expense may be ruinous." 



The nature of the soils to which liquid manures 

 are most beneficially apphed, varies almost as much 

 as the ordinary composition of these fluids. As a 

 general rule, the deep light sandy soils, resting on 

 a porous substratum, are the most benefited by 

 these fluids. It is true that the loamy clays of the 

 Tiptree Hall Farm are benefited by the application 

 of even 200 tons per acre, of a weak liquid ; but 

 then this well-drained farm is situated in, perhaps, 

 the driest portion of the driest of our English 

 counties ; and then again, in othpr cases, as in the 

 successful application of the urine of the horse, by 

 Mr, Dickenson, to Italian rye-grass, on the strong 

 clays of Middlesex, the application was so suc- 

 cessful, not for its amount of water (it was, in Mr, 

 Dickenson's case, applied from a common street 

 watering cart), but for the ammonia, and other 

 matters which the liquid (one-part water, two-parts 

 urine) contained. The composition of the urine pro- 

 duced by the horses, the cows, and the pigs of Mr. 

 Iluxtable, collected together in the same tank, and 

 quite undiluted with any other drainage, was some 

 time since ascertained by Professor Way {Jour. 

 Roy. Arj. Soc, vol. x., p, 613); and it may be 

 useful to remind the farmer that the following 

 analysis exhibits the composition of the putrid 

 urine or tank-water of the homestead, after almost 

 all its animal matters have passed into the state of 

 ammonia ; but, as the Professor adds, with this ex- 

 ception, there is no difference between the urine in 

 the two states, and the analysis for all practical 

 purposes equally represents the value of fresh tank- 

 water as a manure. Two analyses were made of 

 the urine from the Huxtable tank. The mean result 

 was that each imperial gallon contained 356'45 

 grains of ammonia per gallon. Each gallon con- 

 tained 120S"42 grains of solid matter, viz. — 



Combustible matter 397'63 



Incombustible matter S1079 



The incombustible matter or ash was composed 

 of— 



Silica 8-18 



Phosphoric acid 8*91 



Sulphuric acid 105'16 



Carbonic acid 100"05 



Lime 21 "24 



Magnesia 9'49 



Peroxide of iron 14'02 



Potash 35301 



Chloride of potassium 34 86 



Common salt 152 26 



Sand 3-56 



810.74 

 The analysis of this powerful liquid manure is of 

 the more general importance, since almost every 

 stock-owner has the power of collecting it in con- 

 siderable quantities. It may be apphed, too, in either 

 the fluid state, or what in some of the German 



