520 On Liquid Manure. 



Experiments on a variety of agricultural subjects are nowhere 

 so extensively tried as in England, Many of these experiments, 

 though on the whole unsuccessful, are nevertheless of great ad- 

 vantage to the farming community, for they often bring to light 

 matters of real practical importance, or at any rate act as beacons 

 to warn others not to engage in unprofitable speculations. 



The great success which has attended the application of liquid 

 manure in Flanders is proverbial, where it produces most asto- 

 nishing effects upon soils that are almost completely barren. 

 Any one who has passed through Belgium, and examined the 

 nature of the soil, must have been struck with the wonderful 

 change which liquid manure has produced ; and perhaps he may- 

 ask why such a profitable system of applying manure to the land 

 is not adopted more extensively in other countries. Men zealous 

 in devoting their best energies to the good of their countrymen 

 have never been wanting in England, and it is but natural that at 

 various times admirers of the Flemish system of agriculture should 

 have raised their voice in favour of liquid manure. Indeed, ex- 

 pensive experiments have been set on foot in this country with 

 most praiseworthy zeal in order to convince the British agricul- 

 turist of the benefit which, in the opinion of some, liquid manure 

 is capable of securing to the farmer. 



I am sure the agricultural community is much indebted to 

 men like Mr. Mechi, Mr. Kennedy, Mr, Telfer, and others, for 

 their exertions to adapt the Flemish system of liquid manuring 

 to the peculiarities and advanced condition of English agriculture. 

 And though many may differ as to the extent to which irrigation 

 with liquid manure ma3' be carried out, no one can deny that on 

 some farms in this country it has produced surprising crops. 



In other places, however, liquid manure has not been so suc- 

 cessfully employed, and in some cases its application has proved 

 a complete failure. 



Some instances have come under my personal observation in 

 which considerable expense was incurred for the erection of 

 tanks that now are deserted, experience having shown that 

 no good whatever was produced by the application of liquid 

 manure to the land. There can be no reasonable doubt that this 

 conclusion is well founded on fact, and that there are soils 

 which are not benefited in the least by its use. 



It must be borne in mind that the system of liquid manuring 

 can no longer be regarded as an agricultural novelty, but that 

 it has been tested on a large scale under the most varied circum- 

 stances. At the best its success has been but partial; and as 

 the necessary arrangements involve a great outlay of money, it 

 becomes a question of importance to decide whether on a par- 

 ticular farm it is likely or not to be more remunerative than the 



