CHAPTEK IV. 



Manures. — Farm -yard or Pen Manures, their Function and Use. 



• — Management of Pen Manure. — Open and Covered Pens, — 



Green Dressing. — Chemical Manures. — Potash, Phosphates, 



Mineral Phosphates, Superphosphate, Basic Slag or Thomas 



Phosphate. — Nitrogenous Manures. — Sulphate of Iron. 



ABEIEF summary of the manures commonly 

 employed by sugar growers in the West In- 

 dies may prove of interest. 



The excreta of the various animals kept on a 

 plantation, together with their bedding, constitute 

 one of the most important manures the planter can 

 employ ; this is known by a variety of names, as 

 pen manure, farm-yard manure, etc. There are sev- 

 eral reasons why this is of extreme importance to 

 the planter. It must first be clearly understood that 

 the fimction of pen manure is a twofold one : on ac- 

 count of the vegetable matter — derived from litter 

 and uneaten and undigested food — which it contains, 

 it is a manure by which condition is maintained, and 

 this is probably its most important function ; on 

 the other hand it acts as a fertilizer on account of 

 the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in it ; this 

 fertilizing property is of less importance than the 

 former or mechanical manurial power, for nitrogen. 



