MANURES. 95 



external covering, but forming underneath a central drain, 

 having lateral feeders, and at the lower end an external 

 tank, after the fashion of those huge dinner-dishes whose 

 channels carry to the ** well " the rich gravies of the baron 

 and the haunch (here that fastidious reader collapses, and 

 is removed in a state of syncope), so that the rich extract, 

 full of carbonate of ammonia, and precious as attar, may 

 not be wasted, but may be used either as liquid manure In 

 the Rosary, or pumped back again to baste the beef. 



How long should it remain in the heap before it is fit for 

 application to the soil ? The degree of decomposition to 

 which farmyard dung should arrive before It can be deemed 

 a profitable manure, must depend on the texture of the soil, 

 the nature of the plants, and the time of its application.* 

 In general, clayey soils, more tenacious of moisture, and 

 more benefited by being rendered incohesive and porous, 

 may receive manure less decomposed than more pulverised 

 soils require. Again, the season Avhen manure is applied Is 

 also a material circumstance. In spring and summer the 

 object is to produce an immediate effect, and It should 

 therefore be more completely decomposed than may be 

 necessary when It Is laid on in autumn, for a crop whose 



* See the article on Agriculture, Encyclopedia Britannica^ ii. 300. 



