DUN 



205 



DUN 



Mr. Cutlibert Jolinson, after giving 

 these analyses in his work already 

 quoted, observes further, that, " the 

 fa;ces of cattle fed principally on tur- 

 nips have been analysed by M. Einhof; 

 100 parts evaporated to dryness yielded 

 28.^ parts of solid matter; the 7U parts 

 lost in drying would consist principally 

 of water and some ammoniacal salts. 

 In half a pound, or 3,840 grains, he 

 tbund 45 grains of sand ; and by diffu- 

 sing it through water, he obtained 

 about 600 grains of a yellow fibrous 

 matter, resembling that of plants, 

 mixed with a very considerable quan- 

 tity of slimy matter. By evaporating 

 faeces to dryness, and then burning 

 them, he obtained an ash, which con- 

 tained, besides the sand, the following 

 substances : — 



Lime 12. 



Phosphate of lime .... 12.5 



Magnesia 2. 



Iron 5. 



Alumina, with some manga-) . . 



nese J 



Silica 52. 



Muriate and sulphate of) . „ 



potash 5 



" The ingredients of which the urine 

 and fa;ces of cattle are composed, will 

 of course differ slightly in different 

 animals of the same kind, and accord- 

 ing to the different food upon which 

 they are fed ; but this difference will 

 not in any case be found very material. 



" The excrements of the sheep have 

 been examined by Block ; according 

 to him, every 100 lbs. of rye-straw 

 given as fodder to sheep yield 40 lbs. 

 of excrements (fluid and solid) ; from 

 100 lbs. of hay, 42 lbs.; from 100 lbs. 

 of potatoes, 13 11)s. ; from 100 lbs. of 

 green clover, 8^ lbs.; and from 100 lbs. 

 of oats, 49 lbs. of dry excrement. The 

 solid excrements of sheep fed on hay, 

 were examined by Zierl ; 1,000 parts 

 by weight being burned, yielded 96 

 parts of ashes, which were found to 

 consist of — 



Carbonate, sulphate, and) ,p 

 muriate of soda . . . j 



Carbonate and phosphate of) -^ 



lime J '^^ 



Silica 60 



" One hundred parts of the urine of 

 sheep kept at grass, contained — 



Water 96. 



Urea, albumen, &c. . . . 2.8 

 Salt of potash, soda, lime,) 

 and magnesia, &c. . . J 

 — Journ. Roy. Agr. Soc. 



1.2" 



There have been many arguments 

 and much difference of opinion among 

 cultivators with regard to the advan- 

 tage of employing dung in a fresh or 

 in a putrid state, and as is too often the 

 case, both parties have run into ex- 

 tremes, the one side contending for 

 the propriety of employing it quite 

 fresh from the farm-yard, the other 

 contending that it cannot well be too 

 rotten. 



The mode employed by Lord Leices- 

 ter, is the medium between these equal- 

 ly erroneous extremes. He found that 

 the employment of the fresh dung cer- 

 tainly made the dung go much farther ; 

 but then a multitude of the seeds of 

 various weeds were carried on to the 

 land along with the manure. He has 

 therefore since used liis compost when 

 only in a half putrefied state, (called 

 short dung by farmers,) and hence the 

 seeds are destroyed by the eftects of 

 the putrefaction, and the dung still ex- 

 tends much farther than if suffered to 

 remain until quite putrefied. Putrefac- 

 tion cannot go on without the presence 

 of moisture. Where water is entirely 

 absent, there can be no putrefaction ; 

 and hence many farmers have adopted 

 the practice of pumping the drainage of 

 their farm-yards over their dung heaps ; 

 others invariably place them in a low 

 damp situation. This liquid portion 

 cannot be too highly valued by the 

 cultivator. The soil where a dunghill 

 has lain in a field is always distin- 

 guished by a rank luxuriance in the 

 succeeding crop, even if the earth be- 

 neath, to the depth of six inches, is 

 removed and spread with the dunghill. 



The controversy, too, which once so 

 keenly existed, as to the slate of fer- 

 mentation in which dung should be 

 used on the land, has now pretty well 

 subsided. There is no doubt but that 

 it cannot be applied more advan- 

 tageously tlian in as fresh a state as 

 possible, consistent with the attain- 

 ment of a tolerably clean husbandry, 

 and the destruction of the seeds of 

 weeds, grubs, &c., which are always 

 more or less present in farm-yard dung. 

 These are the only evils to be appre- 



