MANURES. 33 



tens of thousands of pounds have been thrown away on expe- 

 riments that have only been useful by showing us their 

 failure. Of the multiplicity of manures, chemical and mineral, 

 tried by the gentlemen who would reproach us for not going 

 with them, only a few have led to anything like conclusive 

 results, and a still less number have been really worthy of the 

 importance attached to them. Let any one take up a book on 

 agriculture, Avritten by our forefathers, and how much will 

 they find that has actually passed for new discoveries by more 

 modern writers ! The improvements, of which it is fashion- 

 able for scientific men to boast, are few and far between. We 

 know that farmers and gardeners who were both careless 

 and extravagant have been plentiful ; but there have been 

 many grand exceptions in the same neighbourhoods ; and it 

 is hardly fair to denounce farmers and gardeners as a body 

 for the carelessness and extravagance of the few. All we 

 would urge is, that not a particle of animal or vegetable waste 

 be lost sight of. The most offensive can be buried until it is 

 fit for use ; and, according to its strength, it may be applied 

 to the land in a lesser or greater quantity. The more it is 

 decomposed, the more instantaneous its effects on the crop ; 

 and it may be taken as a general hint, that the soil is the 

 better for the dung or dressing lying in it some time before 

 the crop is sown or planted, whenever it is not thoroughly 

 decomposed before using. When it is well decomposed before 

 it is appUed, it may be forked in and mixed with the top 

 spit ; and when not so, it is better to dig it in a spit deep. 

 When crops are sown in drills, all decomposed manure may 

 be sown on or with the seeds ; and it is now a common prac- 

 tice to do so by way of saving the quantity. We prefer, in all 

 cases, di-essing the whole of the soil alike ; for, if it does cost 

 more, it v/ill, in the end, turn out more profitable. 



Mulching. — If there be no insects about a garden, no 

 earwigs, there would be a good deal more mulching than 

 there now is ; but it harbours the vermin so much, that few 

 gardeners apply it. We have a settled objection to it in hot 

 weather, when people are most anxious to do it. The effect of 

 it is, first, to draw the roots of the plant to the surface, and, 

 unless the mulching is kept moist, the plant flags ; that is 

 one of our principal objections : another is, that earv.igs seem 

 to form a colony thert-, and often nearl}^ destro}^ the plant as 

 well as the flowers. In winter time, it is another affiiir alto- 



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