ASSIMILATION OF NITROGEN 



MANURES 

 Animal 



here usually trenched, but instead of the trendies being narrow and* deep, about 

 t by 1 foot, they are really shallow beds, about 14 by 5 feet and only 

 :i in.-hes deep. A cart-load of night-soil is thrown on, and the excavated 3 

 of .'iii-tli put back upon it. I have several times, when at Allahabad, 

 iliiL- up those beds" in which the mi/lit >"il had been placed only a few 

 pr.-\ iuusly, mid touiul nn ol>jf.'t ioiiuUn odour." " In deeper trenches the 

 (li'.'ompi.Mtion takes imturiilly longer, but at Meerut I f.iuml tlmt u fortnight 

 Inn! IK-.MI ample for the purpose.' In the shallow system the manure is dis- 

 triliuted over a larger area, and thus more usefully; with deep trenching a* 

 much as iltMt tons per am- may be given in the year, whereas one-tenth r 

 ..in- tucnticth would have been ample.. In many instances a kind of snow- 

 plough is rim over the ground and shallow furrows thus excavated, into whu-h 

 liquefied night-soil is run. 



<>t tin- manufacture of poudrette it may be said there are many advantages, 

 ami lisa.l\. -miHges. Of the latter, the chief is the fact that the atmoHphere of 

 the locnlity in which the pits are located becomes almost uninhabitable. Still, 

 t In- poudrette, when prepared, may be carried to great distances and thus utilised 

 over a wide area. The increasing demand for the poudrette of certain towns is 

 indicated by the continuous increase in the price at which it is disposed of. In 

 fact it may be said that the night-soil of ninny cities has become a source of 

 revenue, so that much progress has taken place. All that is necessary is to extend 

 th*> ilcMiiaiul from the vicinity of the cities to that of the villages, in order to 

 secure a much-needed sanitary reform and great agricultural advance. [Cf. 

 Buck, Employ. City Refuse for Agri. Purposes at Farukhabad, 1872 ; Morelum!, 

 Use of Town Drainage as Manure, in U. Prov. Bull., 1901, No. 18 ; Ann. Kept, 

 on Working of Sewage Farm, Manjiri, 1902-3 ; Leather and Mollison, Agri. 

 Value of City Sewage in India, in Agri. Ledg., 1903, No. 2 ; Joshi, The Util. of 

 Night Soil as Man., C. Prov. Bull., 1901, No. 5.] 



Bones (see p. 169). 



(ma no mad Allied Manures. The excrement of fowls, pigeons, wild birds 

 and bats, etc., may be said to be all forms of the substance known as GUANO. 

 It is one of the most highly prized animal manures in European countries, and 

 owes its value to the readily soluble ammonia, phosphates, potash and soda 

 that it contains. A small amount of this substance is annually imported into 

 India, and it has been ascertained to be of special value in protecting sugar-cane 

 cuttings from being attacked by white-ants. Mollison says it is one of the best 

 manures for wheat, 2 to 3 cwt. an acre being sufficient. It acts rapidly and is 

 expended almost entirely on the crop to which applied. 



Indian guano is not unknown. It is procured from the caves in Karnul and 

 of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The former is possibly mainly the produce 

 of bats, and the latter of the edible swallows (see Birds, p. 138). The imports 

 during the past five years have averaged 2 tons, valued at Rs. 700. [Cf. Encycl. 

 Brit., 1880, xi., 233 et seq. ; Spons, Encycl., 1882, i., 358 ; ii., 1258 ; Journ. Soc. 

 Chem. Indust., 1887, vi., 228 ; 1888, vii., 84 et seq. ; 1899, xviii., 213 et seq. ; 

 Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., 1899, ii., 504 et seq. ; U.S. Yearbook, Dept. Agri., 1899, 

 274 et seq. ; Board of Trade Journ., 1901, xxxiii., 72 et seq. ; 1902, xxxix., 201-2.] 



Fish Manures, (see pp. 543-4). 



//. Vegetable Manures. Many vegetable substances, such as boughs 

 and leaves of bushes and trees, indigo refuse, wood-ashes, weeds of every 

 description (green, dry and burnt), oil-cakes, tank deposits consisting 

 largely of aquatic weeds, etc., these and such like are, when obtainable, 

 fairly extensively used as manure here and there all over India. They 

 are usually thrown on the surface of the land and ploughed or hoed into 

 the soil in a fresh state, where they only too frequently become a nidus 

 for insect pests and fungal blights. Except by market gardeners and 

 by tea and coffee planters, pits or heaps are rarely resorted to for the 

 storage and maturation of vegetable manures, and as often as not the 

 stuff casually secured is thrown on the field at the wrong season, and 

 thus becomes next to useless. The following' are the chief manures of 

 this class : 



Qreen Manuring and the Assimilation of Nitrogen. As with the clover in 

 Europe so with several leguminous crops in India, their value as alternating 



769 49 



. .. ; 1 

 H hallow 



. .'-:. :..'.,. 



i lll.il;-'. 



For Wheat. 

 Indian Supply. 



Ma, 



Vegetable. 



Mould. 



D.E.P., 

 v., 174. 



