I 



MANUUK. 



MANUHK. 



tin? lime may appear to hare the advantage. Kverything depend* on 

 nil nation, and the comparative facility with which lime and chalk can 

 be procured. 



On p -or aanda chalk will be found to produce a greater and more 

 permanent improvement than the aame value in lime, which, unless it 

 be mixi-d with clay or vegetable substances, will not be of great uae on 

 auch soil*. When marl can be procured, or cUy and chalk, thews will 

 be the bart corrective* for the porous nature of aand, whether mixed 

 by nature or artificially. But marls are chiefly " amendment*," and as 

 mcli will be noticed separately. 



It may however be mentioned here, that experience in the use of 

 lime has varied exceedingly owing to two cause* ; one of which is that 

 lime* vary exceedingly in their qualities, and the other, that crops 

 vary exceedingly in their need of lime. The latter of these particularly 

 point* to the use of lime as being directly the food of plants, and thus 

 more influential for one crop than another. On the former we may 

 merely state that analyses of lime from quarries in different parts of 

 the island, show that the quantity of lime present varies from 60 to 

 nearly 100 per cent. And an even more valuable ingredient than lime 

 in certain limestone*, namely, phosphate of lime, ce, tainly adds largely 

 to the fertilising influence which curt-tin limestone* exhibit. Thus in 

 C'onneinara Mr. Whitwell of Kend.il has had various limestones 

 analysed, with the following results : 



It is plain that differences of this kind must produce very great 

 differences indeed in the fertilising influence of the lime we apply. 

 A limestone containing only 68 per cent, of lime, such 03 some of them 

 near Dublin, will be of less value than a Durham limestone containing 

 94 per cent, (just as 68 is leas than !> I) in respect merely of the effect of 

 the caustic calcareous matters on the soil ; but if, apart from this mere 

 carbonate there be present a phosphate in any quantity, an effect 

 of an altogether different and valuable kind must follow its application. 

 The mineral phosphate which, while in the masses of the rock, would be 

 'comparatively useless, must, when broken down to powder as by 

 burning and slaking the limestone rock, it becomes, be BO laid open 

 to the influence of the solvents of t he rain and air, as to act upon the 

 plants like a dressing of bones. Then again, consider the effect of a 

 large quantity of magnesia, which when caustic acts more slowly but 

 more persistently and you cannot doubt that the composition of the 

 limestone you employ must be looked to for much of the explana- 

 tion of the results of iU application. 



But apart from the general influence of lime on the soil, there is to 

 be considered the relation in which it stands to the several crops the 

 fanner cultivates. 



Jiuiiifii*c difft-rences exist among our agricultural crops as regards 

 the quantity of lime which they contain. Thus the ash of wheat-straw 

 contains 6 per cent, of lime, of barley-straw 8 per cent, of rye straw 

 per rent, and these crop* accordingly do not tike more than 10 to 

 15 Ibs. of lime out of an ncre by the growth of an ordinary bulk. 

 Beau-straw on the other hnnd, or rather the ash of bean-straw, contains 

 21 percent of lime, the atih of the pea '' per i-mt.. of the vetch us 

 per cent much hrx>-r ipiuntitics, and so an ordinary crop of beans and 

 pea* respcctivly will take by means of the one 88 Ibs., and by the 

 mean* of the other 1UO Ibs. of lime from the acre. Both of these crops 

 therefore, on the ground of direct uae of tho lime for food, require a 

 quantity of calcareous matter in the soil. 



Take now the casu of some of the root crops: we have in turnip*, 

 bulb and top respectively, lime to the extent of 1 1 and 23 per cent 

 of their ash respectively ; in the case of mangold a smaller quantity, 

 namely, 3 and 8 respectively ; in the case of the potato, -' and 17 p.'r 

 wnt. respectively ; in the case of the carrot, 8 and 82 per cent, 

 respectiv.-ly ; in the case of lucern again, which especially prospers on 

 calcareous soils, one-half of it* ash is lime. An examination of 

 the ash analyse* of plant* show* the composition of the crops which 

 they indicate to tally with agricultural experience as to the character 

 of the s<>il they prefer. Thus the ash of the lucern contains 

 cent of lime, and that of sainfoin 21) per cent These figures accord- 

 ingly |. '.,-.,- tint the influence of lime as a in inure doe* to sonic 

 :i its power to supply plant* with direct food. 



We turn nmv t-> the more direct manure* those which really c.'ii 

 the bulk of those materials towards the growth of plants in 

 which the natural soil and air, the only other source* of nourishment 

 oprn to tin- in, are deficient. 



t i!u|i. i t-n.t d ins of manure* are the excrement* of 

 animal*. The peculiar property of earth in absorbing putrid effluvia 

 and removing disagreeable smelU, appears an indication of nature to 



lead us to bury putrid animal substances, of which the excrements and 

 dead carcasses of animals art the most numerous and obvious It 

 would require no length of experience to show that wherever this is 

 done vegetation is more vigorous. There is therefore another motive 

 for burying dung than merely to get rid of a disagreeable substance. 

 From the moat ancient times of which there are any records, the 

 dunging of a field has been an ini|>ortant pnrt of cultivation. The pre- 

 paring of the dung of animals, so a* to render r -. is a 

 later inn . and has not yet attained the perfection of which it 

 is capable, unlns* it be so in China, of which we read wonderful 

 account*. The fresh dung drop|>ed on the ground, far from imp 

 the herbage where it has fallen, appears to injure it, a- 

 unfit for cattle to eat ; when it gradually disappears, and not tii 

 the spot i* restored to it* former verdure, lint if the dung be dug into 

 the ground and covered with earth, the fertilising effect will be 

 diately perceived. This is a sufficient lesson U> the husband u 

 make him bury the dung as soon a* possible. But this not being 

 always practicable, it is collected in heaps until it can be carried 

 land prepared for it* reception by ploughing or dk-L-i-u I!y mixing 

 the straw, which has served as litter to cattle, with their din 

 quantity is increased, and by allowing this mixture to heat and p 

 a greater quantity of manure is produced This is probably the ! 

 of the dunghill. In the making of a dunghill, experience has t 

 methods which accord well with what science might have t 

 manure must be soluble before it can be effective ; this solubility can 

 only be produced in the more solid portions, such as the straw, by 

 putrefaction, which the dung promotes when duly moistened. The 

 exact moment when it is most advantageous to bury it in the ground, 

 in order to its greatest immediate effect, seems not yet fully d' 

 Some let the decomposition go on until a great portion of the 1. 

 converted into a black, tough, greasy substance, which, from early associ- 

 ation, gives the idea of richness. It is no doubt a powerful manure 

 which acts speedily, but is it the most economical ' This may be 

 disputed. A great portion of the substance must have I- 

 into gases, which fly off and are lost. The remainder, evidently car- 

 bonaceous from its colour, has acquired too much of the appeal -a 

 charcoal to be very efficient ; and it is only the exuding juice whieh i 

 immediately fertilising. The most experienced farmer* agrtv 

 whenever the brown colour of a dungheap verges towards a bla< 

 dung has lost something of its value, besides the diminution in its 

 bulk by dissipation. The best state in which dung can lie e.n ned to 

 the land, for MI immediate a< well as permanent effect , is \\h-;i the 

 straw is so rotten that it readily breaks into short piece*, without 

 having entirely lost its form : it should thin be of a brown or maho- 

 gany colour, uniform throughout the mass. Whenever dung is 

 mentioned by foreign agricultural writers, it is generally understood to 

 be in this state, which in English is called short dung. It must how- 

 ever be admitted that farm practice is more, and more sanctioni 

 doctrine of the chemist, that it is true economy to bury mannre as soon 

 as we have it 



Autumn application of fresh dung is found more efficient and 

 mical in the long run than the ordinary wasteful management of the 

 dung in heaps. Nevertheless, as rnanui 1 lor the land at 



different seasons, it is of consequence that the dung from the yards and 

 stables should be collected in such heaps, and managed so as to 

 the exact state which is thought most advantageous at the tim 

 it is carted on the land. To effect this some attention 

 The oldest portion must have its putrefaction retarded, and tin n.-\\-, -T 

 accelerated, to bring them both to the same state. This i- 

 done. If a certain thickness of dung is kept trodden down li\ the 

 cattle, it will be a long time before it decomposes, .nor will it il 

 without being turned over to expose the under portions to i 

 If, on the contrary, it be carried out into a h. 



occasionally turned over and moistened when it aj it will 



heat and be ready in a very short time When 

 short dung can be carried to a Held prepared to rceeive -i 

 diately ploughed in with a shallow furrow, it will 

 with the soil, and afford a succession of soluble matter.-, wliieh will give 

 regular nourishment to the plant*. This is mid on the supposition 

 that the soil is in that state when it only requires replenishment, and 

 ha* a texture favourable to the crops raised Upon it. In p..,. 

 or wet clays some modification in the state of the dung may be 

 ti.-e. try. 



In speaking of dung, we have not said anything of the different 

 kinds of dung produced from different domestic animals. In some 

 oases it may be advantageous to keep these separate : for instance, the 

 dung of cows from that of horses ; of cattle feeding on ojl-ca! 

 grain, with or without turnips, and those fed on straw or refii 

 only. Cow-dung, when in a fresh state, is thought best for light 

 and horse-dung for cold heavy soils. But In general a mixture of ihe 

 rut animals kept on a farm with all the straw that 

 can be afforded, will give a manure of an average strength, which may 

 be used H|H>II all kin. Is of land ; with thi.< difference, that for liglit soils 

 it should be more decomposed than for the heavy, and also ploughed in 

 deeper; for the air penetrates the light soil to a gi .1, and 



sooner acts on the manure. In heavy land the straw, if not so much 

 decomposed, will form ea\:tien to let in the air, and faoilit ite the dis- 

 integration and tilth of the soil. All this is well known to most 



