MIXED MANURES. 115 



air they must originally have corne, are naturally, there 

 fore, the very most important elements of the food of 

 plants. 



381 . Mixed Manures. It is the uniform experience of all 

 farmers and gardeners in all parts of the world, that barn 

 manure, that which comes from the stable, the cow-house, 

 the sheep-fold, the pig-sty and other similar sources, is, on 

 the whole, the most valuable and the most universal in its 

 beneficial effects of all known manures. Other manures 

 have great value for particular purposes. This is useful 

 for all. It is the only manure which keeps up the fer 

 tility of all kinds of land. This is just what we should 

 expect. Many plants are cultivated as food for cattle 

 and other animals. The concentrated essence of the 

 nutritious elements of plants goes to form the bodies of 

 animals ; and we have just seen how extremely valuable 

 as manure, is every part of those bodies. A portion is 

 converted into milk. We know how precious, primarily 

 as food and indirectly as furnishing butter and cheese, the 

 milk of cows is. In the mountains of Europe, and among 

 the poorer classes, the milk of goats and of sheep, is not 

 less precious. In the great plains of Arabia and Tartary, 

 the same priceless advantages are afforded by the milk of 

 the camel and the mare. 



All these valuable elements of vegetable food, except the 

 comparatively small portion which is converted into flesh 

 or milk, are or should be thrown upon the manure heap. 



382. Manure is of such primary importance upon every 

 farm, and there is so much danger that valuable portions 

 of it should be washed away by rain and lost in the earth, 

 or dried up by the sun, or wafted away by the winds, that 

 particular care should be taken to secure it. 



The best and most convenient arrangement, when it 



can be made, is to have the manure fall into a cellar 

 11 



