MANURES. 123 



what proportions, are questions to be determined 

 chiefly by the character of the soil. 



If the farmer has ascertained the requirements of 

 his soil ; if he has determined, either by experimental 

 processes, or otherwise, in what constituents of maize 

 it is deficient, he is then prepared to apply his fer- 

 tilizers with intelligence and effect, and so far as it 

 depends upon the mere presence of enriching material 

 in the earth, he will easily be able to bring his land 

 up to any capacity of yield he may choose, being only 

 limited by the expense. 



He will, however, discover that the mere presence 

 of manures is not all that is required, even though 

 they contain the precise ingredients that are lacking 

 in the soil. The condition in which they are applied 

 has no small influence on the effect they are capable 

 of producing. If they are in a hard, concrete, undi- 

 vided mass, they should be pulverized. If they are 

 not, indeed, already in a state of minute subdivision, 

 they should be brought to that condition before ap- 

 plying them. Some of the saline fertilizers are pro- 

 cured in a state of powder, others in hard lumps that 

 need to be finely crushed or dissolved. 



But the manure requiring most attention in this 

 respect is that of the farm-yard. It is not a little 

 remarkable that in the very case where the process 

 of reduction and disintegration is most of all needed, 

 it seems to be most neglected. The contents of the 

 stalls and of the compost heap, which, from the variety 

 of materials they comprise, need to be elaborately 

 worked over and subdivided, in order to be thoroughly 



