16 ORGANIC MANURES, CONSIDERED 



Excrementitious manures, including urine, should never be applied 

 to crops in a recent state, because from the abundance of ammoniacal 

 salts which they contain, or perhaps from some other reason not under- 

 stood, they are found in that state injurious to vegetation ; but when 

 these manures are fermented they are the most powerful of all, pro- 

 ducing an immediate effect on the plants. It is a remarkable fact 

 that the recent urine of sheep is not injurious to grass lands, while 

 that of horses and cows commonly injures the grass on the spot where 

 it falls, which however recovers and becomes of a darker green than 

 before in the year following. The loss of excrementitious manures in 

 the large towns in England is immense, and while they are lost to the 

 soil, they are poisonous to the fishes of our rivers, and injurious to 

 those who drink their water. The great advantage of urine or other 

 liquid manure is, that its nutritive elements are consumed by the 

 plants in a few months, and hence an immediate return is made on the 

 capital employed ; whereas, when solid excrementitious manures are 

 employed, a period of two or three years must elapse before complete 

 decomposition ensues. (See Sprengel * On Animal Manures,' in * Jour. 

 Eng. Agr. Soc.,' vol. i. p. 473.) Liquid manure, also, from the am- 

 monia which it contains, when poured on the soil destroys worms, snails, 

 &c., as effectually as lime-water. 



In every suburban villa, arrangements should be made for collecting 

 all the liquid manure into two adjoining tanks, and mixing it there 

 with water ; one tank to be kept filling and mixing, while the other 

 is fermenting and being emptied. Where urine cannot be got, excre- 

 ment and water form the best substitute. The fermented liquid may 

 either be poured direct on the soil of the garden, among growing crops, 

 at the roots of fruit trees, or on the naked soil, with or without other 

 manure, and more especially with straw, or other vegetable matters, for 

 the purpose both of enriching them and promoting fermentation. Fresh 

 liquid manure may however be used at once, if sufficiently weakened, 

 as by adding to pure urine five times its quantity of water. By this 

 means are saved the nutritive properties thrown off by fermentation. 

 The liquid manure tank that is supplied from a house, where water is 

 used in cleaning and washing, will seldom be too strong to apply to 

 strong growing plants in the open air at once. 



Hair, wool, feathers, leather, horn, rags, &c., decompose much more 

 slowly than excrementitious or vegetable manures; but they are ex- 

 ceedingly rich in gelatine and albumen, and are therefore very desira- 

 ble where the object is duration of effect, as well as luxuriance. Dead 

 animals of every kind, including fish, make excellent manure ; and 

 when there is any danger anticipated from the effluvia which arises 

 during decomposition, it is readily prevented by covering or mixing the 

 putrid mass with quicklime. In this way nightsoil and the refuse of 

 the slaughter-houses in Paris, Lyons, and other continental towns, are 

 not only disinfected, but dried under the name of poudrette, and com- 

 pressed in casks, so as to form an article of commerce. Sugar-bakers' 

 scum, which is obtained from sugar refineries, consists of the blood of 

 cattle and lime ; it can be sent in a dried and compressed state to any 



