198 



FARMERS* REGISTER, 



[No. 4 



aware of the common sentiment — 'tliat gentlemen 

 may use their superfluous cash ibr tliis purjioge, 

 but liirmers have uses enoutrh Ibr tlieir money in 

 the regular routine of their business, and lew are 

 BO o'/erhunleneil with capiial as to affor.l the risk 

 of its dimiiiutioa by um-ertain speculation' — }et 

 we entreat them to reflect, that experiments may 

 be tried with those two articles upoa a single acre; 

 that the expense, iT unsuccessful, can only occa- 

 sion the loss of a few shillings; but, if they sjcceed, 

 mavbe productive of incalculable advantage. 



Neither respecting the various misczUaaeous 

 substances which we have enumerated, have we 

 any further observation to make upon their res- 

 pective properties. The fluid or disolved parts of 

 animal matter require some preparatory process to 

 fit them for manure, the great object being to 

 blend them with the soil in a proper staie of 

 minute division; Ibr when they have been applied 

 in a rank or unreduced stale, bad efl:'ects have 

 followed. Traill oil, bkib'jer, and similar re- 

 fuse, should therefore, be made into composts 

 ■with a large body of earth.* Rape and malt dust, 

 requiring no mixture, are very commonly laid 

 upon the land as top-dressings — the difl^erence 

 between which and manure ploughed into the 

 ground, is, that the former are applied chiefly with 

 a view to the sole benefit of the immediate crop, 

 without regard to the further improvement of the 

 Boil; though there can be no doubt that if the crop 

 be increased, the soil will also feel their good 

 effects. In this manner si)ot is also almost invari- 

 aby used; but its fertilizing properties are solely 

 relerable to the ammonia contained in it, which is 

 anaciive stimulant of vegetation. The practice 

 of laying it upon land which has been limed, or 

 of mixing it, as sometimes done, in composts with 

 lime, is therefore injudicious. f 



It has long been a disputed question, whether 

 .-all plants extract the same nutritive juices from 

 'the soil, and convert them into the kind of sap 

 .adapted to their peculiar qualities, or whether each 

 ;is nourished by a ditt'erent substance. It would 

 .at first appear improbable that plants diflering 

 from each other in Ibrm, smell, taste, and proper- 

 ties as food, should be produced by the same mat- 

 ter; yet, when we reflect that different plants de- 

 prive each other of nourishment, by extendiuir 

 their roots into the same soil in which various 

 kinds are planted, we cannot but conclude that 

 their first nutriment must be of the same nature, 

 though the sap probably acquires different pro- 

 perties in its progress towards perfection. This, 

 however, .is one of the secrets of vegetation with 

 which we are unacquainted; but as we also see 

 that some soils are lieiter adapted than others for 

 (he growth of particular kimis of ijrain and vege- 

 tables, and that those crops to which they appear 

 the most favorable yet become deteriorated if re- 

 pealed, even though regularly dressed with one 

 species of manure, it seems evident that there 

 must be some advantage in the change of ma- 

 .nures, as well as in the system of cropping tillage 



* 'Tallow and oils received in a crude state by the 

 roots, may elo:^ the pores of the plant, repel the aqueous 

 fluid, and obstruct the free communication of the 

 leaves with the atmosphere.' — Sir H. Davy's Lect. on 

 ^gric. Ch€m.4to p. 112. 



t Horaby on Lime, p. 26. 



land.* This will be gained by every farmer who 

 has at his command manures of an unusual kind, 

 and who understands their use, for he aiay then 

 adopt many plans of cropping which are out of the 

 power of hers not sinnlarly situated, and vary 

 his rotations according to circiimstaifces of the 

 moment, or to his own convenience. 



We have already touched upon ihe properties 

 of alkaline manures, so fin* as they have been 

 tested by experience; the solution of the effects of 

 acids upon tiie soil niiisi be sdll left to future exfie- 

 riments, for those already made by chemists, in 

 many instances, present different results. What- 

 ever may be the Ibod of plants — whether gases, 

 oils, salts, or acids — the farmer, however, need not 

 puzzle liimself about their chemical qualiiies, Ibr 

 he may either satisfy himself from the experience 

 of others, or by small trials of his own, whether 

 the ert'ects of any particular species produce lertil- 

 ty or not. Farm-yard manure has been justly- 

 called 'the farmer''s niaiiic wand;' and the oftener 

 that wand is waved, the more will it contribute to 

 his prosperity. He sees that wherever it has been 

 judiciously used, it causes abundant crops, and 

 that wherever it has been withheld, sterility seizes 

 upon the soil; his chiefefforts should, therefore, be 

 directed to its increase. 



Although the time and manner of applying 

 every description of manures depend so much 

 upon the nature of the soil and season, as well as 

 of the crops to be sown, that no precise rules can 

 be laid down Ibr their employment, yet the follow- 

 ing general hints may be found useful. 



Summary, 



When manures of any kind are to be used as 

 top-dressings for grass, the best season Ibr that 

 purpose is as early as practicable in the month of 

 February, as the vernal showers will then wash 

 them into the soil IfH)r arable land, at the same 

 time as the sowing of the seed, or immediately 

 after; but if for wheat, when vegetation is about 

 to acquire force, in the spring. 



If dung be applied to a wheat crop, it should be 

 ploughed in during the course of a summer tiillow; 

 if compost, at the last ploughing before the seed 

 furrow; but composts of lime and earth only, may 

 be laid upon the land during any period of the 

 year. 



The land should be laid dry; and the manure 

 should be equally and speedily spread over every 

 part of it, in proportion to the nature of the soil; 

 but if ploughed in, though it should be well mix- 

 ed with the ground, it rhould not be too deeply 

 buried. 



The stroncrer and the colder soils are, the 

 more manure they require ; and, as such land is 

 fjenerally applied to the production of crops which 

 do not speeilily attain their flili growth, the appli- 

 cation of duiiir which has not been completely 

 decomnoeed by the putrelactive process may be 

 there admitted, for alihouo'h the progress of vege- 

 tation may not be so rapidly forwarded, yet the 

 manure will at length decay, and afford a more 

 gradual degree of nutriment to the present, and 

 greater support to the land for the production of 



* Sir H. Davy, Atrric. Cnem 4to. p. 273. Doncas- 

 ter Repoit on Bone Manure, p. 27. See also the recent 

 'Theory of Rotation of Crops.' byM.De Candolle. 



