1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



647 



The disagrefiahle pmoll oriii<rIil-soil may be de- 

 stroyed by mixinn: it willi (juicklinie ; and it ex- 

 posed to the atmosphere ill thin layers strewed 

 over with quicklime in fine weather, it speedily 

 dries, is easily pulverized, and in this state may be 

 used in the same manner as rape-cake, and deli- 

 vered into the furrow with the seed. 



The Chinese, who have more practical know- 

 ledge of the use and application oi" manures than 

 any other people existinjT) mix 'beir night-soil 

 with one-third of its weight of a fat marl, make it 

 into cakes, and dry it by exposure to the sun. 

 These cakes, we are informed by the French mis- 

 sionaries, have no disagreeable smell, and (brm a 

 common article of commerce of the empire. 



The earth, by its absorbent powers, probably 

 prevents, to a certain extent, the action of mois- 

 ture upon the dung, and likewise defends it from 

 ihe efl'ects of air. 



After night-soil, pigeons'' dung comes next in 

 order, as to fertilizing power. I digested 100 

 grains of pigeons' dung in hot water for some 

 hours, and obtained from it 23 grains of soluble 

 matter; which afforded abundance of carbonate 

 of ammonia by distillation; and left carbonaceous 

 matter, saline matter principally common salt, and 

 carbonate of lime, as a residuum. Pigeons' dung, 

 when moist, readily lerments, and after fermenta- 

 tion contains less soluble matter than before: from 

 100 parts of fermented pigeons' dung, I obtained 

 only eight parts of soluble matter, which gave 

 proportionally less carbonate of ammonia in dis- 

 tillation than recent pigoons' dung. 



It is evident that this manure should be applied 

 as new as possible; and when dry, it may be em- 

 ployed in the same manner as the other manures 

 capable of being pulverized. 



The soil in woods where great flocks of wood- 

 pigeons roost is often highly impregnated with 

 their dung, and, it cannot be doubted, would form 

 a valuable manure. I have found such soil yield 

 ammonia when distilled with lime. In the winter, 

 likewise, it usually contains abundance of vege- 

 table matter, the remains of decayed leaves; and 

 the dung tends to bring the vegetable matter into 

 a state of solution. 



The dung of domestic fowls approaches very 

 nearly in its nature to pigeons' dung. Uric acid 

 has been found in it. It gives carbonate of am- 

 monia by distillation, and immediately yields solu- 

 ble matter to water. It is very liable to ferment. 



The dung of fowls is employed in common with 

 that of pigeons by tanners to bring on a slight de- 

 gree of putrefaction in skins that are to be used 

 for making soft leather; for this purpose the dung 

 is diffused through water. In this state, it rapid- 

 ly undergoes putrefaction, and brings on a similar 

 change m the skin. The excrements of dogs are 

 employed by the tanner with similar effects. In 

 all cases, the contents of the grainer, as the pit is 

 called in which soft skins are prepared by dung, 

 must form a very useful manure. 



Rabbits'' dung has never been analyzed. It is 

 used with great success as a manure by Mr. Fane, 

 who finds it profitable to keep rabbits in such a 

 manner as to preserve their dung. It is laid on as 

 fresh as possible, and is found better the less it 

 has fermented. 



The dung of cattle, oxen, and cows, has been 

 chemically examined by MM. Einhof and Thaer. 

 They found that it contained matter soluble in 



water; and that it gave in ftirnientation nearly tlie 

 same products as vogetalile substances, absurbing 

 oxyuen, and producing caihonic acid gas. 



The recent dung of shvrp jind of deer, allnrd, 

 when long boiled in water, soluble matters, which 

 equal from two to three per cent, of their weight. 

 I have examined these soluble substances procured 

 by solution and evaporation: they contain a very 

 small quantity of matter analogous to animal mu- 

 cus; and are principally composed of a bitter ex- 

 tract soluble both in water and in alcohol. They 

 give ammoniacal fumes by distillation; and appear 

 to difl'er very little in composition. 



I watered some blades of grass for several suc- 

 cessive days with a solution of these extractts; 

 they evidently became greener in consequence, 

 and grew more vigorously than grass in other 

 respects under the same circumstances. 



The part of the dung of cattle, sheep and deer, 

 not soluble in water; appears to be mere woody 

 fibre, and precisely analogous to the residuum of 

 those vegetables that form their food after they 

 have been deprived of all their soluble materials. 



The dung of horses gives a brown fluid, which, 

 when evaporated, yields a bitter extract, which 

 affords ammoniacal fumes more copiously than that 

 from the dung of oxen. 



If the pure dung of cattle is to be used as ma- 

 nure, like the other species of dung which have 

 been mentioned, there seems no reason why it; 

 should be made to ferment, except in the soil; or 

 if suffered to ferment, it should be only in a very 

 slight degree. The grass in the neighborhood of 

 recently voided dung is always coarse and dark 

 green; some persons have attributed this to a 

 noxious quality in unfermented dung; but it seems 

 to be rather the result of an excess of food fur- 

 nished to the plants. 



The question of the proper mode of the appli- 

 cation of the dung of horses and cattle, however, 

 properly belongs to the subject of composite ma- 

 nures, for it is usually mixed in the farm-yard with 

 straw, offal, chaff, and various kinds of litter; and 

 itself contains a large proportion of fibrous vege- 

 table matter. 



A slight incipient fermentation is undoubtedly 

 of use in the dunghill; for by means of it a dispo- 

 sition is brought on in the woody fibre to decay 

 and dissolve, when it is carried to the land, or 

 ploughed into the soil; and woody fibre is always 

 in ffreat excess in the refuse of the farm. 



Too great degree of fermentation is, however, 

 very prejudicial to the composite manure in the 

 dunghill; it is better that there should be no fer- 

 mentation at all before the manure is used, than 

 that it should be carried too far. This must be 

 obvious from what has been already stated in this 

 lecture. The excess of fermentation tends to the 

 destruction and dissipation of the most useful part 

 of the manure; and the ultimate results of this 

 process are like those of combustion. 



If is a common practice amongst farmers to suf- 

 fer the farm-yard dung to ferment till the fibrous 

 texture of the vegetable matter is entirely broken 

 down, and till the manure becomes perfectly cold, 

 and so soft as to be easily cut by the spade. 



Independent of the general theoretical views 

 unfavorable to this practice founded upon the na- 

 ture and composition of vegetable substances, 

 there are many arguments and facts which show 

 that it is prejudicial to the interests of the farmer. 



