OIL-CAKE MANURE. 275 



lion of the azotized matter assimilated by vegetables during their 

 growth is finally concentrated at the period of their maturity. Seeds 

 are consequently very powerful manures, and great advantage is 

 taken of them. In Tuscany, lupin seed is sold as manure ; it con- 

 tains 3i- per cent, of azote. It is employed after its germinating 

 power has been destroyed by boiling or roasting. The cultivation 

 of the lupin is carried on in districts, the situation of which is such 

 that difficulty would be experienced in exporting more bulky crops. 

 Grains from the brewery would also make excellent manure were it 

 not generally found more advantageous to use them as food for cat- 

 tle. °In some places, however, where there is no adequate demand 

 for them in this direction, they are dried upon a kiln, and are then 

 equal to twice and a half their weight of farm dung ; in some places 

 they are actually sold at a proportionate price. The state if divis- 

 ion of grains admits of their being regularly spread. In some parts 

 of England, grains are used in the proportion of from 40 to 50 

 bushels per acre for wheat or barley.* 



The refuse of the grape in wine countries contains a large quantity 

 of azotized matter. The decomposition of the grape stones being 

 slow, this refuse answers admirably as a manure for vines. 



Oleaginous seeds after the extraction of the oil leave a residue 

 which is an article of commerce, and is familiarly known under the 

 name of cake. Oil contains no appreciable quantity of azote ; this 

 principle is contained entirely in the cake, which becomes through 

 this alone most excellent manure. The proportion of azote which 

 cake contains, varies from ^ to 9 per cent. Oil-cake, from its mode 

 of preparation, contains but very little moisture, and consequently of- 

 fers great facilities in the way of carriage ; it may be taken without 

 difficulty to situations whither a load of dung could scarcely be carried. 

 Cake is applied in two modes : 1st. In powder, and by sowing 

 upon the field, sometimes mixed with the seed. 2d. Mixed in vi^ater 

 or in the drainings of the dung-hill, in which case the liquid contain- 

 ing the products of the decomposition of the cake is distributed over 

 the land. By putrefaction under water, cake yields a matter of ex- 

 treme fetor, comparable both in point of smell and of effects on vege- 

 tation to human excrement obtained from privies. 



Although cake, from the large proportion of albumen and legumen 

 which it contains, be an excellent food for cattle, it is still found 

 more advantageous in many districts to use it as manure than for 

 feeding. England imports oil-cake from all parts of the continent. 

 France alone, from 1836 to 1840, exported more than 117,860 tons 

 of the article. Oil-cake has been particularly recommended as 

 manure for light sandy soils. When the soil is clayey and cold, 

 Schwertz recommends a mixture of one part of lime and 6 parts of 

 powdered cake. To me, however, the addition of lime has always 

 appeared a questionable auxiliary in such manures as give rise readily 

 to ammoniacal products, as is the case with oil-cake. For clayey 

 lands, it would perhaps be advisable to employ oil-cake in a state of 



♦ Sinclair, Agriculture, vol. i. 



