58 ORGANIC MANURES, CONSIDERED 



The ashes of the peat of wood are always found richer in alkaline matters 

 than those of the peat of moss, and on this account they form an article of 

 commerce in the neighbourhood of Newbury in Berkshire, and in Holland. 

 184. The principal vegetable manures which are formed in suburban 

 villas are, the mould of collected leaves swept up in autumn, and in all sea- 

 sons when they fall ; the mould of grass mown from lawns, and either rotted 

 by itself, or on dung-casings to pits ; and the mould from the common vege- 

 table rubbish heap ; that is from a heap on which all decaying or refuse 

 vegetable matters are thrown as taken from the garden, and sometimes, also, 

 including the leaves of trees and short grass. This heap is, or should be, 

 placed in the reserve ground of all gardens. The grass mown from lawns, 

 however, is most economically added to casings of dung to aid in producing 

 heat by fermentation, as it is laid on dug surfaces round the roots of plants 

 during summer to retain moisture. The leaves also are generally best kept 

 by themselves, for the purpose of decaying into leaf- mould. In whatever 

 way these vegetable materials are made use of, the gardener ought to have 

 a vigilant eye to see that none of them are lost. 



185. Animal manures require much less preparation than those derived 

 from plants, from their greater tendency to the putrefactive process. The 

 kinds of animal manures are chiefly excrement ; urine ; coverings of animals, 

 such as hair, wool, feathers ; entrails of animals, such as blubber, the con- 

 tents of the abdomen of fish ; entire animals, such as fish, vermin ; parts of 

 animals, such as hair, bones, &c. ; or articles manufactured from parts of 

 animals, such as woollen rags, old leather ; or any article manufactured from 

 skins, hair, wool, feathers, horn, bone, &c. Of all these manures by far the 

 most valuable is nightsoil, next urine, and thirdly bones. The different 

 excrements and urines of animals rank in value according to the kind of 

 food with which the animal is nourished, and within this limit according 

 to its grade ; and hence the most valuable animal manure is that of man, 

 the next that of horses as abounding with ammonia and nitrogen. The ma- 

 nure of the horse ranks before that of the cow or the sheep ; and the manure 

 of highly-fed animals before that of those which are lean. 



186. 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 understood, they 

 are found in that state injurious to vegetation ; but when these manures 

 are fermented they are the most powerful of all, producing 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 manuring elements are consumed by the 

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

 tal 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. Ag. Soc,, vol. i. 

 p. 473.) Liquid manure, also, from the ammonia which it contains, when 

 poured on the soil destroys worms, snails, &c., as effectually as lime-water. 



