SURFACE MANURING. 193 



to remove the pile, you can shovel it much as you would cut a 

 large rich cheese. Take a good steel shovel, and cut clear 

 through, and the mass is hlack as your hat, and rich as any- 

 thing you can put in the ground. I agree with Prof. Dana, 

 entirely. I am perfectly convinced of the fact, that two loads 

 of peat, mixed in that way with the manure — making three 

 loads, with one load of pure droppings — is equal to any three 

 loads of pure droppings that can be preserved. I have not a 

 doubt of it, from an experience of twenty years, with the most 

 careful observation, and attending to the matter myself. Peat 

 is the most powerful absorbent we have, and, next to charcoal, 

 it is the best thing we can use to keep everything about our 

 premises sweet and clean. As I said before, I hope this matter 

 will ])e dwelt upon by everybody who speaks upon the subject 

 of manures, for I repeat, I believe the hopes of a progressive 

 and profitable agriculture in these three States, or in portions 

 of them, depend upon the peat swamps which a kind Providence, 

 as the chairman has said (I was glad to hear that,^) has kept in 

 store for us. 



Mr. Clark. With regard to the application of manures, I 

 perceive evidence of a diversity of opinion among practical 

 farmers as regards the depth at which they should be placed. 

 Some would plough in their manure four or five inches deep ; 

 others would place it at or near the surface. Now, I think in 

 settling a question of that kind, which is one of the deepest 

 interest to us all, we ought to study with a very critical eye the 

 operations of nature. I noticed, in one of our agricultural 

 papers, a few weeks ago, a very singular expression, which 

 contained, I thought, a great deal of philosophy, on this point. 

 The writer said that he had been out West, and he noticed that 

 the Lord raised much larger grass than we could, with all our 

 skill, and the Lord never owned a plough, but did it all by top- 

 dressing. That last phrase, " does it all by top-dressing,'^ 

 seems to me to contain a vast amount of practical philosophy 

 on this subject. " Top-dressing " is the method of Providence, 

 or nature, as we say. I think that manures placed near the 

 surface are much more eft'ective than if placed very much below 

 the surface. My opinion on this subject has changed very 

 much within the last ten or twelve years. I used to be in the 

 habit of ploughing in manures, and the deeper the better, I 

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