THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



37 



throw away his puree well stored with silver or i covered wiih the plough. And my reason for this 

 gold, a case, by-the-by, which could occur with | course is, ihat the finer and well made, manures 

 but very few now-a-days. Equally foolish would l being now in a state to act availably, I wish lo con- 

 that man be, who would suHer his manure, the, j linue in tlint siaie as long as possible ; whereas, 

 strengih o( his land, and the very basis of his ; I wish to change the state ol' the coarser, by sub 



wealth, to perish lor want ol proper preservation. 

 And hore 1 would remark, that the great enemy 

 to be guarded against is inatiemioii and indo 



jeciing it to as rapid a decomposition as 1 can 

 efh-ct. Il, ihfrelure, I have the coarser on the 

 surlitce, il will but Itieach in the sun; but il'I cover 



lence. As a creneral rule, manures ought always , it to a hiuiII depth, ii will imbibe moisiure, and, as 



to be used, or at least placed in a situation to be 

 used, as soon as they are thoroughly made. JVla- 

 nures consist of vegetable and animal matters 

 variously combined, in a slate of decay, which, in 

 consequence of the decomposition in actual pro- 

 gress, are constantly evolving certain rich 'ind 

 nutritious gases, and these gases, if not imbibed 

 by other living vegetables, are constan'iy escaping 

 in the air. The manner in which manures bene- 

 fit the growing crop, whether by entering into it 

 in their solid state, or whether they are fir^i de- 

 composed into their original elements, these e!e 



I rots, impart its mitriiious [irojterties lo the grow- 

 ing crops. On th'S plan, I permanently secure 

 ihai which is lully made, in its present state; 

 vvhiltit, by covering, i j-uhjeci the oiher to a con- 

 tinued decomposiiion, and thus bring it into an 

 ;ivailable state also. 



The main argunif-nt by which the advocate of 

 the covering system supports liis theory is, that 

 manures, when Icit on ihesurlsce, are continually 

 subject to evaporation, and iherelbre lose their 

 valuable gases and oilier flaids. Now what are 

 these gases? Every chemist will tell you, and 



ments enter into it, I shall not now undertake lo | that upon tictual experiment, ihat they are fluids 



so subtle, so elastic, that it is almoyi impossible to 

 confine them. This being the case, can any 

 suppose that they can be confined by a covering 

 ol loose porous earth, such as land always is 

 when Iresh ploughed? These subtle substances 

 — if I may be allowed the expression — would 

 laugh at a confinement of this sort. No ! the 

 chemist can scarcely confine them in his retorts, 

 prepared with the greatest skill. In vain then 

 will you attempt to confine them by a slight 

 covering ol loose earth. But suffer me further 

 to inquire, what is the o6;ec< of confining them? 

 Is it, that when thus covered up, they may enter 

 into the plant by means of its roots, and thus 

 nourish if? But it is a fact, admitted as such by 



determine. It is sufficient for me to knov/ that 

 manures, as soon as fairly made, begin to waste 

 away. Here then is a loss ; nor is this loss occa- 

 sioned merely by what is commonly called evapo- 

 ration, his greatly accelerated, if not principally 

 caused, by what may be properly called a combus- 

 tion. To satisfy any one ol" this, let him put a 

 small quantity of manure in a heap, a single cart 

 load is sufficient for the experiment, and in 48 

 hours or less he will see a dense vapor issuing 

 from it, and on digging to the centre, will find 

 that a great heat has been generated, so that a 

 real combustion, commonly called fire-fang, has 

 actually commenced. Now it is obvious, that 

 unless this destructive process is arrested, a con- 



siderable portion of the solids will not only he every body, thai the roots are not the only appen- 



burned up, but in this process we shall lose a 

 large share of the nutritious gases also. The 

 best preventive thai I know ol for this waste, is 

 to remove the manures to the field as soon as fair- 

 ly made, and then spread forthwith, or if inexpe- 

 dient to spread, to place in small heaps, not ex- 

 ceeding 5 or 6 bushels to each. Some farmers 



dagee ol the plant by which it receives its nou- 

 rishment. The Zeaues are essential lo the plant in 

 this respect. Hence, if you destroy the foliage of 

 the plant, it sickens and dies ; and hence caterpil- 

 lais and other worms are so destructive to li-uit 

 trees. The leaf then, is intended to perform cer- 

 tain primary functions, connected with the health 



are exceedingly afraid that vheir manures will j and thrift ol the plant. For this purpose it is 

 sink down into the ground, and thus become in- furnished with two surfaces, by which, it is said, 

 active. I will cheerfully incur this risk, provided 1 it performs certain offices very similar to respira- 

 you give me a guaranty that they will not rise up, | tion in the animal creation. By one, it receives 

 and be dissipated in the atmosphere. The whole ; the gases, and by the other, it throws thera off, 

 secret, therefore, as to the preservation of manures, 1 when they have been sufficiently elaborated. It 

 resolves itself into this one thing, to mark when i appears, therefore, that we should but partially do 

 they are thoroughly made, and then immedi9tely | our work, were il in our power, to place these 

 to use them, or, at least, to place them in a situa- fluids in a state to be taken up by the roots alone; 



tion for future use. And the longer this thing i 

 delayed, the less manure you will have, and of 

 course the greater loss you will sustain. 



The third and last thing to be treated of is the 



the leaves require their portion, and this is indis- 

 pensably necessary to the healihfiil thrilt of the 

 plant. My theory is sim|)ly this, that between 

 ihe plant and its several parts, and these various 



best mode of applying manures. There are, as i gases, there is a strong affinity; when therefore 



far as I know, but two theories on thissubject; and 

 each theory has its strong and decided advocates. 

 The first is to use it as a top dressing ; the other 

 is to spread and immediately cover with the 

 plough. After a long and close observation on 

 this subject, I have come to the conclusion, that 

 each mode, according to the circumstances of the 

 case, is the correct one. If the manure be fine 

 and fully made, then I hesitate not to say that the 

 most judicious mode of application is in the way 

 of a top dressing. If on the other hand it is 

 coarse and but partially made, then it ought to be 



the attraction to the root is strongest, the gases go 

 there, and when the attraction to the leaf is strong- 

 est, the gases go there, and this is the case, 

 whether the manures be left on the surface or 

 covered up. In the one case, they descend to the 

 root, in the other they rise up to the leaf, and the 

 peculiar position in which you place them makes 

 very little difference, /or their great fluidity pre- 

 pares them for the change. I have already stated 

 that the great object is to preserve the finer ma- 

 nures as long as possible in their present state. 

 Being now available, the great object is to con- 



