THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



305 



From the Dumfries Herald. 

 A NEW SOURCE OF THE BEST MANURE. 



" Ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola ; neve 

 Effetos ciiierera imiuuduum jactaru per agros." 



Virgil. 



In cold and temperate climates, the value of 

 farm-yard manure has been known from the ear- 

 nest period. It contains, or it leads to the forma- 

 tion of; every ingredient which our field crops 

 demand from the soil, and it gives off its riches 

 gradually as they are needed. 



But it has always been a difficult matter to 

 obiain this in quantity sufficient lor the wants of 

 a hard-cropped soil. The demands of our in- 

 creasing population proclaim its inadequacy. The 

 labor of cartage draws deeply on the farmer's 

 funds ; and the want of more portable manures 

 is now extensively felt. 



Bones, charcoal, burnt clay, and various salts, 

 have, in turn, presented their claims. But of all 

 the substitutes for farm manure yet proposed, 

 none has claims so extensive and well founded 

 as those of wood ashes. These already contain 

 nearly all that plants draw from the soil. On 

 warm soils, they so powerfully dispose the forma- 

 tion of ammonia and nitrates, that they render 

 the addition of dung almost needless. They 

 promote the disintegration of the soil, accelerate 

 vegetation, and require little cartage. 



The chief difficulty, as yet, has been the scarce- 

 ness of the article : and my object at present is 

 to point out the source of an abundant and cheap 

 supply, for the wants of at least the present gene- 

 ration — a supply which may be the means of adding 

 to the wealth of Britain, doubling her produce, en- 

 riching her colonies, relieving her surplus popula- 

 tion, extending her dominions, meliorating cli- 

 mate, and doing hurt to none. 



Our countrymen who emigrate to Upper Ca- 

 nada, find vast forests which they would more 

 actively remove, if they had a remunerating price 

 for their labor. By them, much of our pearl ash 

 is supplied. They burn the wood, collect and 

 lixiviate the ashes, evaporate the ley. and sell the 

 ^^ black salts'''' io purifiers, who present them to 

 us in the form of pot or pearl ashes. Their me- 

 thods at present are said to be clumsy, and their 

 matters imperfectly collected ; y6t some of the 

 more enterprising clear 20 acres annually, and 

 pay all their expenses from the sale of their black 

 salts. But, as many leave the ashes unheeded, 

 where the wood is burnt, it seems that the sup- 

 ply is easily made to equal the present demand. 



Now, sir, if a greatly increased demand were 

 made, not perhaps for black salts, but for well 

 burnt ashes, the labor and expense of lixiviaiion 

 and purification would be spared, and an article 

 better suited to the wants of the farmer would be 

 obtained at a very moderate price* 



It may safely be assumed that a ton of ashes is 

 wasted lor every hundred weight of good pearl 

 ash which reaches this country. The increased 

 carriage and freight would certainly be more than 

 compensated by the want of trouble in purifica- 

 tion, and hence we might have the ashes lor 23. 

 to 23. 6d. per cwt. 



Eight hundred weight of these, per imperial 



acre, mixed in a little farm manure, would be quite 



enough lor a five years' rotation, f have no doubt 



but that six hundred weight of these ashes, iu- 



VoL. X.--39 



diciously mixed, under cover, in six carts of good 

 dung, will, in raising a turnip crop, be found equal 

 to 30 bushels of bones, ami will leave the ground 

 as fertile. As every larmer can easily, on hia 

 own farm have more dung than he thus needs, 

 his whole cash outlay for manure will be only 

 123. to 15s. per imperial acre, instead of 90s. when 

 he uses bones ; and the difference of labor will 

 be very trifling. On the second grass crop, the 

 addition of other two-hundred weight of the ashes 

 would aynply pay the expense. 



Let men of capital and scientific acquirements 

 remove to Canada, and employ poor people in 

 cutting and burning the wood, and clearing the 

 ground. This will employ many who cannot 

 now find work. The ground cleared, will require 

 people to cultivate it. Roads will be improved. 

 Our Canadian colony will rapidly grow in value 

 and importance. An increased market for our 

 exports will be opened ; and the same trade may 

 be extended to our other colonies, where wood 

 abounds to a hurtful extent. 



The guano trade must end in disappointment. 



The bone trade sends the money of the British 

 farmer to enrich the nations of Northern Europe ; 

 but the Canadian ash trade, will enable the Bri- 

 tons to put money out of one of their pockets into 

 the other. 



Nothing truly valuable is effected without some 

 difficulty ; and I merely throw out the suggestion, 

 that better-informed minds may digest a working 

 plan. The bulk of the ashes may be objected to, 

 and some method of concentrating them may be 

 devised. But while I know that trees contain too 

 little silica for corn plants, I believe that the 

 value of the ashes would be diminished at least 

 one half, by the removal of silica. 



We have lately heard of our government en- 

 couraging colonization. I hope their attention 

 will early be directed to this matter; and I am, 

 your obedient servant, P. G. 



NEW ARTIFICIAL. MANURE. 



From the New Genesee Farmer. 



We have seen, in several English publications, 

 notices of a new manure invented by Mr. Daniel!. 

 The following account of it, given to the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, we extract from the Boston 

 Courier, a paper always alive to the subject of 

 agricultural improvement, which quotes it Irom a 

 London paper. We subjoin a letter on the same 

 subject from our intelligent correspondent at Bos- 

 ton ; and shall give, at the earliest opportunity, 

 any farther information which we may obtain. 



" It had long been a subject of inquiry, what is 

 the food of plants, how are they supplied and 

 what are the elements of their growth 1 There 

 was every reason to believe that a reply could 

 be now given of a more satisfactory nature than 

 had ever been hitherto known ; besides which, by 

 the discovery of Mr, Daniell, a most important 

 corroboration had been obtained of what had 

 been considered the elements of vegetable growth; 

 those elements were carbon or charcoal, hydrogen 

 or inflammable gas, oxygen or vital air, and ni- 

 trogen. All these elements existed in the atmo- 

 sphere, in combination with other elements, in 

 which state they were found to be the sources af 



