®l)c lavmcfs ittcintl)ln bisitor. 



lapidily. Ill lookhifi over the weekly piiblicu- 

 tiotis oil lioiticiiltiire, we cannoi but be struck 

 with the c.-iruest lecouimeudiiiioiis of fluid ma- 

 nures ; iiml ys It is more than probable "tliiit they 

 who look lor correct iiilbrmation in such publi- 

 cations, will attach Caiih to the advice they there 

 meet with, It becomes 11 duty to investigate the 

 principles upon which this practice is founded. 



Ml. Kiijght, oi Dowiiton, was perhaps the first 

 person ot authority to whose advocacy we may 

 ascribe the introduction of liquid manure: he 

 employed pigeons' duns steeped in water till the 

 Huid acrpiued a brown lint nearly as deep as that 

 ot porter; and he remained lirndy of opinion 

 that vines, melons, and grapes, were much as- 

 sisted by a copious use of this aliment. IJein.' 

 prepared JVoni recent dung of the dovecote, he 

 obtamed at onco a solution of the bile, the urea 

 and all the saline ingredients of the excreta. Gar- 

 deners in general may be presumed to have re- 

 course, ot necessity, to the brown drainage of old 

 dmighills; but here the result is a widely dilfer- 

 ent atiair, because the mass having undergone 

 ermentalion, the gaseous and fluid products have 

 been interchangeably attracted and rc-/o™frf into 

 new chemical combinations: thus, the urea has 

 developed ammonia during the first active stage 

 of heat, the chief part of which passed into the 

 air ; a portion, however, as the mass cools, would 

 sink into the lower parts of the heap or be ear- 

 ned down by rain, and become united with the 

 Clack, carbonized substance, which is termed hu- 

 mic acid, and gradually .loze through the bulk 

 forming that brown fluid which is seen in the 

 waste drams and puddles of farm-yards. 



i he chemical elements disturbed durin.r the 

 ermentationofa manure heap are iiumemus: 

 heo-xygenand hydrogen combine to produce 

 water; other portions uniting with carbon yield 

 acetic acid; and certain saline and hydrocarbon- 

 aceous substances filtrate away; leaving a cold, 

 blackened mass, which constitutes the spit-dung 



the gardener; a substance composed chiefJv 

 ot carbon and humus, in a condition fitted to 

 evolve a considerable .piantity of carbonic acid. 



llie hqmd draumge is then a weak comiiound 



01 salts ot potash, soda, and ammonia; the last 

 Demg united with so much of the humus as to 

 give a deep brown tint to the whole. To appre- 

 ciate the operation of this liquid, the chemical 

 leader should test a variety of decayed vegetable 

 matters ; such, for instance, as old leaf-mould, 

 very black humous manure, and the brown peat 

 ot moors and bogs, by adding a little alkali to 

 eacb 01 them. If an ounce of peat-bog or black 

 manure be digested in boiling rain water more 

 man suftcient to cover the material, little color 

 will, 111 iieneral, be extracted; but upon adding 

 'Hop by I, -op, some strong emetic ammonia, 

 stirring with a strip of glass after each addition 



he fluid will gradnally become of a deep full 

 brown ; the pungent odor of the ammonia bein<r 

 destroyed tih it be added to saturation. 



.^gain, a very little of the brown heatli-soil 

 Irom some parts of Surrey, being so treated, will 

 pive intense color to an ounce or two of water. 

 J'earlash and soda will produce similar effects, 

 but amni^nia is to be preferred. Persons are apt 

 to conclude, that to this brown coforing matter 

 we must ascribe the nutritive qualities of liquid 

 tnanures ; whereas, in thct, it is quite certain that 

 not one particle of the color can enter the spon- 

 gifdas of sound, undisturbed roots. 

 ^,-wd'i'' '"="""•«=- ^"l ■'•«'• 1-e weighed, and then 

 g ..dually evaporated at a gentle heat, to .Irvness, 

 ine weight of coloring matter will be found to be 

 •^ery tr.ffmg; a„d yet gardeners are in the habit 

 Ol adding much water to this liquid, considering 

 too strong lor plants growing in pots. HavinS 

 thus, by dilution, reduced the tint to that of pale 

 malt iquor, what activity can be expected from 

 it :■ Or if such liquid manure be of any avail at 

 all, to what material can we refer its niitVitive ef- 

 lects, since it ,s admitted that the particles of 

 color minute as they must be, are still too gross 

 to enter the pores of the roots .= 



To answer these queries by farther experi 

 ment, and thus gain n little more light upon the 

 subjecf,-let a few grains o( powdered quicklime 

 I'e stirred into the colored fluid and suffered to 

 suosiue; alter a lew minutes it will be seen that 

 the color of the liquid is lost ; that it has become 

 quite pale; while the sediment itself hasacniiir- 



69 



or black manure be worked up with one-third I rior seed Wl,„„, ' ', ~, " ~ 



the quantity of quicklime, and diluted fwitl, o sTed Corn .ml ' 7""^ ^f/' ''f '^"^ considerable 

 water sufficient to allow of free siibsi.lencP Af bucks A,'n 1. '"'^'Lf^ ""l ^? ^"^ ^^""'ed 



trucks. As n breeder ot Sheep, he has few equals 

 m the country. His facilities for soiling, ov for 

 keepitig up sheep cows and swine, can be esti- 



dd ,?vv ill ^r'"''"' '■°°'"'^.^''"'"l i" with stone 

 laid in with lime mortar, cover an area of 8916 



square feet-or more than the whole basement 

 .feL'm-f ""'" '" "y ^° '''' l>arns.-famerri 



water sufficient to allow of free subsidence. Af- 

 ter stirring from time to time, the compound 

 matter will subside, leaving the super-natant li- 

 quor nearly devoid of color : and now caustic 

 ammonia may be added to excess, without effect- 

 ing any change of tint, the lime acting by more 

 powerful affinity, and fixing the humio extractive 

 in the form of an insoluble humate of lime. 



In this way it is that lime acts as the specific 

 reclaimer ol waste and barren peat-bogs, render- 

 ing them fertile by iho ahslradion and fimtio7i of 

 Ibat inert and deleterious vegetable matter which 

 IS an antagonist to vegetation. And thus, by an 

 induction Irom undeniable chemical facts, we be- 

 gin to perceive that we have long been misled by 

 crude theories and empirical practice. 



Lifjuid manures therefore act by the salts which 

 they contain, not by the coloring solution of hu- 

 mus ; and thus, also, we may be permitted to 

 sanction the cautious application of artificially 

 prepared fluids, as for instance, " Potter's Liquid 

 Onaiio, "Humphrey's Inodorous Compound," 

 and other fertilizers, which are neither more nor 

 less than solutions of chemical salts; among the 

 safest and most effectual of which are the sul- 

 l.l.ate of ammonia, nitrate of potassa (salt-petre) 

 and sulphate of soda. * H ; 



. ^,',""?,',* ''"^ interpreter of this new and most 

 intelligible theory ; for by it the important fact 

 has been ascertained, that, for all the poisonous 

 vegetable extract in peat-bogs, in old pastures, in 

 gardens and soils over-glutted with manure, it 

 exerts the most powerful affinity, attracting the 

 hun.ic aciij, not only from alkaline solutions, but 

 from the body of the soil itself, fixing it in a con- 

 dition of absolute insolubility, and thereby ren- 

 dering the poison quite innocuous. 



Let us not be misunderstood, however ; for lo-ij 

 when pure turfy loam without dry manure is used 1832 

 in pot-culture, the slight tinge of color in the li- 1883 

 quid superadded cannot be productive of injury 

 VVhat we wish to combat, is the false notion, Ma< 

 Ihe coloring mailer is the manure. The truth must 

 prevail, in proportion as science and faithful an- 

 alysis extend their influence ; yet, while we as- 

 sert that the chemical salts of steeped manures 

 are the fertilizers, and that if the coloring matter 

 of drainage from the mixen were perfectly dis- 

 charged by lime not used in excess, the clear 

 fluid would retain its efficiency, we still give the 

 preference to these agents, the pro.lucts of natu- 

 ral ermentation, over any salts prepared by art 

 in the laboratory. 



As an analogy, we would cite the well-authen- 

 ticated facts of the rapid germination of seeds 

 wiich have passed through the viscera of birds 

 Ihe Pimento trees which furnish the allspice of 

 commerce, are quickly raised by berries, thus im- 

 pregnated by animal juices. Nature presents nu- 

 merous similar examples, which art cannot imi- 

 tate; and therefore we arrive at the inference 

 that as the naturally prepared liquid manures are 

 the products of a species of slow combustion by 

 winch vegetable and animal matters are resolv- 

 ed mto their elements, they must be most con- 

 genial to plants, as in fact they derive their origin 

 from them. " 



While thus sanctioning the use ofanimal liquid 

 manure, we must protest against a dirty and in- 

 jurious method which we have seen freely prac- 

 tised ; namely, by applying fresh cow dung, stir- 

 red up in a tub of water, till it can be poured 

 through the nozzle of a water-pot. The water 

 passes down and conveys to the soil the dissolv- 

 ed salts and liquefieeJ gall of the manure ; but a 

 cake of dry, effiite matter is deposited on the 

 surface, which prevents the ingress of air and of 

 water. The reason assigned is, that the manure 

 keej.s the plant cool ! This is a vulgar error 

 which may lead to much mischief.— Parfwi'* 

 Magazine of Botany 



Exports of Flax and Tow into Great Britain 

 in 1843. 



1,145,739 cwis. at $10 



Tons 57,887,19 



VALUE OF LINENS EXPORTED 



Yards. 



$11,457,590 



69,232,083 

 29,490,987 

 lbs. Linen Yarn 



£2,217,373 



1,025,551 



£3,242,924 



$15,566,035 



LINENS 



Imported into the United States year ending June 

 30,1844. ^ 



$4,592,826 



Sail Duck, 

 Exported, 



350,317 



$4,943,143 

 152,898 



Home consumption, $4,790,245 



FLAX SEED EXPORTED. 



18-30 

 1831 



1834 

 1835 

 1836 

 1837 



Bushels. 



115,762 



120,702 



57,537 

 117,292 

 187,468 

 228,863 

 123.926 



33,147 



Value. 



180,973 

 216,376 

 123,036 

 228,300 

 281,990 



451,88(5, 



2.50,182 I 1845 



50,553 



ia38 



1839 

 1840 

 1841 

 1842 

 J844 



Bushels. 

 35,651 

 66,781 

 76,970 

 32,243 

 18,354 

 15,006 

 50,000 



Value. 

 55,954 

 161,896 

 120,000 

 50,781 

 34,991 

 23,749 

 81,918 



$16,194 

 8,656 



Genesee Farmer.— Dr. Lee commences the 

 new year by announcing that he has made ar- 

 rangements with Gen. Rawson Harmon, of 

 Wheatland, Monroe county, N. Y., to open an 

 Agricultural School for Western New York. It 

 will be located on Gen. H.'s farm, which contains 

 two hundred acres of improved land, under ex- 



cellent cultivation. 



/-. II , ^ . I ijinens irom tnis sinele 



IMPORTS OF FLAX INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

 CwtS^ cwis 



I^Q? ^'5^S $39,055 11832 1,837 

 1831 463 6,472 | ]8;i3 990 



We find no later returns of imports of flax. 



1 lax and hemp raised in 18:39 in the United 

 btates by the census of 1840, 95,251 tons. 



Great BR.TAixN.-The bounties on the expor- 



n TOTO V"?2^"f '^^^'■''' ""''"■ '^"''^'es 'teased 

 $1 400JOOO ""^ amounted to £300,000, or 



• Of 936,411 cwt. of Flax and Tow imported 

 into Great Britain in 1831, there were brought 

 Irom ° 



Rnssia, 62.3,256 cwt. | France, 55,.324cwt 



Holland, 128,231 " Italy, 1 415 " 



rfri^'^J?^''"^ " I Aiistralia,&c.l5,275 « 

 Of 2,7.->9,103 bushels of Flaxseed imported in 

 1«J1 into Great Britain, there were brought from 

 Russia, 2,210,702 Italy, =105,448 



Prussia, 172,099 Egypt, 98847 



United States, 106,294 Holland, &c. .S3 738 

 1 he duty was Is. per quarter, or 3 cts. 'per 

 bushel and the price in December, 1833, varied 

 trom 45s. to 54s. per quarter, or $1.35 to $LC2 per 

 bushel. It IS now admitted free of duty 



The quantity of Linens exported from Ireland 

 to threat Britain and foreign countries in 1825 

 was 55,113,265 yards. 



,a.ff "T^^'"'-— ^'"'■'ng 'he year ending May 31, 

 ' 'J'^!"" "'''"'' "nported into Dundee 15,010 

 tons of Flax and 3082 tons Hemp, and there v^ere 

 shipped 



366,817 pieces, or 50,000,000 yards Linen. 

 85,55a " 3,.500,000 " Sail Cloth, 



t , , about 4,000,000 " Bagging. 



In all about 57,500,000 yards. In the year endine 

 ?'-Y 31, 1833, the imports of Flax amounted to 

 18,777 tons besides 3,.380 tons of Hemp The 

 shipments of Linen, Sail Cloth, &c., have in- 

 creased in a corresponding ratio, and were valu- 

 ed ill the same year at about £1,600,000, or about 

 7i millions of dollars. 



It appears, therefore, that the shipments of 

 Linens from this single port of Dundee are quite 

 n= n.-<.o. „= .i.„„., r. II Ireland ; and while the 



