560 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



by a more minute and critical analysis of its pro- 

 perties. All animal manure, however, partakes in 

 its fertilizing properties of the richness of the food 

 by which it has been created; yet experience 

 proves that its immediate powersare in several in- 

 stances widely different. Thus the ordure of a 

 man and that of a dog, though fed upon the same 

 food, is so wholly distinct in its effects, that the 

 excrement of the latter is used instead of bark in 

 the process of tanning goat-skins for the produc- 

 tion of morocco leather. Pigeon's dung, too, is 

 hotter than that of other fowls,* though both are 

 fed alike; and is said that a celebrated foreign 

 chemist. — M. Vauquelin — has not only lately dis- 

 covered a very remarkable difference between the 

 dung of cocks and hens, but that there, also exists 

 a sensible distinction between that of hens which 

 lay, and of those which do not produce eggs! 

 However deserving those researches may be of 

 inquiry, and however important they may hereaf- 

 ter prove, if followed up with regard to the larger 

 animals, it would yet be difficult, and perhaps, un- 

 der all circumstances, unnecessary, to state the 

 differences of" the comparative character and value 

 of these and various other putrescible bodies — such 

 as fish, spoiled flesh, and many other substances, 

 which, though all, no doubt, useful to vegetation, 

 when they can be procured on such terms as that 

 the farmer finds they can be profitably applied to 

 his purpose, are yet seldom found in such abun- 

 dance as to require a separate account of the pro- 

 perties of each. We, therefore, do not deem it 

 necessary to pursue that portion of the subject 

 farther, and shall accordingly proceed to the con- 

 siberation of that compound of vegetable and an- 

 imal substance so well known under the tide of 



Farm yard 3fanure. 



This must ever be ranked in the first class; and 

 when improved yards have been constructed for 

 the soiling of cattle, and attention has been paid 

 to the quality as well as the increase of their dung, 

 the manure thus produced becomes of inestimable 

 value. No husbandman can carry on his busi- 

 ness without it, and every one who attends lor a 

 moment to the difficulty of procuring a sufficient 

 quantity of dung, as well as of preparing what is 

 got, will acknowledge, that however imperfectly 

 the subject be understood, none is more deserving 

 of serious investigation; yet even the most super- 

 ficial observer on the common state of culture can 

 hardly fail to remark, that the evident inattention 

 to its management is such as would almost lead to 

 the supposition that it. is not worth the pains of 

 the farmers's care. Nothing is more common 

 than to see large heaps of manure thrown out 

 from the stables and feeding-sheds, and exposed 

 in that state to the weather, without any regard 

 to its being either laid up in a regular and careful 

 manner, secured from evaporation, or carefully 

 mixed in different proportions,according to its va- 

 rious qualities; yet these proportions are severally 

 of a very distinct and important nature. 



When horse-dang is sufficiently moist, and is 

 exposed to the action of the air, it speedily enters 

 into a state of fermentation, which is necessary to 



*By an experiment stated in the Agricultural Mag- 

 azine, it was found that the dung of hens was found 

 more effectual than that of ducks; while that of geese 

 was scarcely perceptible as a manure. 



mix and assimilate its watery, oily, and saline 

 parts; but if care be not taken in that process, it 

 exhales so much heat that it soon becomes dried 

 up, its volatile particles are evaporated, and it ea- 

 sily crumbles. If the parts of which it. is com- 

 posed are not also so compactly heaped as to ex- 

 clude the air, they become likewise unequally de- 

 composed, grow mouldy, and the whole mass 

 is thus deprived of much of its fertilizing power. 

 If, however, the natural moisture be retained, or 

 it be regularly and moderately wetted, it acquires 

 almost the consistence of a paste, or that state 

 which is called spit-dang; and if it be laid upon 

 the land before it is entirely decomposed, its ef- 

 fects upon vegetation are prompt and powerful; 

 which is partly to be attributed to the heat which 

 is developed anew, when, after being ploughed 

 under the soil, its decomposition is completed. 

 This occasions it to act with singular efficacy 

 upon lands which are cold and clayey, the faults 

 of which it tends greatly to correct, and the soil 

 is much benefited. It also greatly improves land 

 which abounds in vegetable mould, because the 

 ammonia contained in the manure favors its de- 

 composition. 



When completely decomposed, and thus re- 

 duced to the condition of rotten dung, it is much 

 lessened in quantity, but that residue contains the 

 essential part of its substance, which is highly 

 favorable to vegetation on land of every kind with 

 which it is incorporated. In this state, however, 

 it is often productive of bad effects upon dry, san- 

 dy, chalky, or other light, and calcareous soils; for 

 there it stimulates the plants too powerfully at the 

 first period of their growth, so that when the ac- 

 tion of the dung has ceased, vegetation becomes 

 languid; in corn crops great bulk of straw is pro- 

 duced, but the grain is apt to be deficient. It is 

 also less durable, because it is consumed by the 

 excess of its own fermentation, and its powers be- 

 ing thus exhausted, it has but little effect upon 

 the future crops on such land. 



The dang of horned cattle also soon ferments when 

 it. is collected into a heap, and is only moistened 

 by its own humidity; but this process is slower than 

 in the dung of horses, because it is not so much 

 exposed to the same internal heat, in consequence 

 of which the evaporation is less, and being ordi- 

 narily voided in a very moist state, it does not re- 

 quire to be wetted. Neither is it subject to crum- 

 ble; but it rather becomes a mass of unctuous sub- 

 stance, which it retains until its moisture is entire- 

 ly exhausted, when it assumes the appearance, of 

 dried peat, or turfj and when not well mixed with 

 the earth, it is found in the land in clods some- 

 times so long as two or three years after it. has 

 been laid on. Its effect upon the soil is slowc 

 than that of horse dung: it has been also consid- 

 ered more durable; but. as we have already ob- 

 served, this latter effect must in great measure de- 

 pend upon the nature of the food by which it has 

 been produced. Whatever may be the degree 

 of fermentation at which it has arrived, it does 

 not seem to occasion any perceptible heat wher 

 laid upon the land; for which reason it is best 

 adapted to dry and warm soils. Thus, upon sands 

 and gravels, which, from their nature, are apt tc 

 be hot, its cooling qualities counteract that effect, 

 and upon such land it has been found of infinite 

 service; but upon strong clays, it appears to be 

 nearly inoperative if buried under the ground, 



