732 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 12 



parting nourishment to plants; arid in that view, 

 after the hay has been carried oli' the. land, farm- 

 ers watch for a change of weather, and, when 

 the barometer indicates an approaching (all of 

 rain, they lay on whatever manure, they possess; 

 but if the season continues settled, the dung re- 

 mains untouched until about the end of Septem- 

 ber at which time it is applied while the ground is 

 sufficiently dry to bear the drawing of loaded carts 

 without injury, and when the heat is so moderate 

 as not to exhale its volatile parts.* 



In all these cases the product is abundant, be- 

 cause the land, though cold, yet grows good 

 grass, and whatever may be the nature of the ma- 

 nure, sufficient is always laid upon it to secure a 

 crop; but it is only in the vicinity of the metropo- 

 lis, or in other great towns, and through means of 

 purchased manure, that, such a supply can be ob- 

 tained as that given to the land in question. 



The use of compost of earth and farm-yard 

 dung has been used as an argument against its 

 employment upon meadow-lam!, because of the 

 difficulty of its entrance into the soil, and that pure 

 'dung has a more immediate effect upon the crop. 

 Upon land such as that just mentioned the objec- 

 tion is well founded; but upon soils of a loose tex- 

 ture the mixture of earth— particularly of clay — 

 with the dung, by increasing the bulk to be laid 

 upon the land, tends to bind it, and thus giving a 

 firm hold to the roots of the grass, the. finer sorls, 

 which either have not strength enough to pene- 

 trate the ground, or the seeds of which have lain 

 dormant, suddenly spring up, and the sward is 

 thus improved. Of this a striking instance in 

 point has been related by JV1 r. Dawson of Frog- 

 den, who, 'having occasion to carry a quantity ol 

 very fine black loam from a head-ridge of old in- 

 field land, to give the surface-water a free passage, 

 it was laid upon out-field bent-grass-land adjoin- 

 ing, cf which it covered about aquarter of an acre 

 fully an inch thick. No grass-seeds were sown upon 

 this new covering, yet white clover and other fine 

 grasses sprung up, and gradually increased upon 

 it; and the bent, upon which the loam was laid, 

 diminished so speedily, that very little of it re- 

 mained in the third year thereafter.'! It is, how- 

 ever, well known that the effect of dung is pro- 

 portionately greater upon good than upon bad 

 land, and the difference is still more considerable 

 upon that which is under grass than what is ara- 

 ble; for it is observable that the dung of animals 

 has scarcely any effect upon coarse pastures, but 

 it perceptibly improves those which are covered 

 with the finer grasses, and is of more or less val- 

 ue as herbage of the former or latter description 

 predominates. This improvement is, however, 

 far more sensible when aided by the application 

 of lime, as we shall have occasion to notice when 

 we come to treat of that fossil. 



* Middlesex Report, 2nd edit, pp. 236, 237, 377. 

 In the Leicestershire Report it is also said, 'Dung or 

 compost should be laid on meadow-land immediately 

 after the hay is carried oil; lbr as at that time the 

 ground is generally the driest of any time of the year, 

 carting on it will not cut the turf: there is the least 

 grass to destroy; it ensures good aftermath; and the 

 winter rains will wash all the manure into the soil, so 

 that it will receive the whole benefit of the dr 

 —P. 191. 



f Farmers Magazine vol, xiii. p. 69. 



There is, indeed, evidently a mistaken practice 

 throughout most parts of the kingdom with res- 

 pent in the application of manure. The custom 

 alluded to is that of laying it upon land of inferior 

 qualtity, while that of a superior kind is in equal 

 want of improvement; the better part of many 

 farms being thus in some degree impoverished by 

 attempting !o improve, at an evident loss, the poor- 

 er parts. Others, indeed, lbllow the opposite sys- 

 tem; but, when justice is done to the land, every 

 part in rotation should receive the manure arising 

 from its produce. There are, however, some rare 

 instances of ground of so rich a quality, that, by 

 laying any manure upon it an injury would be sus- 

 tained; but, upon the whole, it is an evident feet 

 that any manure whatever — if not of a nature un- 

 suitable to the soil — will be always attended with 

 a proportionately better return when laid upon 

 good, than upon poor land.* 



In the spreading of dung upon the land, the 

 common practice is to put it first out. of the carts 

 in hillocks, and afterwards to spread it upon the 

 ground. Many farmers, however, take the op- 

 portunity of carting out their manure during a 

 frost, and there leaving it in heaps until a thaw. 

 The convenience of this is evident; and perhaps, 

 daring that weather, no great damage will hap- 

 pen to the dung, nor can much of its juices be im- 

 bibed by the soil: but if thus left, even for a short 

 lime, in open weather, the spots upon which it is 

 laid get more than their share of the dressing, for 

 the moisture is imbibed by that part under the 

 manure, whilst the upper parts are dried by the 

 action of the air, and lose some portion of their 

 fertilizing power. Its effect is thus unequal; the 

 crop will vegetate moreluxuriantlv en those, spots, 

 and the harvest will not be uniform. There is 

 also this inconvenience in thus leaving it upon the 

 soil — that, if the land lies upon a declivity, a con- 

 siderable portion of the manure may be washed 

 out by the rain, and either carried to the lower 

 part of the field, or else lost in the ditches. 



Another mode is for both the carter and the 

 spreader to stand in the cart, and shake the ma- 

 nure out. with forks; but although this has the ad- 

 vantage of a more ready distribution, yet, if the 

 men drop a forkful by accident, or do not scatter a 

 lump in the manner intended, they cannot stop to 

 divide it, and it must lie where it falls. The repeated 

 stoppage of the horses also occupies much time. 

 Both these modes are therefore attended with in- 

 convenience. 



When carefully done the distance to which the 

 dung is to be carried to the field should be ascer- 

 tained, and such a number of carts employed as 

 will give constant occupation to both the men and 

 cattle: thus, supposing three to be sufficient, then 

 two teams only — of whatever number — are to be 

 worked, one going and the other returning, -while 

 the third cart is left standing at the dunghill to he 

 tilled, and replaced by the one which has returned 

 empty, the cattle in which are then taken off and 

 harnessed to ihe other, so that no time is lost. It 

 should be spread immediately, and can never he 

 done at any other time so cheaply. It. is, indeed, 

 decidedly the most economical method for the cur- 

 ler to spread it from the carriage; but as he can- 

 not do this with the minuteness which is requisite 

 to separate it completely and spread it equally 



* Holland's Survey of Cheshire, p. 2-tS. 



