256 



MAN 



MAN 



eighth of a gelatinous substance, [ 

 which had characters simiiar to mu- 

 cilage. A quantity distilled gave 

 nearly fourhfths of its weight of 

 water, but no ammonia ; the water 

 had an etnpyreumatic and slightly ; 

 sour taste ; the ashes contained sea i 

 salt, carbonate of soda, and carbo- 

 naceous matter. The gaseous mat- 

 ter at^jrded was small in quantity, 

 principally carbonic acid and gas- 

 eous oxid of carbon, with a little 

 hydro- carbonate. This manure is 

 transient in its etFects, and does not 

 last for more than a single crop, 

 which is easily accounted for from 

 the large quantity or the elements 

 of water it contains. It decays 

 without producing hnat, when ex- 

 posed to the atmosphere, and seems 

 as it were to melt down and dissolve 

 away. I have seen a large heap 

 entirely destroyed in less than two 

 years, notliing remaining but a lit- 

 tle black fibrous matter. 



" Sea weed is sotnetimes suffered 

 to ferment before it is used ; but 

 this process seems wholly unneces- 

 ry, for there is no fibrous matter 

 rendered soluble in the process, and 

 a part of the manure is lost. 



" Dry strazo of wheat, oats, bar- 

 ley, beans and peas, and spoiled 

 hay, or any other similar kind of 

 dry vegetable matter is in all cases, 

 useful manure. In general such 

 substances are made to ferment be- 

 fore they are employed, though it 

 may be doubted whether the prac- 

 tice should indiscriminately be 

 adopted. 



" When straw is made to ferment 

 it becomes a more manageable ma- 

 nure ; but there is likewise on the 

 whole a great loss of nutritive mat- 



ter. More manure is perhaps sup- 

 phed for a single crop; but the 

 land is less improved than it would 

 be, supposing the whole of the ve- 

 getable matter could be finely di- 

 vided and mixed w?th the soil. 



" It is usual to carry straw that 

 can be employed for no other pur- 

 pose to the dung-hill, to ferment 

 and decompose ; but it is worth 

 experiment, whether it may not be 

 more economically applied when 

 chopped small by a proper machine 

 and kept djy till it is ploughed in 

 for the use of a crop. In this case, 

 (hough it would decompose much 

 more slowly and produce less ef- 

 fect at first, yet its influence would 

 be much more lasting.* 



" Wood askes imperfectly form- 

 ed, that is wood ashes containing 

 much charcoal, are said to have 

 been used with success as a ma- 

 nure. A part of their effect may 

 be owing to the slow and gradual 

 consumption of the charcoal,which 

 seems capable, under other circum- 

 stances than those of actual com- 

 bustion, of absorbing oxygene so as 

 to become carbonic acid. 



" Manures from animal substan- 

 ces in general require no chemical 

 preparations to fit them for the soil. 

 The great object of the farmer is to 

 blend them with earthy constitu- 

 ents in a proper state of division, 

 and to prevent their too rapid de- 

 composition. 



" The entire parts of the muscles 

 of land animals are not commonly 

 used as a manure, though ihere are 



* Some agriculturists are of a different 

 opinion. See Dung. Probably the ques- 

 tion of lo7ig and «/ior/ manure depends oa the 

 nature of the soil, and of the crop. 



