]\I AN 



MAN 



261 



" Watering dung-hills is some- 

 times recommended lor checking 

 the progress of fermentation ; but 

 this practice is inconsistent with 

 just chemical views. It may cool 

 the dung for a short time, but mois- 

 ture is a principal agent in all pro- 

 cesses of decomposition. Dr) fi- 

 brous matter will never ferment. 

 Water is as necessary as air to the 

 process; and to supply it to fer- 

 menting dung, is to supply an agent 

 which will hasten its decay. 



" In all cases where dung is fer- 

 menting, there are simple tests by 

 which the rapidity of the process 

 and consequently the injury done 

 may be discovered. 



" If a thermometer plunged into 

 the dung does not rise to above 100 

 degrees of Fahrenheit, there is lit- 

 tle danger of much aeriform matter 

 flying ofT. If the temperature is 

 higher the dungshoidd immediate- 

 ly be spread abroad. 



" When dung is to be preserved 

 for any time, the situation in which 

 it is kept is of importance. It 

 should if possible be defended from 

 the sun. To preserve it ur»der 

 sheds would be of great use ; or to 

 make the site of a dung hill on the 

 north side of a wall. The floor on 

 which the dung is heaped, should 

 if possible be paved with flat 

 stones ; and there should be a lit- 

 tle inclination from each side to- 

 wards the centre, in which there 

 should be drains, connected with a 

 small well, furnished with a pump, 

 by which any fluid may be collect- 

 ed for the use of the land. It too 

 often happens that a dense mucila- 

 ginous and extractive fluid is suflfer- 

 ed to drain away from the dung-hill, 

 50 as to be entirel/ lost to the farm. 



" Street and road diinfr and the 

 sweepings of houses may be all re- 

 garded as composite manures ; the 

 constitution of them is necessarily 

 various, as they are derived from a 

 number of different substances. 

 These manures are usually applied 

 in a proper manner, without being 

 fermented. 



'• ^'oo<, principallv formed from 

 the combustion of pit coals, gener- 

 ally contains substances derived 

 from animal matters. This is a very 

 powerful manure. It affords am- 

 moniacal salts by distillation, and 

 yields a brown extract to hot wa- 

 ter of a bitter taste. It likewise 

 contains an empjreumatic oil. Its 

 great basis is charcoal in a state in 

 which it is capable of being render- 

 ed soluble by the action of oxygene 

 and water. 



" This manure is well fitted to 

 be used in the dry state, thrown in- 

 to the ground with the seed, and 

 requires no preparation. 



" The doctrine of the proper ap- 

 plication of manures from organiz- 

 ed substances offers an illustration 

 of an important part of the econo- 

 my of nature, and of the happ^ or- 

 der in which it is arranged. 



" The death and decay of animal 

 substances tend to resolve organiz- 

 ed forms into chemical constitu- 

 ents ; and the pernicious effluvia 

 disengaged in the process seems to 

 point out the propriety of burying 

 them in the soil, where they are 

 fitted to become the food of vege- 

 tables. The fermentation and pu- 

 trefaction of organized substances 

 in the free atmosphere are noxious 

 processes ; beneath the surface of 

 the ground they are salutary oper- 

 ations. In this case the food of 



