NEW BOOKS. 170 



be atlded the carrying away of large portions of tlie produce— as wnen hay and straw 

 are sold, and no manure returned — the land will soon cease to bear crops. To in- 

 crease tlie quantity of manure raised on the land should, therefore, be tlie constant aim 

 of every farmer: hay shouki never be sold, unless two tons of stable litterare returned 

 for every load sent ort" the farm ; and, unless the fai'm containsa large jiortion of rough 

 pasture, tlie horse-teams sliould be kept in the stable, and soiletl during the summer 

 and autumn on green food; every portion of apparent])' refuse vegetable and animal 

 matter should also be carefully collected and added to the ilung-heap; and, in this 

 manner, it is inconceivable what ailditional quantities of excellent muck may be i)ro- 

 duced. The manure thus made, and not fermenteil, is generally applied, either in its 

 fresh state, or only partially turned, to clay land fallows which are to be sown with 

 •wheat; as being of a colder nature than winter-made dung, it will not occasion the 

 crop to be so hastily pushed forward as to occasion straw instead of corn. 



If attempts be made to supi)ly the place of farm-yard dung by any one salt, or, in 

 other words, by two ortliree only of the elementsof plants— nitrate of soda, or nitrate 

 of potash, or sulphate of lime (gypsum) for instance— it will succeed only where all 

 the others happen to be present on the soil, by the effect of previous manuring; and 

 will inevitably fail where those other needful substances are either absent or very de- 

 ficient. Now, it is extremely difficult to ascertain in what salt the soil is really 

 deficient; care must, therefore, be taken in the application of artificial manures, that 

 they contain all the elements includcil in the muck for which the)- are substituted. 

 These are all usually found, more or less, in the dung-lieap; how needful, therefore, 

 is it that the farmer sliould take good care of that manure produced uponhisown land, 

 which certainly contains all the elements of plants, and upon which he knows he can 

 safely rely ! 



It has been stated before, that the most efficient part of farm-yard dung is that small 

 portion, invisible in themass, which consistsof earthy andalkaline saltsand ammonia. 

 The other ingredients which constitute the greatbulkof manure, consisting of carbon 

 and the elements of water, are abundantly supplied by the atmosphere to the growing 

 plants, and therefore a loss of these by needless fermentation or neglect is of little im- 

 portance, were it not that their loss is unavoidably accompanied with the waste of the 

 more essential substances in the manner described. It should be the object of the 

 farmer not only to prevent the waste of such precious substances by every means that 

 knowledge and ingenuity can devise, but also to make every addition to them that 

 nature or local circumstances have placed within his reach. 



These desirable purposes he will be the better able to carry into effect when he 

 fully understands the nature of the manure he has under his management, and by that 

 means he can exercise a sound discretion in adding to its quantity and effect. 



Let it not be alleged against any inquiry by the farmer into the constituent nature 

 and chemical properties of his manure, that he has no ideas attached to the several 

 terms used to designate the substances of which it is said to consist. He is obliged to 

 learn the names and uses of the several implements he employs in the cultivation ; and 

 upon what principle, we may ask him, should he refuse to make himself acquainted 

 with the names and general properties of the produce he raises ? But little effort is 

 required to obtain a precise knowledge of the several elements, or substances at 

 least, by the employment of which he is enabled to raise and increase his crops, and 

 is it not pleasant to learn, as well as most useful to understand, the reason of their 

 value to him ? Nor is this limited degree of chemical knoAvledge of difficult attain- 

 ment. Every farmer has seen wood ashes, and also seen water poured upon them for 

 1 the purpose of extracting a something; that substance is chiefly potash, which may be 

 I seen by evaporating the clear water, which leaves the alkali behind, and the dregs 

 which remain at the bottom consist for the most part of earthy phosphates — a similar 

 substance to the earth of bones. Soda is now so commonly used as to be known at 

 sight to most persons; lime and magnesia are still more familiar; ammonia is the 



