On well-rafted Dung^ Stercoraries^ tsPc, 225 



protect the crop from bleak winds and frosts, (deduct- 

 ing the evils accompanying it,^-— i. e. afibrding harbour 

 for vermin, and sowing the pestiferous seeds contained 

 in the litter,) it may be serviceable ; and, in the parts 

 consisting of alvine-ejections, some manure may be af- 

 forded. But the evaporation must be dissipated more 

 uselessly than it is said to be in the stercorary ; and 

 but a small proportion of its efficacy can be applied to 

 the crop. In some instances whereof I have been in- 

 formed, this cover has had the credit of producing 

 great crops. I never doubt facts alleged by men of in- 

 tegrity. But I cannot avoid expressing my surprise, 

 that this wasteful mode of application should be advo- 

 Gated. If the straw- burning husbandry be as efficaci- 

 ous as it is said to be, it would seem, that the straw of 

 the litter thus spread, independently of its use as a co- 

 ver, would be more serviceable,' if burnt on the ground. 

 I leave, however, the friends to the system of hot or 

 fresh muck-husbandry, (among v/hom, it seems, there 

 are sectaries) to settle among themselves, the mode 

 they deem the best. Abstract reasonings on a subject 

 capable of proof by practical tests, are seldom satis- 

 factory. The balance of facts, not solitary instances, 

 must finally decide all questions relating to it. 



How this premature use of the materials essentially 

 required for increasing the store of manure, can be 

 justified on a principle of economy, and " getting all 

 the good of one's dung," as some have expressed 

 themselves, I cannot perceive. The animal excremen- 

 titious matter is not merely estimable and operative in 

 itself; but its value and effi.cacy are extended, when, 



VOL. III. F f 



