96 On mixing Lime and Stable Manure, 



cd, and the whole carefully mixed and laid up toge- 

 ther. A few days after this is done, a second fermen- 

 tation will come on, and, if the mixture has been pro- 

 perly turned over, and thoroughly incorporated, in a 

 month or six weeks afterwards it will be fit for use. 



Considerable judgment and attention will, however, 

 be requisite, with regard to the quantity of lime, and 

 other active principles employed ; for if the quantity 

 is small, their action upon the rich substances contain- 

 ed in the dung, will be partial and imperfect ; and if 

 too great, a considerable loss may be sustained by their 

 over action. The proportion that will bring their ac- 

 tive and passive qualities nearest to a balance, or, in 

 plainer language, the quantity that will dissolve the en- 

 riching substances contained in the dung, will certain- 

 ly be found the most useful.* 



* "Outlines of the fifteenth chapter of the proposed general report 

 from the Board of Agriculture ;'* on the subject of manures ; by 

 Robert Somerville. London. 1795. 



On the impropriety of mixing lime with fresh dung, see Lord 

 Dundonald's " Treatise on the intimate connexion that subsists be- 

 tween agriculture and chemistry." London. 1803. 



