ARTIFICIAL MANURE. 199 



may place on his peat and manure, and can apply his 

 own estimate. When a cord of stable or barn-yard 

 manure is usually estimated worth $4, the price of 

 a cord of clear pure cow >dung will not be thought 

 high at $ 17. In fact, it probably, when mixed with 

 the usual proportion of litter, straw, stalks and the 

 usual loss by waste of its value, would become worth 

 only about $5. But these questions do not affect 

 the principle — that from alkali and peat, as cheap a 

 manure may be prepared, and as good, as from sta- 

 ble dung ; for let that be called $5,00 — then adding 

 2 cords of peat, 3,00 



3) $8,00 



$2,66 per cord. 



277. There are other sources of alkali, for con- 

 verting peat into soluble manure. Of these the chief 

 is animal matter. Here we have ammonia produced. 

 It has been actually proved by experiment, that a 

 dead horse can convert 20 tons of peat into a valua- 

 ble manure, richer and more lasting than stable dung ; 

 " a barrel of alewives is equal to a wagon load of 

 peat." The next great and proli6c source of ammo- 

 nia is the urine. The urine of one cow for a win- 

 ter, mixed up as it is daily collected, with peat, is 



