CHAPTEE IV. 



Manures. Farm-yard or Pen Manures, their Function and Use. 

 Management of Pen Manure. Open and Covered Pens. 

 Green Dressing. Chemical Manures. Potash, Phosphates, 

 Mineral Phosphates, Superphosphate, Basic Slag or Thomas 

 Phosphate. Nitrogenous Manures. Sulphate of Iron. 



ABKIEF summary of the manures commonly 

 employed by sugar growers in the West In- 

 dies may prove of interest. 



The excreta of the various animals kept on a 

 plantation, together with their bedding, constitute 

 one of the most important manures the planter can 

 employ ; this is known by a variety of names, as 

 pen manure, farm-yard manure, etc. There are sev- 

 eral reasons why this is of extreme importance to 

 the planter. It must first be clearly understood that 

 the function of pen manure is a twofold one : on ac- 

 count of the vegetable matter derived from litter 

 and uneaten and undigested food which it contains, 

 it is a manure by which condition is maintained, and 

 this is probably its most important function ; on 

 the other hand it acts as a fertilizer on account of 

 the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in it ; this 

 fertilizing property is of less importance than the 

 former or mechanical manurial power, for nitrogen, 



