THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



405 



and shafts, carrying a cask eonlaining from 60 to 

 120 gallons of liquid. The cask has in llie under 

 part a hole, 2 or 3 inches in diameier, secnred 

 inside by a valve; under this is a boardaJittle 

 slanting, to spread the liquid as it flows out of the 

 cask. . A man usually rides on the horse which 

 draws the cart, and holds in his hand a siring, 

 which passes through a hole in tlie cask and 

 opens the valve when required. There is an ad- 

 vantage in riding on the horse, as it does not 

 add to the weight of ihe load on the wheels, 

 which in light soils would be apt to sink deep. 

 In momentary exertion it assists the horse by the 

 weight on his back ; and the heavy Flanders 

 horses are well able to carry a man and draw a 

 light load at the saine time. When the cask is 

 empty the horse trots home lor another load, and 

 no time it lost, it is astonishing what advantage 

 there is in accustoming hoises lo trot when ihey 

 have no load ; it actually fatigues ihem less than 

 the continued sleepy walk. Who would suppose 

 that the Flemish and Dutch farmers surpassetl 

 us in activity'? but whoever has been in the 

 Netherlands in hav-time or harvest must ac- 

 knowledge it."— pp." 21, 22, 24. 



The value of cows' urine with other animal 

 substances dissolved in it is universally admitted 

 by all the farmers of sandy soils in the Nether- 

 lands : the theory of its preparation and applica- 

 tion to the soil remains, however, yet involved 

 in some degree of obscurity; and some eminent 

 chemists have doubted whether the collection of 

 it in a tank is the most economical mode of pre- 

 paring it lor the soil. 



In the fourth number of this journal there is a 

 translation of a very valuable Treatise on Animal 

 Manures, by Sprengel, in which (p. 474) it is 

 more than insinuated, that the advantages of the 

 urine-tank are much over-rated; and that it is 

 better to mix the solid and liquid parts of dune 

 together, and form them into composts with rich 

 earth, as is often done in England and other 

 countries, than to preserve the fluid portion by 

 itself in a tank, to be used separately on the land 

 after it has gone through a certain stage of de- 

 composition. Without disputing the correctness 

 of the chemical principles on which this opinion 

 is founded, we may hesitate before we condemn 

 or undervalue a practice which has produced 

 such wonderful effects in the improvement of the 

 poor sands in the Netherlands. 



Liquid manure may be applied to plants in every 

 stage of their growth, if it be judiciously diluted, 

 eo as not to injure the young and delicate roots by 

 its caustic nature. It invigorates their growth 

 more than we could anticipate from a knowledge 

 of its solid component parts. It is no doubt 

 sooner exhausted ; because it is rapidly absorbed 

 by the roots, and its elements enter into new com- 

 binations. If some of the more volatile parts, as 

 ammonia, fly off in the process of decomposition 

 which goes on in the tank, it is probable that a 

 much greater portion of these elements fly off from 

 the solid dung, while it remains in the ground and 

 before it is in a fit state to be taken up by the 

 roots, which can only happen when rain renders 

 it liquid. All those who have had long experience 

 of the good effects of liquid manure on light soils 

 persevere in its use, whatever objections may be 

 urged theoretically to its being preserved sepa- 

 rately. 



On stiff, impervious soils the use of liquid ma- 

 nure may not be so advantageous, and the reason - 

 in^s of chemists may be correct. On these soils 

 it is seldom used, except when they are in grass 

 or when cabbages are planted ; and composts pre- 

 pared with straw, eartli, and dung, with the liquid 

 portions ocxiasionally poured over them, are found 

 to be a more etiectual and lasting manure. The 

 Swiss, whose principal object is to have a supply 

 of food lor their cattle in winter, when the moun- 

 tain pastures are covered with snow, and who de- 

 vote much of their attention to the cultivation of 

 roots and artificial grasses, use the liquid manure 

 in a very condensed siaie, collectinsj the water 

 which has been poured over their heaps of dung, 

 after it has filtered through them and been satu- 

 rated with all the soluble portions of the dun?. 

 This, which ihev call lizier, in Frenrh, and 

 niisiwasser, or guile, in German, is carried on the 

 land immediaiely after the graFS, sainfoin, or 

 lucerne has been mown, and produces a second 

 and third crop in a very short time. Cabbages, 

 potatoes and the varieties of the beet are invi- 

 froraled in the same manner; and thus, in the 

 short surnmers of the high mountain valleys, crops 

 are brought to maturity, which, without the use of 

 liquid manure, would never have had time to ripen. 

 Bi!t let it not be ima£;ined that either the Flemings 

 or the Swiss undervalue the solid manure which 

 is produced by the mixture of litter with the dung 

 of animals, collected in heaps, where it heats and 

 decomposes. They are as careful of this, and 

 as anxious to increase it, by every means in their 

 power, as the best English farmer can be. 



"In order to increase as much as possible Ihe 

 quantity of solid manure, there is inmost farraa 

 a place for the ireneral reception of every kind 

 of vegetable matter which can be collected ; this 

 is a shallow excavation, of a square or oblong- 

 form, of which the bottom has a gentle slop© 

 towards one end. It is generally lined on three 

 sides with a wall of brick, to keep the earth fron> 

 fisllingin; and this wall sometimes rises a foot 

 or more above the level of the fjround. In this 

 pit are collected parings of grass sods from the 

 sides of roads and ditches, weeds taken out of the 

 fields or canals, and every kind of refuse from the 

 irardens : all this is occasionally moistened with 

 the washinirs of the stables, or any other rich 

 liquid ; a small portion of dung and urine is added 

 it necessary, and when it has been accumulating- 

 for some time it is taken out, a portion of lime is 

 added, and the whole is well mixed together j 

 thus it forms the beginning of a heap, which 

 rises gradually, and in due time gives a very 

 good supply of rich vegetable • mould or compost, 

 well adapted to every purpose to which manure 

 is applied." — p. 22. 



It will be seen hereafter that, in the prepar- 

 ation of the land for the different crops, the Fle- 

 mings and Dutch do not use less solid manure 

 than we do, and that the liquid is an additional 

 means of producing a certain and abundant crop, 

 and not merely a substitute for the dung heap. 



The great secret in the improvement of poor 

 land is to increase its fertility byjiidiciously stir- 

 ring, pulverizing, and mixing toiiether the diffe- 

 rent earths of which it may be composed ; adding 

 those which are deficient — where it can be done 

 without too great expense of labor or capital — 

 and, above all, impregnating it throughout with 



