16 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Jan. 



53.1 



8.8 



The solid Excrements of 

 Swine fontain principal- 

 ly phosphate of lime. 



mineral ingredients necessary for their dcvelopement. If 

 we fartlier compare the guano and the ftrces of men with the 

 composition of the animal urine, the analysis shows (rf. my 

 book on agriculture) that hotli are entirely defective in 

 alkaline carbonates — they contain phosphates and sulphates 

 as well as chloride of sodium, l(ul no free alkali — they con- 

 tain phosphate of lime and phosjihale of magnesia, in short 

 iheir elements are in qitaiity identical with the important 

 mineral elements of the seeds of wheat, peas; beans, (rf. 

 he analy.sis.) The urine of swine is in its composition in- 

 ermediatc between the urine of man and hor.ses. 

 Analysis of the urine of swine. 



Carbonate of Potash, 12.1 ) 



Phosphate of Soda, jy.o 



Sulphate of Soda, 7.0 



Chloride of Sodium, . . . . ? 



" of Potassium,. S 

 Phosphate of Lime, ? 



" of Magnesia,. > 



Traces of Iron, \ 



What the practical results of a knowledge of the composi- 

 tion of these manures arc, is clear. If it were possible to 

 provide our liehls with the dung of swine in sufficient quan- 

 tity, we would replace by it. in a soil which contains silira 

 &nd lime, all the remaining elements of the plants — the field 

 might be made fertile for all kinds of plants — we have in it 

 not only alkaline phosphates, the principal elements of the 

 seeds, but also alkaline carbonates, which are required by 

 the leaves, stalks, and roots. This purpose cannot be at- 

 tained, however, by manuring with guano or human exore- 

 rients alone, but perfectly so by stable manure, from its 

 containing alkaline carbonates. If I have said that stable 

 manure contains the mineral elements of the nurture of the 

 plants, exactly in a state and condition in which they are 

 fiirni.shed by "nature — that a field manured by it resembles 

 the primitive state of America and Hungary, this assertion 

 will not be found exaggerated. It is certain that stable dung 

 contains no alkaline phosphates, but nature does not furnish 

 to the plants these elements even in the most fertile soil, 

 elthough we find them in large quantity in all the seeds of 

 wild plants. It is obvious notwithstanding their absence 

 from the soil, that the phosphates are formed in the organ- 

 ism of the plants, and that they ori,t;inate from the phosphate 

 of lime and magnesia and the supplied alkalies, by an ex- 

 change of the elements of both. The alkalies are necessary 

 for forming a/iali-ne phosvhales, which cannot originate in 

 the phosphate of lime alone. Both together are present in 

 stable dung. In human excrements, and in guano, the 

 alkaline carbonates are entirely wanting. The practice of 

 Uie farmer, in some places, or' supplying to the field not 

 pure guano, but a mixture of it with gypsum, shows clearly 

 that the phosphates of alkaline bases are really formed in 

 the organism of the plants from the phosphate of lime and 

 magnesia, because this mixture (guano and gypsum) con- 

 tains less phosphate of potash or soda than the guano itself; 

 Or, in certain proportions of gypsum, no alkaline hposphates 

 at all ; the soluble phosphates in the guano decomposing the 

 gyp.-nm into phosphate of lime and magnesia, and into 

 «ulphate of potash. I am far from asserting that we should 

 not provide the fields with- alkaline phosphates ; the excel- 

 lent effect of the guano, and of the human excrements, is 

 too well known to qi;< stioii it, and we perceive, from this 

 fact, that plants are in this respect like domestic animals 

 which Willi a normal food, arc healthy and strong, but do 

 not fatten. On the eoiilrary, we know that if we prepare 

 the food of thf'se animals artificially, so as to render it more 

 easily digest.^d anil assimilated, they are enabled to con- 

 sume, in a given time, a greater quantity of it by which all 

 their parts increase in weight. The same happens with 

 plants if we give them their nourishment in a state most ap- 

 propriated for assimilation ; tlieir cai)a!)ility to attract the 

 Other elements from the atmosphere increases and their dc- 

 velopement is accelerated. If vve recollect that the faMjr- 

 «ble efl'ect of guano upon our fields depends on its amount 

 of ammotiiacal salts, of niknlinf phospltates, and Hiie other 

 mbiernl cons' iiumt.i of the seeds, but that it is delect ive in 

 alkalies, the principal elements of the herbs, straw, and mots, 

 it is easily understood why the opinions of farmers, (Jfi the 

 value of guano as a manure are so very dillerent. On a soil, 

 which i^ defective in alkalies, its effi-ct is small. ; on a soil 

 rich ill them, it increases the produce 1.1 a remarkable de- j 

 gree ; but, as I have already observed, tlie continued appli- 1 

 cation of guano must gradually diminish the ii-rtility of our ! 

 Celds for a number of plants, because the elements of those ' 



organs, of the leaves, stalks, roots, &c,, without which the 

 plants cannot be developed and cannot produce seeds, are 

 taken olV in the harvest without any restoration of them. I 

 think it, therefore, certain, that the stable dung can replace 

 the guano to a certain degree, but not vice versa. A rational 

 agriculturalist, in using guano, cannot dispense with stable 

 dung. 



A covering for those places in which stable dung is pre- 

 served, in order to shelter it from the effect of the rain, has 

 been regarded in Germany as essential for preserving its 

 manuring power. In consequence of the experience, that 

 the soluble elements of stable dung are the most efficacious, 

 it has in some cases, been drawn out w ith water, and it has 

 been found advantageous to carry only tliis fluid to the fields, 

 I need only refer to the foregoing analyses of the urine of 

 animals in order to see upon wliich elements of it this effect 

 depends. 



The reason why, in certain years, the influence of the 

 best and most plentiful manuring is scarcely perceptible, is, 

 that during the moist and rainy springs and summers, the 

 phosphates and other salts with alkaline bases, as also the 

 soluble ummoniacal salts are entirely or partly removed. A 

 great amount of rain and moisture removes in the greatest 

 quantity, the very substances which are most indispensable 

 to the plants at the time that they begin to form and mature 

 seeds. The system of draining, which, of late has been 

 so extensively followed in England, brings the land into the 

 state of a great filter, through which the soluble alkalies are 

 drawn off, in consequence of the percolation of rain ; and 

 it must, therefore, become more deficient in its soluble effi- 

 cacious elements. 



Attentive farmers must have observed that after a certain 

 time the qu.ality of the grain on land laid dry according to 

 this principle, deteriorates ; that the produce of grain bears 

 no due proportion to the produce of straw. 



What is more evident, sir, after these remarks, than that 

 intelligent farmers must strive to give to the soil the manu- 

 ring substances in such a state, as to render possible their 

 acting favorably on the plants during the whole time of their 

 growth. Art must find out the means of reducing the solu- 

 bility of the manuring substances to a certain limit, in a 

 word of bringing them into the same state, in which they 

 exist in a most fertile virgin soil, and in which they can be 

 best assimilated by the plants. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



Gi.essen, 184.5. Dr. Justus Liebig. 



Production of the Precious Metals in Rus- 

 sia. — We learn from Hunt's Merchants' Maga- 

 zine for November, that the aggregate value of 

 the precious metals produced in the Russian em- 

 pire during the last thirty years, is 1,169,187,000 

 francs. Since 1813, the production of gold has 

 increased more than ten-fold, while that of silver 

 has made but little progress. From 1826 to 1844, 

 coin was struck front platina to the value of 13,- 

 000,000 francs. From 1664 to 1844, 180 years, 

 gold coin for the value of 191, .508, 401, silver coin 

 for the value of 344,638,092, and platina coin 

 for the value of 3,468,572, had been struck in 

 Russia. Value altogether, in francs, 2,158,460,- 

 000. Value in pounds sterling, 84,314,853.— 

 There was struck, besides, copper coins to the 

 value of more than 50,000,000 silver rubles. 



American Ice in the East Indies. — The Ice 



Trade is one of considerable magnitude. The 

 quantity shipped from Boston last year, is said to 

 have been 55,000 tons, delivered on board at cost 

 of $250 per ton, while the product of sales is 

 put down at •$3,575,000. A building 40 feet high, 

 178 feet wide, and 198 feet long, enclosing more 

 than threo-quaaters of an acre, and capable of 

 holding 30,000 tons of ice, has been erected at 

 Calcutta. What a monster Ice House! 



