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GENESEE FARMER. 



Nov, 



Science and Agriculture. 



Under this head Mr. John J. Thomas, of Ma- 

 cedon, has written an Essay, which is publislied 

 in the last volume of the Transactions of the 

 State Agricultural Society; and for wliich a pre- 

 mium of $100 was awarded by said Society. We 

 had intended to notice this Prize Essay before, 

 but a ])ressure of other matters displaced it from 

 our thoughts, till we saw it copied into the Oc- 

 tober number of the Albany Cultivator. 



Having received so high a premium from the 

 State Society, this production should not only 

 convey much valuable information, as an origi- 

 nal composition, but it sliould be i^vee from errors 

 in reference to the application of science to the 

 practice of agriculture. Of its merits, in regard 

 to originality of thought, and the disclosure of 

 jiew views of the subjects discussed, we shall 

 nof now speak. The correction of the errors 

 which the article contains, and which are being 

 widely disseminated through the columns of the 

 Cultivator, and the endorsement of its conductors, 

 is the object of our criticism at this time. 



This table is copied from the London Agricul 

 tural Gazette. The kind of manure spoken of 

 is common stable and barn-yard manure. We 

 liave reason to believe that it was originally pub- 

 lished in the London journal mainly as a jwff, to 

 aid some dealer in Guano to sell his ware, by 

 representing a pound of it to be worth 60 or 70 

 times more than a like weight of the excretions of 

 domestic animals. It is one of the thousand hum- 

 bugs used so successfully by speculators to fleece 

 unsuspecting })urchasers. Consider for a mo- 

 tnent the first statement : "A ton of manure 

 yields two pounds and four ounces of potash.'' — 

 FroiTfJ this assertion the reader is given to under- 

 fefand that 2000 lbs, of manure, no matter what 

 4he kind, or quality of food consumed to form 

 ihe excretions, always contains a fixed, and unl- 



it is obviously a gross perversion of chemical 

 analysis to attempt to draw any such sweeping 

 conclusions from it, in regard to the nature and 

 properties of manures. These must depend ex- 

 clusively on the composition of the food and drink 

 of animals, out of which all of their excretions, 

 whether liquid or solid, must be formed. As the 

 constituents of the food vary, so must the manure. 

 Mr. Thomas has fallen into a similar error in 

 stating the comparative value of poudrette and 

 guano. He makes a ton of poudrette (the ex- 

 cretion of the human family,) contain just 4 lbs. 

 10 oz. of soda, no matter what the people eat, 

 nor how much or little salt they use ! 



Speaking of "common barn-yard and stable 

 manure," Mr. T. says : "It contains a large por- 

 tion of decaying vegetables, derived from the pul- 

 verized hay consumed by tlie animal ; it is rich 

 in ammonia and other animal matters resulling 

 from the secretions ; and it contains many salts 

 dericed from both cf these sources.''' 



The above remarks contain a material error, 

 which should be corrected. It leads the practi- 

 cal farmer to believe that he obtains in his stable 

 manure, "animal matters'' and "salts" derived 

 from certain " secretions," which are not con- 

 tained in the food of the animal. How can an 

 organ in any animal secrete " matter," the es- 

 sential ingredients of which are not contained in 

 its blood and furnished in its food 1 If an adult 

 be well kept, it will not diminish in weight — 

 and if it does not, how can it void, in manure, 

 more matter than it takes into its system? If a 

 young, growing animal, adds 100 lbs. to its weight 

 while consuming 2000 lbs. of forage, will it not 

 give ofi' 100 lbs. less of the elements that make 

 its flesh and bones than it takes into its stomach 

 during tlie same period ? 



Will it be said that an animal transforms veg- 

 etable substances into animal matter, and thereby 

 improves their propeinies for feedgig plants 1 — 

 If so, this is a mistake. The animal matter elab- 

 orated in the system to repair its constant waste, 

 is used for that purpose; while the waste, or 

 consumed tissues, &c., pass out of the body as 

 decomposed, disorganized, and mineral matter. 

 Thus the carbon in fat burnt to keep the animal 

 warm, when its food is scanty in cold weather, 

 escapes from the lungs in the form of carbonic 

 acid, which, without farther change, may unite 



form amount of potash ! So too, 2000 lbs. of ^vith caustic lime and form a most enduring rock 



the manure of sea-birds, called guano, under all 

 circumstances, yields just 66 lbs. 8 oz. of this 

 clltali ! It matters not what plants a farmer iceds 

 to his horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, nor how 

 inuch or litfle soda their food contains ; a ton of 

 their manure will invariably y\G\d. one found ten 

 ounces of soda ; while a like weight of the dung 

 of sea fowls, whether old or recent, will give the 

 purchaser just 30 lbs. 15 oz. of the same mineral ! 

 The good sense of the respected Author should 

 have saved him from such absurdities. 



Hydrogen, when consumed in animals, escapes 

 in the form of water, or ammonia, both cf which 

 are unorganized compounds. No farmer must 

 expect his domestic animals to supply him with 

 more, or better manure than their food and drink 

 will furnish. 



There are two or three errors relating to veg- 

 etable physiology ; but of no practical impor- 

 tance, and we let them ))ass. 



Although this Essay is short, (filling less than 

 five pages in the Cultivator,) it contains many 



