MANURES, ARTIFICIAL. 



marl are commonly valued for six years after 

 they have been spread on the land. This in- 

 cludes prime cost, carriage, and labour in 

 spreading in full, when laid on not more than 

 a year; two-thirds of the value if spread within 

 two years ; one-half in three years ; one-fourth 

 in four years; and one-sixth in five years: but 

 when lime is used on arable lands, it is com- 

 monly valued in the same way as farm-yard 

 manure. 



When compost is in the heap, it is usually 

 valued in cubic yards, the value of which ne- 

 cessarily varies; it may be estimated, how- 

 ever, commonly as of the same value as half 

 a bushel of wheat. (Woodfall, by Harrison, p. 

 529 ; Bayldon on Rents : Grainger and Kennedy 

 on Tillage.-) 



The custom of the incoming tenant paying 

 for the dung varies in different counties. In 

 the following counties he wholly pays for all 

 dung on the farm : viz. Essex, Kent, Northum- 

 berland, Nottingham (artificial manure), Rut- 

 land, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, West- 

 moreland, and the West Riding of York. In 

 the other English counties the dung is usually 

 left free of charge to the incoming tenant. 

 This, in Scotland, is called holding in steel-bow. 

 See CUSTOMS OF COUNTIES. 



MANURES, ARTIFICIAL. A great many 

 fertilizing compounds are now prepared in 

 large manufacturing establishments specially 

 devoted to the purpose, and these are exten- 

 sively used upon the various field crops to 

 which they have been found best adapted. 

 The basis of many of these is night-soil, such 

 as poudrette, &c. The virtues of others de- 

 pend upon various salts of potash and soda. 

 The following list of the leading articles of 

 this kind now prepared and extensively used 

 by the English farmers, \vith the prices at 

 which they are vended, cannot but be interest- 

 ing to the American agriculturist. It forms 

 an ordinary advertisement in a London news- 

 paper: 



Agricultural Salt, per ton, 30s. to 32*. 



fine, per ton, 36*. 

 Alexander's Compost, per bushel, Is. IQd. 

 Bleaching Powder, per cwt. 30s. 

 Bone-dust and half-inch Bone, per quarter, 18*. 

 Brimstone, per ton, 1 \l. 



Clarke's desiccated Compost, per hhd., 31. 12s. 6d. 

 Daniell's Bristol Manure, according to quantity, per 



bushel, JOd. 

 Guano (foreign), per c\vt., 10s. to 12s. Gd. 



Potter's English, according to quantity, per cwt., 



13s. to 14s. 



Gypsum, according to quantity, per ton, 30s. to 42s. 

 Hunt's New Fertilizer, per bushel, Is. Sd. 

 Muriate of Ammonia, per cwt., 24s. to 26s. 



Lime, per cwt., 12s. 



Nitrade of Soda, according to quantity, duty paid, per 



cwt., 17s. fid. to 18s. bd. 

 Petre Salt, per ton, 31. 10s. to 51. 

 Phosphate of Ammonia, per lb., Is. Qd. to 2s. 3d. 

 Phosphate of Soda. 

 Poittevin's disinfected Manure, per quarter, 13s. 6d. 



concentrated Manure, per quarter, 30s. 

 Rape-dust, according to quantity, per ton, 11. 10s. 

 Rock Salt, per ton, 4J., in quantity, 31. 

 Saltpetre, per cwt., 25s. 6d. 



Silicate of Potash (pure), per cwt., 65s. 



Soda Ash, per cwt., 14s. 



Sulphate of Ammonia, per cwt., 18s. 



of Iron, per ton, 



of Soda, per ton, 11. 

 Sulphur, per cwt., 16s. 



Sulphuric Acid, according to strength, per lb., H<J. to2irf. 

 Trimmer's Composition for Clover, per cwt., 8.<. 



for Wheat, with Silicate of 



Potash, per cwt., 32s. 

 788 



MAPLE. 



Trimmer's Compost for Turnips, per cwt., 8. 

 Urate, per ton, 51. 



Watson's Compost, per cwt., 10s., in quantity, 91. per 

 ton. 



MAPLE (Acer, from the Celtic ac, a point, 

 the wood having formerly been much sought 

 after for manufacturing into heads of pikes 

 and lances). The maples are for the most 

 part beautiful trees, of considerable size, gene- 

 rally employed informing avenues or the back 

 of shrubberies. The soil they delight most to 

 grow in is open sandy loam, in which also 

 cuttings will strike freely in the open air ; or 

 they may be increased by layers put down in 

 the autumn: but all the best plants are ob- 

 tained from seed, which should be sown soon 

 after gathering. There are a great many spe- 

 cies of maple ; but two only, with some varie- 

 ties, are common to Britain. 



1. The greater maple or sycamore (A.pseudo- 

 platanus), which grows in hedges and about 

 houses, common, but not truly wild. It is a 

 large, handsome tree, of quick growth, with a 

 smooth ash-coloured bark, and round spread- 

 ing branches. The wood is white and soft, 

 useful for many purposes, such as making 

 musical instruments, cheese and cider presses, 

 tables, mangles, and some parts of machinery; 

 but is chiefly employed by coopers. The sap 

 is said to yield some portion of sugar, and to 

 be made into wine in the Highlands of Scot- 

 land. The sycamore is propagated entirely 

 by seed. The principal cultivated varieties 

 are, the yellow variegated sycamore, or Costur- 

 phine plane (Ac. p. flavwariegata, London), the 

 white variegated leaved sycamore (A. p. varie- 

 gata, Loudon), and the purple-leaved variety. 



2. The common or field maple (A. campcstre). 

 This is a common tree in hedges and thickets, 

 but is rather rare in Scotland and the north of 

 England. It is of much more humble growth 

 than the preceding, with more spreading 

 branches ; the bark corky and full of fissures ; 

 that of the branches smooth. The wood is 

 compact, of a fine grain, sometimes beautifully 

 veined, celebrated among the ancient Romans 

 for tables, though now superseded by mahogany, 

 and even by our native oak. 



The Norway maple (A. platanoides} has lat- 

 terly been classed among British forest trees. 

 It is a tree of the first rank, thrives well in 

 England, and attains a height equal to that 

 of the sycamore within a like period of years ; 

 it is a decided acquisition to park and wood- 

 land scenery, and its wood promises to be of 

 more value, and adapted for a greater variety 

 of purposes, than that of the sycamore, being 

 white, close-grained, firm, susceptible of a fine 

 polish, and frequently exhibiting the beautiful 

 appearance in the direction and disposition of 

 the fibre, for which the bird's-eye maple of 

 America is so highly prized and sought after. 

 The foliage, though not so heavy and massive 

 as that of the sycamore, is umbrageous ; the 

 leaves, which in shape bear a striking resem- 

 blance to those of the Platanus occidentalis, are 

 large, with slender petioles, and, when fully 

 expanded, of a fine, shining light-green ; in an 

 early or half-expanded state, they are of a deli- 

 cate yellowish-green, and in autumn, before 

 they fall, become of a rich, warm yellow. 



