No. 2. 



Liquid Manures and their Uses. 



45 



their stren<jth. Ai^ain, \vc have seen the 

 new cow-dung used to a bed of Ranuncu- 

 luses, which were literally destroyed by the 

 black maggot, and scarcely a healthy root 

 taken up; the smell of the cow-dung evi- 

 dently drawing or attracting some fly, which 

 blowed and bred tiiere, for there was nothing 

 to be seen but myriads of them about the 

 soil when stirred a little. Here the mix- 

 ture was cold water, and the proportion 

 about a spadeful to half a barrel, but the 

 waterings with this were repeated without 

 intermission. Since this I have actually 

 seen a recomn)endation of Dr. Horner's, to 

 form a Ranunculus bed with liquid manure 

 and the soil together; the former to be satu- 

 rated with the latter, as thick as cream. 

 This must be pure theory; because, vvhere- 

 ever there is green cow-dung used, there 

 will the cow-dung-bob — as the fishermen 

 call it — and other nasty maggots, breed by 

 millions, if the fly bo in the neigiibourhood 

 at all, and we never knew a place where 

 cows were kept or grazed in the neighbour- 

 hood, that was not infested with it. 



Another liquid manure, which we have 

 eeen tried side by side with guano, was 

 common night-soil. It was offensive, it is 

 true; for it had not been disinfected by any 

 process. Two pounds of each were tried in 

 twenty gallons of water; the former was at 

 first very troublesome to liold in solution in 

 water. It was only done at last by mixing 

 it with something like an equal weight of 

 powdered lime, and when well amalgamated 

 and thinned with boiling water, it was 

 stirred and allowed to cool. The guano 

 was, unlike manure, pounded and bruised, 

 and dissolved with its weight of lime. These 

 two fertilizers were tried on alternate half 

 rods of onions; the night-soil was exceed- 

 ingly efficacious, the guano not nearly so 

 much ; indeed, not much better, if any, than 

 a half rod left to the common watering-pot. 

 But here it may be mentioned, that the gua- 

 no was not subject to analysis, and therefore 

 nothing can be said as to guano in general 

 from this experiment, although it may be 

 safely taken as something like evidence in 

 behalf of night-soil. 



It must now strike any one, that to order 

 liquid manure to be applied to anything, 

 without statmg how it is to be made, is the 

 most vague and uncertain thing in the world 

 In a farm not far from the metropolis, the 

 drainings of a cow-house, that is, the pure 

 wet, without any of the manure, were used 

 with the greatest advantage, with its equal 

 quantity of water, and applied by a contriv- 

 ance similar to a water-cart, though more 

 clumsily made, all over a pasture field twice 

 during the spring, and, as compared with 



the other pasture of the same character ad- 

 joining, the crop was much heavier. The 

 same stuff, with three times its quantity of 

 water, was used to saturate the piece of 

 ground previous to sowing cabbage, brocoli, 

 and -Other seeds of that nature, and the first 

 crop came up, turned yellow, and died; on 

 raking it well over, and sowing again, the 

 seedlings came fine, strong, and healthy, 

 and made good plants. 



Liquid manure for dahlias, when the 

 ground is not prepared beforehand, has been 

 made of cow-dung, well decomposed, at the 

 rate of a pint to a pail of water, and did 

 wonders, which was rendered evident by 

 leaving some to plain water only, and ob- 

 serving the great difference in the growth 

 and size of flowers, foliage, and plants, alto- 

 gether. Here was a very large proportion 

 of dow-dung; and, as the mixture was 

 stirred and used directly, before the dung or 

 any of the particles could settle, the earth 

 was, after a few waterings, covered with 

 the fibres and waste, as it were, of the dung, 

 which, perhaps, with the washing of the 

 rain, found nourishment still, when water- 

 ing was unnecessary. 



Much has been said lately about sulphate 

 of ammonia and water as a fertilizer, at the 

 rate of half an ounce of sulphate to a gallon 

 of water. This we have heard affirmed to 

 be good if used once to every five or six 

 waterings, but not oftener, as the effect 

 would be bad. 



Upon the whole, we do hope that those 

 who talk or write of liquid manure, would 

 be good enough to say of what it is to be 

 composed, what quantities are to be used, 

 and when and how it is to be applied; not 

 in a vague, but a positive way. It is certain 

 that, after pots have been washed through 

 and through with plain water for months, 

 liquid manure may be of great service occa- 

 sionally, to supply what has been washed 

 away; but it should be manure adapted to 

 the plant, and the direction plain. — London 

 Gardener and Florist. 



Change of Seed Wheat. — If wheat 

 growers would take a little pains to obtain 

 for seed, wheat grown on a different kind of 

 soil from their own — which in this country 

 is easily done — they would find their crops 

 improved. This is a well established fact 

 in Agriculture, and of sufficient importance 

 to deserve more attention than it generally 

 receives. 



It is said that milk set in glass pans, will 

 produce more cream, and that of a better 

 quality, than when set in other pans. They 

 are made of the common green bottle glass. 



