1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



305 



another to be always working, and we call one a 

 gentleman and the other an operative ; whereas 

 the workman ought often to be thinking, and the 

 thinker often to be working ; and both should 

 be gentlemen in the best sense. As it is, we make 

 both ungentle, the one envying, the other despis- 

 ing his brother ; and the mass of society is made 

 up of morbid thinkers and miserable workers. 

 Now it is only by labor that thought can be made 

 happy, and the two cannot be separated with im- 

 punity. All professions should be liberal, and 

 there should be less pride felt in peculiarity of 

 employment, and more in excellence of achieve- 

 ment. — BusJcin. 



MANUBES— VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL. 



Everything which has grown upon the soil, 

 even to the comparatively dry and unsucculent 

 haulm or straw which most crops leave behind 

 them, is capable of being transformed, by the 

 chemistry of nature, into manure, or the pabu- 

 lum of vegetable life. 



By the term hnmus, we understand that por- 

 tion of the vegetable structure, or organization, 

 which is resolved, by fermentation, into mould ; 

 such as the foliage, the stems, and succulent 

 parts of the stalks of plants, and even those por- 

 tions of the more perfectly liquified or woody 

 organism, which are broken up by the play of 

 chemical affinities, and made capable, when ren- 

 dered soluble by water, of contributing to the 

 development and sustenance of plants. It is 

 rarely the case, however, that viere vegetable 

 matters are applied to the soil artistically. They 

 are, for the most part, used in conjunction with 

 animalized particles, which render them more en- 

 ergetic, efficient, and salutary in their effects. 



Even the manure from the stable is by no 

 means a purely vegetable substance, although 

 formed of hay and grain. In every case, portions 

 of matter rejected from the animal system, are 

 mixed up with the vegetable mass — worn out, 

 abraded particles, which are no longer of any 

 service, and which are thrown into the common 

 receptacle which receives the residuum of the 

 food that has not been digested, and from which 

 it passes in the form of excrement. 



The poorer an animal is, the less of this ani- 

 malized matter does it throw off; hence the 

 well-known fact that the manure made by cows, 

 oxen, horses, sheep and hogs, which have been 

 •well kept, is much more energetic and valuable 

 than that furnished by those which have not 

 been supplied liberally with food. The urine of 

 every animal contains a certain portion of this 

 animalized matter, and hence its superior value 

 for agricultural purposes, and the high degree of 

 vegetable fecundity resulting from its application 

 to most crops and soils. The ammonia contained 

 in this liquid manure also contributes, very es- 

 sentially, to its fertilizing powers ; but the ani- 



malized matter is that which chiefly produces 

 its fermentation and putrefaction, without which 

 it would be nearly or quite useless for manuri- 

 al purposes, at least in its immediate effects. 

 Other principles highly beneficial to vegetation 

 are also contained in urine, many of which are 

 derived immediately from the food upon which 

 the animal is kept. This remark applies also to 

 the solid voidings, and is illustrated by the fol- 

 lowing table, showing the constituents of foeces 

 and urine. 



In one hundred parts of horse dung, in a fresh 

 state, — the animal having been kept on oats, hay 

 and straw, — there were, 



3.7 of biliary matter and coloring matter in a state of altera- 

 tion. 



6.3 of mucus, (crude,) &c., &c. 

 20.2 of non-digegted vegetable remains and ashes. 

 69.8 of water. 



100.0 



The quantity of ashes in this case was six per 



cent. Their constitution, according to accurate 



analysis, was as follows : In one hundred parts — 



Phosphate of lime 05 



Carbonate of lime 18.70 



Phosphate of magnesia 36.25 



Silioia acid 45.00 



lOO.OO 



Urine from the horse contained, in one hund- 

 red parts — 



Carbonate of lime 1.1 



Carbonate of soda 0.9 



Hippurateof soda 2.4 



Hydrochlorate of potass 0.9 



Urea 0.7 



Water 94.0 



100.0 



It will be seen that both these articles contain 

 carbonate of lime, a substance valuable to vege- 

 tation in many ways, and they are also replete 

 with other highly energetic and valuable princi- 

 ples. In applying manure to the soil — whether 

 animal or vegetable — we should endeavor, in the 

 first place, to ascertain the character and condi- 

 tion of the latter, and also the habits, character 

 and requirements of the crops intended to be 

 grown upon it. Whether we turn in green crops, 

 or feed them to animals, and apply only their 

 excrements, this information is alike essential to 

 success. By applying to a vegetable, manure 

 which does not contain principles congenial to 

 its nature, or which does not enter into its con- 

 stitution, we do not secure those advantages 

 which we might derive if the manure Avere more 

 appropriate to the plant which it is desired to 

 produce. It is worthy of some study, therefore, 

 to act understandingly upon this point, and to 

 furnish such aliment as will be taken and assim- 

 ilated by the system, for the support of which it 

 is intended. By enabling ourselves to do this, 

 we shall obviate no inconsiderable expense and 

 trouble, and ensure a better success. 



