No. 8. 



Manures — The Potaioe Rot. 



235 



supply, and the difficulty in getting them 

 properly ground. 



Judge Cheever said he had not made ex- 

 periments with an accuracy that would en- 

 able him to give tests, nor form results which 

 could be relied upon. He had tried experi- 

 ments, however, more or less, all his life, 

 and taken some observations of results. From 

 his own experience he had arrived at the 

 conclusion, that manure was of the first con- 

 sequence to the farmer in the cyltivation of 

 his crops. Tiie success of cultivation de- 

 pends mainly on the process of ploughing 

 and manuring. Bad ploughing would defeat 

 a crop; and the soil which requires it, will 

 not produce good crops without manure. To 

 decide what kind of manure his soil requires, 

 the farmer should have it analyzed. He 

 might find out this by experience, but at a 

 vastly greater expense than the small sum 

 he would have to pay a good chemist for the 

 information. All good soils contain more or 

 less of organic matter, such as decayed ve^ 

 getables, or fibrous matter of some sort 

 When these are absent it is vain to cultl 

 vate. Lime is also present, either as a car- 

 bonate, sulphate or phosphate. Magnesia is 

 also an important material of soils, though 

 its proportion is necessarily small, compared 

 with the amount of lime. Potash is another 

 material ingredient; and also ammonia, or 

 nitric acid. By obtaining an analysis, he 

 will discover in which of these necessary 

 component parts his soil is deficient, and 

 thus by being able to supply them, advance 

 his crops. If he wishes to secure a greater 

 supply of vegetable matter, he can readily 

 find it in his compost heap. If he wishes 

 lime, the cheapest way is to procure the ar- 

 ticle itself. If ammonia, by a mixture of 

 various materials, he can evolve the gasses 

 which produce the salts. 



Manure fresh from the stable he consid- 

 ered the best for all practical purposes with- 

 in reach of the farmer. This may be im- 

 proved in quality and increased in quantity 

 by the manner of treatment. It is import- 

 ant to save the liquid manure — the urine of 

 your stock — and m an available shape, if 

 possible. There are different modes of pre- 

 serving it adopted, both in Europe and in 

 this country. Some consider that having a 

 cistern under the stable floor is a good way; 

 but there were objections to that. In the 

 first place, it was expensive, and again evap- 

 oration carried off many of its valuable qual 

 ities. Observation would teach the farmer 

 that there was a constant departure of a val 

 uable agent from this deposite — and that 

 agent reduced to subjection, or brought 

 availably into possession, was of great im- 

 portance. He (Judge C.) adopted the plan 



of an embankment around his barn-yard, 

 which formed a sort of basin, into which he 

 put once or twice a year, — when he did hia 

 duty — all the muck or refuse vegetable mat- 

 ter and peat, within his reach — everything 

 which would be a good absorbent of the li- 

 quid manure. Where he stabled his cattle, 

 he had a flooring of muck, covered with 

 straw, and in clearing the stables, all that 

 had become saturated with urine was re- 

 moved to his compost heap, and the whole 

 sprinkled over with the sulphuret of lime — 

 plaster — or with lime itself. The object of 

 this was to fix the ammonia, which would 

 otherwise escape. He found by his own ex- 

 perience, that one yard of manure thus 

 treated, was worth two or more of that 

 scraped up in the barn-yard, which has been 

 leached by the rains of a whole season. The 

 water dissolves valuable salts, and they are 

 thus carried away, and unless they are car- 

 ried to muck,or other material placed on the 

 ground to catch them, are lost. 



If he were called upon to answer the 

 question whether fermented manure, or that 

 in a raw state was the most beneficial, he 

 should decidedly vote in favour of that in a 

 crude state. If any one doubts that it loses 

 anything by lying, let him take it fresh into 

 the field, and after allowing it to lie a few 

 days remove it, and witness its effect upon 

 the soil or crops. Just so much as passes 

 into the soil, is lost while lying in the barn- 

 yard. He believed it was always better to 

 have the compost heap under cover. Then, 

 with a proper mixture of lime or alkalies, to 

 fix the gasses, the value of the manure is 

 greatly increased. By taking solid matter 

 to mix with liquids, and fixing the gasses by 

 the application of lime, either calcined or 

 quick, or plaster, a much greater per cent- 

 age of valuable matter is obtained than in 

 any other way. If permitted to take the 

 weather, it constantly loses ; and the sooner 

 you can bring it in connection with your 

 crops the better. It will then not only tend 

 to develope the growth of straw, but go to 

 perfect the growth of the small grains. It 

 is found that in the kernel of grain, there is 

 much more phosphate than in the straw. In 

 a kernel of wheat, for instance, there is 45 

 per cent., while in the straw there is but 5 

 or 6 per cent. This valuable agent is what 

 is lost by allowing the manure to lay exposed 

 to the weather. If, therefore, the farmer 

 desires to promote the growth of straw par- 

 ticularly, he would advise the use of rotted 

 manure. 



Manure contains all the essential ingredi- 

 ents to malce a good soil — phosphates, car- 

 bons, magnesia and ammonia — and all soils 

 have sufficient of sillica. If not robbed oC 



