No. 5. 



On the Preparation and Use of Manures. 



147 



ized — is perfectly inodorous, resembles a dry 

 brownish powder, and may be used broad 

 cast or in drills. In Paris, a powerful ma- 

 nure is made, also called poudrelte, by boil- 

 ing the oftals of the slaughter-houses into a 

 thick soup, making this into a stiff paste by 

 stirring in coal ashes, then drying and 

 grinding. 



Urate. — Urate, is a manure formed from 

 a compound of urine, sand and plaster of 

 Paris. In Paris, where the manufacture is 

 most perfect, the gypsum is burnt previous 

 to using. The value of the urates, as ma- 

 nure, will be better understood from the an- 

 nexed table : 



Water 65. 



Urea 5. 



Bone dust, 5. 



Sal ammoniac and muriate of potash, 15. 



Sulphate of potash, ..-• 5. 



Carbonate of potash and ammonia, 5. 



100 



From this, it will be seen that urate 

 abounds in those substances most necessary 

 to give fertility to soils. Dr. Dana remarks 

 that a cord of loam, saturated with urine, is 

 equal to a cord of the best rotted dung ; and 

 in some experiments made by the French 

 Royal Society of Agriculture, which may 

 be found detailed in the Dictionnuire d^ Ag- 

 riculture Pratique, Paris, 1828, for the pur- 

 pose of comparing it with nigkt soil, pigeon's 

 dung, &c., known to be very effective, the 

 result was in favour of the urate. When 

 mixed with dried night soil or poudrette, its 

 effect on various crops was very great. 

 From the experiments there instituted, it 

 appeared that urate alone acted most favour- 

 ably in, moist seasons. It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that night soil, when pro- 

 perly prepared, retains all the urine, or 

 rather its fertilizing qualities ; and tiie fact 

 that urine is of itself so valuable a manure, 

 should put farmers on their guard against 

 suffering it to be lost from their stables and 

 yards, as is usually done. 



Use of night soil. — Where the farmer is 

 so situated that no poudrette manufactories 

 are within his reach, he will find that by 

 making it into a compost, with swamp muck, 

 ashes, peat or gypsum, he will have a ma- 

 nure that may be easily applied, and which 

 will possess great fertilizing powers. The 

 Chinese have long been celebrated for the 

 extensive use of night soil. Their method 

 is to make it into cakes with a rich marl, 

 which, when dried in the sun, constitute a 

 regular article of traffic, almost a legal ten- 

 der. The Flemings were the first of the 

 Europeans to make a common use of night 

 soil as a manure, and hence its name of 

 Flemish manure. There it is applied di- 



rectly, and without preparation, to any crop 

 for which manure is wanted ; and the supe- 

 riority of Flemish agriculture, and the great 

 fertility of their soils, may be, in a great 

 measure, attributed to their careful saving 

 and use of matters which others have been 

 most anxious to be freed from. In Spain, 

 the celebrated asparagus of Saragossa is 

 grown on beds of loose gravel and sand, but 

 a little above the flow of the tide ; but these 

 beds are heavily manured, after the cutting 

 of the season is closed, with fresh night soil 

 dug in, and thus their fertility is sustained, 

 and the unrivalled character of the Sara- 

 gossa asparagus maintained. 



Bones. — Bones, ground or crushed, form 

 another powerful manure ; and although but 

 little used as yet in this country, there are 

 some indications, such as the erection of 

 mills for crushing them, that their use will 

 soon become extensive, and our farmers be 

 saved the mortifying spectacle, so long wit- 

 nessed here, of seeing ship loads of bones 

 exported to Europe, used by farmers there, 

 and returned to us in the products of the 

 soil. Col. St. Leger, of Wormsworth, was 

 the first to introduce bone manuring into 

 England, in 1775 ; but it was many years 

 before their value was fully understood; and 

 it was only in connection with the turnip 

 culture, that they came into general use. 

 The manner in which bones act as manures, 

 and their value, will be best seen by a state- 

 ment of their constituents. The bones of 

 the ox, according to Berzelius, contain in 

 100 parts: 



CartilaRC, 33.3 



Phosphate of lime, 55.35 



Fluate of lime, 3. 



Carbonate of lime, 3.85 



Phosphate of magnesia, 2.05 



Soda, with a little common salt, 2.45 



100. 



The analysis of '^ourcroy and Vauquelin, 

 gives : 



Gelatine and oil 51. 



Phosphate of lime 37.7 



Carbonate of lime, ]0. 



Phosphate of magnesia, 1.3 



100. 

 Johnson, in his lately published work on 

 Fertilizers, says: "Dry bones contain about 

 two-thirds their weight of earthy matter, 

 the other third chiefly of animal matter, re- 

 sembling glue. Of the earthy matter, five- 

 sixths consist of phosphate of lime and mag- 

 nesia. A ton of bone dust, contains of 



Animal matter, about 746 lbs. 



Phosphate of lime, &c. 1,245 lbs. 



Carbonate of lime, &,c., 249 lbs." 



Bones, however, vary somewhat in their 

 constituents, some containing more of the 



