174 



On the Preparation and Use of Manures. Vol. VIII. 



buted to the ashes, burned earth, &c., on 

 such spots, rather than the coal. The use 

 of coal alone, however, shows that thoiigli 

 these other matters are not without their 

 value, the great additional fertility of these 

 places is mostly owing to the coal. Im- 

 mense quantities of this substance are 

 wasted in the vicinity of forges, furnaces, 

 smiths' shops, &c., which would be of great 

 value, were farmers to collect such refuse 

 or dust coal, and apply it to their farms. 

 On heavy soils in Europe, it has long- been 

 customary to pare the surface, and burn the 

 turf so collected, taking care to incorporate 

 as much of the clay soil as will consist with 

 the ignition of the turf. This burnt mass 

 of clay and ashes is scattered over the 

 ground, and is found to make a valuable 

 dressing on such soils. 



Other manures. — It is impossible to par- 

 ticularize all substances that may be used 

 as manure. It is evident, from the defini- 

 tion first given, that they would embrace all 

 animal matters without exception ; all ex- 

 crementitious secretions of animals, and all 

 vegetable ingredients in one form or another, 

 together with a few of the mineral salts, 

 such as the alkalies, silicates, &c. Thus, 

 oil-cake, bran, yeast, brewers' grains, putrid 

 meat, in short any substance that can be 

 classed under the above divisions of matter, 

 may be useful as mauures, and this fact 

 should induce great caution in their preser- 

 vation and application. Whatever may be 

 the present condition of a particle of matter, 

 if it has ever formed a part of an organic 

 body, it can again become such under cir- 

 cumstances favourable to such a condition. 



In the preceding rapid sketch of the prin- 

 cipal substances valuable as manures, the 

 best methods of preparation and use have 

 also, to a considerable extent, been given. 

 All then that w-ould now seern necessary for 

 the purpose of this Essay, is a condensed 

 view of the principles laid down, with such 

 incidental topics as have been passed over, 

 but of which a notice appears necessary. 



Preiiaration and use of stable manures. — 

 As the common farmer must always rely on 

 stable or farm-yard manure, as his principal 

 means of fertilization and renovation of his 

 soils, it is to these, to their preparation and 

 use, that his attention must be principally 

 directed. It is an important question for 

 him to decide, whether he should apply his 

 manure in a long state, that is, apply it fresli 

 from his stables and yards, before undergoing 

 decomposition, or let it remain until the lit- 

 ter and straw have fermented and become 

 rotten, before using it. Some remarks on 

 this topic have been made in the preceding 

 pages, when treating of such manures, but 



its importance will justify their extension 

 in this place. It has been said that rotted 

 manure contains more geine or humus, 

 weight for weight, than unrotted or fresh 

 manure. This is probable; but to make this 

 test decisive, equal weights of dung should 

 be taken while fresh, one analyzed at the 

 time, and the other when fermented and 

 rotted. This course, it is believed, would 

 show a result in favour of the unrotted. 

 There can be no doi'ibt, however, that straw, 

 stable litter, &c., should be partially fer- 

 mented before using, and the moisture ne- 

 cessary for the process should, if possible, be 

 the urine of the animals or the drainings of 

 the yards. Straw, in dung intended for a 

 particular crop, is of little use unless the 

 fermentation has far progressed ; and a dis- 

 tinguished German farmer has asserted that 

 he considered straw as of no consequence in 

 manure, except as acting the part of a sponge 

 to retain the fluid parts of the anmial ma- 

 nures. There are some exceptions to this 

 remark, as when straw is applied to heavy 

 clay grounds before rotting. In this case, 

 when ploughed under, it gives a degree of 

 porosity to the soil, absorbs part of the moist- 

 ure, and acts the part of a valuable amender, 

 while it is eventually converted into a ma- 

 nure, or a source of carbonic gas. Where 

 the unfcrmentcd dung of the yard or stable 

 is applied to the soil, it should be covered at 

 once by the plough, that the gases liberated 

 in fermentation may not be lost, and tliat the 

 moisture necessary for fermentation may be 

 secured. When rotted or fermented, the 

 covering is not of so much consequence, and 

 it may, without loss, be scattered on the sur- 

 face and mixed with it. If used without 

 fermenting, it should be applied to hoed or 

 summer crops, such as corn or roots, as these 

 are in that state while the manure is at the 

 height of its fermentation, when forcing ma- 

 nures are the most useful ; but if applied to 

 the smaller grains, they are moat active 

 when matter for the perfection of the seed, 

 not the enlargement of the straw, is most 

 needed, and the last is increased at the ex- 

 pense of the first. Taking- all these circum- 

 stances into consideration, there can be little 

 question that the most economical way of 

 making and using manures, is to convert the 

 stable and barnyard manure into compost, by 

 the addition of peat, swamp muck, cleansing 

 of ditches, wash of roads, leached ashes, or 

 even common loam or earth, taking care, 

 wlien the manure is wanted for heavy soils, 

 that the earth used in the compost should be 

 as light or sandy as may be; and where the 

 soil is light, that the compost earth should 

 be marly clay. Into such a compost heap» 

 all weeds, straw, litter, animal matter of all 



