472 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



The other hitrrcdienf.s in the common kinds of 

 soap are lime, willi oil or tallow ; but as the oily 

 particles are wholly extracted in the manuliicture, 

 the waste can only be considered as a calcareous 

 manure, and consequently will be only found effi- 

 cacious on such soils as are deficient in that sub- 

 stance, or in those which abound largely in unde- 

 composed vegetable matter, upon -which it acts 

 powerfully. It must, however, be observed that 

 the waste from hard and soft soap is materially 

 different in its qualities, for there is a greater pro- 

 portion of alkaline matter in the manufacture of 

 the former than that of the latter: thus, in exam- 

 ining the ashes that are produced Irom soft soap, 

 they will be found light and spongy, which may 

 probably arise from potash being used in its com- 

 position, instead of barilla ; while the refuse of 

 hard soap is more dense and firm, and much strong- 

 er than the other in its efi'ects upon the ground. 

 Farmers should therefore inquire, before they use 

 it, which sort is made by manufacturer, and use it 

 accordingly. 



On strong, cold, and wet soils, or low spongy 

 meadows overrun with rushes and similar weeds, 

 as well as on peat-moss and other land that is rank 

 ■with vegetation, it is found highly beneficial ; on 

 loams it is also an admirable manure, and in any 

 rainy season its effects are quickly visible, for its 

 hot nature is probably tempered by the moisture : 

 but its application is not advisable on calcareous 

 soils, or on light, drj^, and burning sands, and it is 

 generally thought preferable to lay it upon pasture 

 than upon arable ground. When laid upon the 

 latter, however, it should be harrowed in previous- 

 ly to the sowing of the seed ; or if ploughed into 

 the land, the ashes being of" a very heav}^ na- 

 ture, the soil should be turned in with a shallow 

 iurrow, and should be spread in as fresh a state 

 as possible, as they have been found to lose a 

 considerable portion of their strength when long 

 exposed to the atmosphere. It has been laid in 

 various proportions, fi'om GO to 240 bushels ])er 

 acre, between the effects of which it is not easy to 

 discriminate, both from the difficulty which we 

 have just stated of correctly ascertaining its 

 strength, and from the variety of soils to which it 

 is applied, which circmnstances must necessarily 

 occasion a diversity of practice ; but when con- 

 sisting of that species of waste arising from hard 

 soap, it may be safely employed in the following 

 quantities : — 



On strong arable land from 200 to 240 bushels, 

 loams, for wheat 160 „ 200 „ 



do. for barley and turnips 120 ,, 160 ,, 

 pasture, generally 160 „ 200 ,, 



It has been generally found most serviceable no 



kelp thus fonncrly employed may not be still usefully 

 applied as manure. Some reports presented to the 

 Holfand Society would lead to that conclusion : 30 

 tons of sea- ware are required to produce 1 ton of kelp, 

 which is said to have equal power upon the land as the 

 weed in its wet state. The manufacture of a ton of 

 kelp has, indeed, been cafculated to amount to £3 15s.; 

 while the weed can be cut, carried on shore, and dried, 

 for about 25s. to 30s.; but when in the latter state it 

 is only applicable to the ground at a short distance ; 

 and when manufactiued it is as jrortable as any species 

 of ashes. It is also probable tiiat the proprietors of the 

 kelp shores and the manufacturers may find it expedient 

 to lower their rate of charg-es, so as to render it availa- 

 ble to the use of farmers. 



wetlands; and if employed on light soils, or in 

 very dry weather, great caution should be used, 

 or its heating quality wilil have a very prejudicial 

 effect upon the following crop. Upon grass it has 

 even been laid, according to the account of a plain 

 practical farmer, who has used it during upwards 

 of twelve years, to the enormous extent o\' forty 

 tons per acre, without any mixture, and fresh as it 

 came from the vat.* He says — to use his own 

 expressions — 'that, when mixed up with earth, he 

 found it to be only doing things by halves. It was 

 thought that the quantity would burn up the land, 

 which was only of fair quality ; but from the mo- 

 ment of the ajiplication, the sward took a shade of 

 darker greeen, and it has since never produced less 

 than two tons an acre of hay, and has carried a 

 heavy stock of New Leicester sheep. It has 

 been also laid by Mr. Billingsley upon some very 

 coarse meadow, in the quantity of six wagon- 

 loads per acre, with very extraordinary effect ; the 

 rushes immediately disappeared, and gave place 

 to a luxuriant crop of trefoil, which was so ob- 

 vious that the eye could trace the line of separa- 

 tion during three or four years afterwards. The 

 application of 160 bushels per acre, once in five 

 years, is also said to have more than doubled the 

 product; and in strong, wet, and heavy land, un- 

 der poor pasture, in the neigh boorhood. of Epp- 

 ing, four wagon-loads per acre, have efl'ected a 

 total change. t 



The price is now merely nominal ; it was for- 

 merly, in most great towns, about 10s. for the 

 wagon-load drawn by four horses, for it is never 

 regularly measured by the soap boilers; but the 

 demand" has so far ceased, since the late deprecia- 

 tion of agricultural produce, that the great Lon- 

 don manufacturers are now glad to disembarrass 

 themselves of the waste by which they are en- 

 cumbered by giving it gratis to any person who 

 will tnke it ofi' their premises. 



The best method of using this manure has 

 been thought by many persons to be that of a 

 compost with dung and earth. So far as the earth 

 is concerned, there can be no objection to the prac- 

 tice ; but in regard to the dung it may admit of 

 doubt, for, in proportion to the quantity of alkaline 

 matter left in the ashes, the duration of the effect 

 of the dung will be lessened, much in the same 

 manner as by a mixture of quick-lime. IfJ how- 

 ever, such a compound is determined upon, the 

 dung should be first well fermented, then mixed 

 with at least four times its quantity of maiden 

 earth, and afterwards duly incorporated with the 

 same quantity of ashes as of dung, when the 

 heap should be carefully turned over. By this 

 means the acrimony of the ashes will be efleclu- 

 ally corrected, and the compost may be used upon 

 tender loams with better clli^ct than if employed 

 alone. 



The following account, among numerous other 

 instances, of an experiment on its effects in equal 

 proportions upon a crop of potatoes, is extracted 

 li'om a report^ drawn up by order of the Board of 

 Agriculture : — 



* In the Lancashire Survey it is likewise said, that 

 "about Liverpool Hiey commonly put on from -10 to 50 

 tons per acre," p. 50G. 



t Essex Report, vol. p, 246. See also the Report of 

 the N. R. of Yorkshire; and the Papers of the liatli 

 Society, vol. i. p. 129. 



