378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY3I,I84 3. 



MANURES— FERMENTATION OF— COM- 

 POSTING. 



By the late John Yodng, Secretary of the Provincial 

 Agricultural Board, and Honorary Member of 

 the Massachusetts and Montreal 

 Agricultural Societies. 

 Tliure has been no point, perhaps, in agrictillu- 

 ral science more keenly contested, than the exact 

 degree of fermentation to which dung Bhould be 

 exposed, before it bo spread on the soil. Some 

 argue that it should be allowed to rot till its origi- 

 nal texture be broken down and destroyed ; others, 

 that the process should be carried a considerable 

 length, but checked about the middle of its course ; 

 while a third class allege, that the least incipient 

 Btate of putrefaction is at the expense of the vege- 

 table gases, and should as much as possible be 

 prevented, till tlie manure be deposited in the 

 earlli. Amid such a contrariety of warring and 

 discordant opinions, and these too supported by 

 naturalists distinguished for the extent and iinpor- 

 tance of tlieir discoveries, some portion of doubt 

 must adhere to whatever determination we adopt. 

 Sir H. Davy — a name of pro-eminent celebrity — 

 contends that the smallest degree of fermentation 

 is accompanied witli setting at liberty the eleinen- 

 tary principles, which will riaturally escape, unless 

 their disengagement be effected in the bosom of 

 the soil — in which case they wjll be imbibed and 

 kept in reserve for the purposes of vegetation. He 

 thinks, therefore, that straw, in place of being put 

 in the dung-yard, should he plowed down in a 

 fresh state, and that to facilitate its mixture with 

 the earth, it would be advisable to chop it small 

 with a machine. The conductor of the Farmer's 

 Magazine, although inspired with a due respect for 

 the conclusions of that celebrated chemist, openly 

 opposes this violent innovation on the common 

 practice of the farmer, and asserts, from a long ex- 

 perience, that unless a certain degree of putrefac- 

 tion comes on in the farm-yard, while the putresci- 

 ble substances ore recently voided and possessed 

 of natural heat, no subsequent fermentation will 

 take place in cold and clayey soils. He has known 

 dung and litter, which liad been turned down fresh 

 in the .''urrow, appear next spring withuut any visi- 

 ble change. Of course, it must have laid dormant, 

 without contributing to the growth of the plants. 

 He states, in support of his own views, an experi- 

 ment that was tried at the suggestion of n specu- 

 lative writer : " Dry wheat straw was regularly 

 laid in the hollows of drills, and potato sets plant- 

 ed above the atraw. Both were then covered with 

 earth: but very few potatoes ever came above the 

 ground, and these only towards the end of autumn. 

 When the field was at'terwards plowed, the straw 

 seemed to have undergone no change ; nor did it 

 convey any benefit to future crops. Had the same 

 straw been previously subjected to only a mode- 

 rate degree of fermentation in the dung-yard, there 

 can be no doubt but its effect would have been 

 very different." " Truth," says the common adage, 

 " lies between" ; and in all extreme cases, it is 

 safest to steer a middle course. 



It is necessary, however, to remark that the 

 pushing of the putrefactive process to liie last 

 stage, and sufi'oring the dung to ferment till it 

 falls down into the black earth, is tlie most culpa- 

 ble and gross violation of all just agricultural prin- 

 ciples, and is now condemned in England with 

 merited reprobation. Long before animal substan- 

 ces come to this advanced state of putridity, the 

 nutritive exhalations are gone, and have mingled 



with the great and imperishable elements of the 

 universe. All that remains is the black carbona- 

 ceous matter, which is scarce a sixth part of the 

 original bulk in value. 



This controversy has lost much of its importance 

 since the invention and use of composts. Fermen- 

 tation — that great destroyer of all organic confor- 

 mation — is not to be feared by the farmer, if it be 

 conducted and carried on in the presence of earth, 

 which fixes and secures the gases as fast as they 

 are liberated. Even the degree of the process is 

 a matter of less consequence ; because, if the ele- 

 mentary principles are in keeping, and reserved 

 for future usefulness, it is immaterial whether this 

 has happened by a new absorption, or by still hold- 

 ing their original and unclianged form. In the 

 composite liill, the whole animal or vegetable 

 structure may be dissolved, and leave behind no 

 trace of existence, without the least waste of the 

 principles of fertility ; because the ingredients su- 

 peradded to the dung have become surcharged with 

 them, or fully saturated. We may go further, and 

 state, that complete decomposition is desirable in 

 this Case, which is so much to be avoided in the 

 farm -yard ; because putrescent matter can only be- 

 come vegetable food by its resolution into primary 

 parts; and if this be effected by any preparatory 

 step, the young crop receives the full and instanta- 

 neous benefit. The compost manure is carried to 

 the field ready to give out its richness on the very 

 first call, and to supply the nascent radicle with a 

 copious share of nourishment. 



I believe I have more than once stated that the 

 diversified tribes of the vegetable kingdom are 

 sustained by the circulation of the sap taken up 

 by the absorbent mouths of fibres. This sap, 

 which is extracted from the soil, holds in solution 

 either primary or secondary principle of bodies. 

 Whatever, then, is soluble in water, or can be ren- 

 dered so by the action of chemical laws, combines 

 with the sap and enters into all the interior reces- 

 ses of the vegetable structure, Both solid, fluid 

 and gaseous bodies are susceptible of solubility, 

 and of course contribute to the increase and suste- 

 nation of plants. Mucilage and sugar which are 

 solid, jelly which is fluid, ammonia, hydrogen and 

 carbonic acid which are gaseous, are all soluble 

 in water, and are besides the extracts of vegetable 

 matter; and these by the sap, may be drawn in as 

 nourishment, and either triinsformed by the secre- 

 tory organs into new compounds, or are still further 

 analyzed. The sap, then, is the stream of vital 

 life, and the more it is saturated with nutritive par- 

 ticles, the more luxuriant and vigorous the growth. 

 But it can only be saturated by the dissolution of 

 animal and vegetable bodies, and therefore the 

 more perfect the decomposition, provided the con- 

 stituent principles have not escaped, the richer the 

 manure. Hence a compost hill may remain for 

 years before it is applied, and be turned over seve- 

 ral times, to bring on successive fermentations, 

 not only without injury, hut with manifest advan- 

 tage ; while the simple dung of animals treated in 

 the same manner, would become entirely useless 

 and inefficient. 



The putrefactive process may be carried on in 

 the presence of pure earth only, or of earth inter- 

 mingled with fibrous roots, or lastly, in the presence 

 of peat, which is an assemblage of inert vegetable 

 matter; and compost dung-hills may be formed 

 according to this three fold method. 



JThe simplest of all composts is a mixture of 

 barn and yard dung, and surface mould taken from 



a field under regular culture. Tlie proportions 

 between the ingredients are fixed by no determi- ' 

 nate laws, and consequently great liberty is allow, 

 able to the operator. I have known some instan- 

 ces where two carts of dung were used for one of 

 earth ; others, where they were ble.'ided in equal 

 quantities ; and it is not infrequent to compound 

 two of earth with one of dung. In fact, such is 

 the uncertainty in the composition, that almost ev- 

 ery farmer adopts a mode peculiar to himself, and 

 with equal success. No man need therefore fol- 

 low implicitly the rules which are laid down in 

 his department of rural economy, but may vary and 

 multiply his experiments, according to the sugges- 

 tions of fancy or the dictates of convenience. If 

 we slightly glance at the principle, we shall see 

 the cause of this seemingly endless variety in the 

 combination of the ingredients. ^The only use of 

 intermixing the soil with the dutig, is to imbibe 

 the gaseous elements of vegetable life, and hinder 

 their dissipation. If there be much soil, these ele- 

 ments will be diffused through it with less density 

 and compressions; if little, it will be more abun- 

 dantly saturated and enriched with the nutritive 

 vapors. Thus an ounce of sugar may be dissolved 

 equally in a pint or in a gallon of water; and the 

 muriatic acid may be so much diluted as scarcely 

 to exhibit its characteristic properties ; and in the 

 same way, the products of decomposition may eith- 

 er be concentrated into a small portion of earth or 

 scattered over a largo body. The only error into 

 which the farmer can run, is to supply such an in- 

 considerable quantity as will be incapable of im- 

 bibing the elastic and volatile particles, and thus 

 by his own mismanagement, occasion a waste of 

 the vegetable aliment. One cartload of soil to 

 two of stable dung, is the least proportion which 

 he should ever attempt to combine, and perhaps if 

 the two were mixed equally, he would be compen- 

 sated for the additional labor and expense. 



The whole art of composting, is to arrange the 

 materials in alternate layers — to shake up the lit- 

 ter and dung with a hay-fork that it may lie loose- 

 ly — to cover the top and the sides with earth — and 

 to give it a sloping direction, that it may cast off 

 excessive moisture. Its height should never ex- 

 ceed four feet, or four and a half; and its breadth 

 should be such, that a man on either side may be 

 enabled to fling the ingredients into the centre 

 without trami)liiig on the heap ; for compression, 

 in all cases, retards the putrefactive process. If 

 the mass, after being compounded, is long in gene- 

 rating heat, urine, salt, or even fresh water poured 

 on the top slowly, that it may ooze downward, 

 will bring it on with rapidity. On the other hand, 

 should the process advance with too great vio- 

 lence, which can always be known by keeping a 

 stick in the middle and drawing it out occasionally 

 for trial, the fermentation must be rostrained by 

 turning over the dung-hill, and mixing anew the 

 ingredients. This will not only put a stop to the 

 mischief, but facilitate a second fermentation ; and 

 as fresh particles of earth will be brought in con- 

 tact with the decomposing matter, the whole will 

 be enriched and impregnated with the fertilizing 

 principles, 'i'hose general views are applicable to 

 every species of compost, and need not again be 

 repealed. Simple earth, although excellent for 

 strewing over the barn-yard, is unprofitable in com- 

 post heaps, because it is not a good fermcntating 

 agent. Of all materials for this purpose, peat is 

 the best — both exciting fermentation and supply- 

 ing a rich substance for it to work upon. 



