June, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



83 



shops. The great vahie of dung for agriculture, 

 it is clear from tliis statement, depends on the 

 ammonia and the ireirie : ajid Trom tlie statements 

 of Dr. Dana, as well as those of Lichjg, it is evi- 

 dent that the salts of lime, \yhich are the annual 

 product of one cow, are sufficient to supply the 

 irrain and straw of a crop of wheat of 30 hushels 

 per acre, on three acres. Dr. Dana's inquiry into 

 the use and origin of the nitrogen of dung, "that 

 organic element to Avhicli must be attributed its 

 chief enriching quality," will well repay perusal. 

 ]t was found by ('xperiiiient, tliat the formation 

 of nitrogen depondeil in ,i ^reat degree on the 

 kind of food given the animal, and that the dung 

 of a cow fed on meal and water, gave of nitrogen 

 2i per cent., or five times as tnuch as common 

 cow dung. This accounts satisfactorily for the 

 fact of the dung of fattening animals being richer 

 for agriculture than that of store animals. 



Having thus determined the agricultural value 

 of cow (hmg as a standard, Dr. Dana [.roceedsto 

 com|)are with this the dung of some other ani- 

 mals. Of these, the first is the horse. As com- 

 pared with cow dung, horse iDanure gives in 100 

 l)arts, 

 Geine, 27 



Salts, 0.96 



Wiiter, 71.20 



The quantity of geine then in horse dung is 

 nearly double that in cow dung; the salts, which 

 are mostly phosphates of lime, magnesia, and 

 soda, are about the same. As in the fermenta- 

 tion o{' manures, the heat is usually in the pro- 

 portion to the formation of ammonia and nitrates, 

 the greater product of these substances in horse 

 dung, may in part account for its value as a heat- 

 ing material in hot-beds, &c. Horse dung con- 

 tarns in 100 parts, 3.24 of carbonate of ammonia. 

 Dr. Dana ranks in his analysis, hog manure an(i 

 night soil together. He states the composition of 

 the latter in its purest state as follows: — 



Water, 75.3 



Geine, 23.5 



Salts, l.a 



"Night soil, including that of the hog, contains 

 in 100 pai-ts, 



Geni 



23. 



1.2 



Here we have the three most common sub- 

 stances used as manures; cow, horse and hog' 

 dung, including night soil, reduced to geine, salts 

 and anmionia, or ii.-^ equivalent nitrogen ; and we 

 believe c.\|)erience fully proves that their Value is 

 in direct proportion to their power of firoducing 

 ammonia. E.xperiments made by authority, in 

 Prussia, proved that on soils which, manured 

 wilh cow dung gave a product of seven for one 

 sown, if manured with horse dung the yield was 

 10, and if with night soil. 14, which is about the 

 proportion the nitrogen in these manures beai's 

 to each other. We Think therefore, that Dr. Dana 

 is fully justified in saying "that the nitrogen 

 present in a manure expresses its true value." 



"Among the mixed manures, poudrette and 

 guano rank next to the night soil. Poudrette is 

 night soil, ])artly dried in ))ans. and mixed up 

 with variable quantities of ground peat and plas- 

 ter. Its value will depend on the circumstance 

 whether its ammonia is saved or lost in the man- 

 ulacture. If sulphate or muriate of lime is ad- 

 ded before drying, then the volatile carbonate of 

 ammonia will be changed into sul[)hate of am 

 mouia, and sal-am moifiac." Besides these solu 

 ble salts of ammonia, the peat retains a portion 

 of the gaseous ammonia, and its geine is render 

 ed more soluble. Plaster should always he mi.x 

 ed with night soils, to prevent the escape of 

 ammonia. Guano, which is coming into usi 

 England as a manure, is the excrement of sea 

 birds. It is found in vast beds from (30 to 80 feet 

 thick, on some islands in the South Pacific, near 

 the coast of Peru. Of the various salts of am 

 monia it contains some 33 per cent.; and of sol 

 ubie organic matter 12 per cent.; facts} which 

 sufficieruly indicate its origin and its richness. 

 We have not room to follow Dr. Dana throu 

 his analysis of other animal matters used as n 

 nures, such as hair, horn, wool, &c. &c., but must 

 not omit to state that the Dr. fmnishes inciden 

 tally, a solution'of a fact which has caused somi 

 bad blood, and some hard swearing, viz: the 

 greater hardness of the heard when compared 

 with other hair, when he states that hair contains 

 from one-half to two per cent, of bone earth, the 



beard far exceeding in quantity any other va- 

 riety. 



It will not do to pass over Dr. Dana's account 



of soot so easily, l(jr this most valuable manure 



is entirely overlooked by the greater part of our 



tiirraers. There are few substances so rich in 



geine and salts as this, as the analysis of Dr. D. 



will show: — 



Geine. 30.70 



Nitrogen, 20. 



Salts oC lime, chalk, &c., 25.31 



Bone dust, l-SO 



Sails of potash, soda and ammonia, G.14- 



Carbon, 3.85 



Water, 12.50 



The salts contained in ]00 lbs. of soot, aie 

 |ual to those in one ton of cow dung; and its 

 niti'ogen in a similar comparison, is as 40 to 1. 

 Mixed with water in the pioportion of six quarts 

 of soot to a hogshead of watei-, it has been found 

 St efficacious liquid in the culture of green 

 house plants," and we can add our testimony to 

 its value, when applied in proper quantities to any 

 ordinai-y crop. We have, however, known it used 

 on tender gaiden plants to e.xcess, destroying ma- 

 ny of them. 



The sections devoted to bone dust, slaughter 

 house offals, urine, spent ley, &c., will be read 

 with advantage by cveiy fai-mer; certainly all 

 those who wish to have a reason for the action of 

 such snb.stances as promoters of vegetation. 



But to the practical farmer, one of the most 

 intei-esting sections of the book, will be that in 

 which it treats of artificial inanures. Ther 

 scai-cely a farm in the connti-y in which there arc 

 not deposits of vegetable matter in the shape of 

 peat, swamp muck, or pond mud. Such substan 

 ces aie composed mostly of geine or humus, 

 soluble and insoluble, and have been hitherto, al- 

 most iantirely neglected, when in fact they are 

 the veiy elements of fertility. These deposits, 

 dug out and thiown upon soil, pioduce little ben- 

 eficial effect, unless subjected to pi-evious prepa- 

 lation ; hence the little value placed upon them. 

 Agrieultuial chemisti-y has led the way to their 

 use, and now peat bogs, or swamp muck, is just- 

 ly regarded as a source of wealth. An analysis 

 by Di-. Dana, of 10 specimens of peat froin dif- 

 ferent localities, shows the average composition 

 of this substance. Soluble geine, 29.46; insolu- 

 ble geine, 55.03; total geine, 85.39; .«alts and sil- 

 icates, 15.59. Pond mud is less rich in geine, 

 containing more salts and silicates; but still when 

 prepai-ed is an excellent manure. 



It is a singular fact that fresh dug peat of avei-- 

 ace quality, scarcely differs in its elements fi-om 

 cow dung", 100 parts containing, 



Water, 85. 



Salts of lime, 0.50 



Silicates, O.oO 



Geine, 1^- 



A cord of 103 bushels of cow dung and of peat, 

 will compare in composition as follows: — 



Weight Soluble Insoluble Total Salts of 

 per cord, geine. geine. geine '-'-- 



Dung, 9,289 lbs, ' "" 



1,41(1 

 9:216 " 376 673 1,049 91 



"The salts and geine of a cord of peat, are 

 equal to the manui-e of one cow for three months. 

 » * And the power of producing 



alkaline action on the insoluble geine of peat, is 

 alone wanted to make it good cow dung." The 

 great point in rendering peat useful to the agri- 

 culturist, is to supply that lackin gelement, ammo- 

 nia ; since without "this, cow dung would not be as 

 valuable as peat in its natui-ul condition. Abun- 

 dant experiments pi-ove that the addition of an 

 alkali to peat, is all that is required to effect this 

 change; an! the calculations into which Dr. D. 

 enters to ascertain the quantity of alkali necessa- 

 ry, ate extensive and minute. Fortunately the 

 question is only one of economy in the use of 

 alktili; as a larger quantity than is demanded to 

 render the geine soluble is no injiiiy to the land. 

 Dr. D. states, that 



59 parts of ammonia, are equal to 

 58 '• soda or white ash, or to 

 72 '■■ 1st quality pot or pearlash, or 

 86 " 2d " pot or pearlash. 

 100 lbs. of fi-esh peat require 2 lbs. of soda ash, 

 or 3 lbs. of pot or pearl ashes, to render it equal 

 to cow dung. Peat in drying, loses three-fourths 

 of its weight; hence the quantity or per cent, of 

 alkali for di-ied peat must be pr'oportionahly in- 

 I creased. Everv cord of fresh dug peat requires 

 I 92 lbs. of pot ash, or 61 lbs. of soda, or 16 to 20 



bushels of common house ashes will effect the 

 which the peat demands. Mr. Phinney 

 of Lexington, a high authority in agricultural 

 matters, has found by experience, "that a cord 

 of green dung converts twice its bulk of peat 

 nto a manure equal in value to itself; that is, a_ 

 ;ord of clear stable dung, composted with two of 

 peat, forms a nianiu-e of equal value to three cords 

 of green dung." The dung fm-uishes the requi- 

 site alkali, and ammonia in increased quantities 

 the residt , 



The value of peat when combineij with ashes, 

 either new or spent, does not however depend 

 on theoretical speculation alone ; and it is in 

 combination with ashes that this substance quick- 

 ly proves its importance as a fertilizer. Mr. G. 

 Robbing of Watertown, Mass., an extensive man- 

 ufacturer of soap, has one of the finest and most 

 productive farms in that vicinity ; and although 

 he keeps eleven horses, four cows, and one hun- 

 dred hogs, he has not for four years used a shovel 

 full of their manure, or that made by any animal, 

 upon his farm. His animal manure is carefully 

 saved and sold, while his spent barilla ashes, 

 mixed in the proportion of one part of ashes to 

 three of |>eal dug up in the fall, and mixed in 

 the spring, for(ns a manui-e that keeps his land 

 in the best possible condition. The following 

 extract will show how easily this manure may be 

 p:-epai'ed: — 



" The best plan for preparing the artificial ma- 

 nui-e would l)e to dig the peat or swamp muck in 

 the fall ; in the spring of the year let this he mix- 

 efl in the proportion of 30 lbs. of potash, 20 lbs. 

 of soda ash, or 8 bushels of common house ashes, 

 to evei-y cord of fresh dug peat, estimating this 

 by the pit dug out, anil allowing nothing for 

 shrinking. If ashes are used, they may he mi.\ed 

 in at once with the muck, but if potash or soda 

 is use<l, they must be dissolved in watei-, and the 

 pile evenly wet with the solution. The pile is 

 then to be well shoveled over, and used as other 

 manure. But it has been found by experience 

 that the peat may be dug in the spring, immedi- 

 ately mixed with the alkali and used forthwith. 

 If spent ashes are used to prepare this muck, add 

 one cord of spent ashes to three cords of peat or 

 swainp muck." 



Animal matters convert peat or muck into ma- 

 nures with great rapidity. "It has been proved 

 by actual experiment, that a dead horse can con- 

 vei-t 20 tons of peat into a valuable manui-e, rich- 

 er and more lasting than stable dung; 'a barrel 

 of alewives is equal to a waggon load of peat.' " 

 Uiine is a most prolific source of ammonia, and 

 Di% Dana says : " that the urine of one cow for a 

 winter, mixed up as it is daily collected, with 

 peat, is sufficient to manure half an acre of land 

 with 20 loads of manure of the best quality." 

 Can a stronger argiunent be offered to farmers, 

 why they should fill their barn-yards and hog- 

 pens with muck, to detain and become saturated 

 with the ammonia of the urine ?" 



Dr. Dana seems inclined to question the cor- 

 rectness of that part of Prof Liebig's work which 

 affirms the existence of volatile carbonate of am- 

 monia in rain water. That ammoniacal salts ex- 

 ist in both snow and rain water is not question- 

 ed, the existence of the free carbonate only is 

 doubted. Dr. Dana's explanation of the presence 

 of these salts is ingenious, and as the subject is 

 one which, since the publication of Liebig's vol- 

 ume, has excited much attention both in Europe 

 and in this coimtry, it will undoubtedly ere long 

 receive a full elucidation. In treating of the ad- 

 vantages of iiiigation, Dr. Dana dwells at length 

 on the composition of water and its use in pro- 

 moting vegetation. From a series of careful ex- 

 periments, he estimates the quantity of salts and 

 o^eine which were carried past Lowell, in the 

 river Merrimack in 1838, at 839,181 tons. In 

 river water "the dissolved salts are sulphate and 

 geate of lime, and the fine deposit occurring after 

 the water has settled, is composed of one-half of 

 geine, and the remainder of salts of lime and sil- 

 icates." 



Dr. Dana's concluding chapter is on the "Phy- 

 sical properties of Soil," in which he has eni- 

 bodied much useful information in regard to their 

 chai-acter and ti-eatment, but for which we must 

 refer the reader to the work itself, having already 

 much exceeded the limits we usually allow to 

 such subject.'!. The importance of the trintters 

 ti-eated will be a sufficient apology. There can 

 be no question agitated of more vital interest to 



