MANURES. 31 



unprofitable in compost hills. A matted sward, thickly en- 

 tangled with roots, or mud, dragged from the bottom of bogs 

 or ditches, and replete with aquatic plants, are clearly prefer- 

 able on this account, that besides bringing earth to the compo- 

 sition, they supply a large proportion of vegetable matter. 



Whenever the soil must be carted to the heap, it is better to 

 lay out the expense in transporting enriching materials, be- 

 cause they will not only equally absorb and retain the evapo- 

 rating gases, but greatly augment the quality of manure.* 



Pure animal matter, by undergoing fermentation, and being 

 mixed with vegetable matter, promotes the more speedy de- 

 composition of the vegetable fibre, which, under certain circum- 

 stances, is a slowly decomposing substance. When vegetables 

 are green and full of juices, they readily ferment; but when 

 the stems are dried, as in the case of straw and other litter, they 

 decompose slowly, and the mixing them with animal matter 

 hastens the putrefactive fermentation. This mixing of animal 

 with vegetable matter is the process employed for preparing 

 the greater part of the dung of the farm-yard. 



Farm-yard manure must ever be ranked in the first class, 

 and when improved yards have been constructed for the soiling 

 of cattle, and attention has been paid to the quality as well as 

 the increase of their dung, the manure thus produced becomes 

 of inestimable value. No husbandman can carry on his busi- 

 ness, successfully, without it. The manure heap has not been 

 unaptly described as the farmer's gold mine. 



Every farmer who attends for a moment to the difficulty of 

 obtaining a sufficient quantity of dung, as well as of preparing 

 what is got, will acknowledge that however imperfectly the 

 subject be understood, none is deserving of more serious con- 

 sideration; yet even the most superficial observer on the com- 

 mon state of culture can hardly fail to remark, that the evident 

 inattention to its management is such as would almost lead to 

 the conclusion, that it was not worth the pains of the farmer's 

 care. 



It is not uncommon indeed nothing is more common in 

 certain parts of our country, to see large heaps of manure 

 thrown out from the stables and feeding sheds, and exposed in 

 that state to the weather, without any regard to its being laid 

 up in a regular or careful manner, secured from evaporation, 

 or carefully mixed in different proportions, according to its 

 various qualities; yet these proportions are each of a very dis- 

 tinct and important nature. 



The dung of the farm-yard is a collection of animal and 



* Letters on Agriculture, by JOHN YOUNG, Esq. 



