On Manures. 201 



that purpose, are comprehended under the following heads : 

 The dung of quadrupeds; the dung of birds; town 

 dung ; night soil ; urine ; land animal substances ; 

 fish ; and fish oil. 



1. Dung of Quadrupeds. This valuable substance fur- 

 nishes immediate food to plants ; excites heat in the soil ; 

 opens its texture; attracts and retains moisture ; and 

 promotes the decomposition of vegetable particles in the earth, 

 by the fermentation which it occasions. Where animals 

 chew the cud, the dung is so thoroughly reduced, that it 

 may be incorporated with the soil, without requiring to be 

 collected in a dunghill ; but on various accounts, a mixture 

 of hot and cold, of dry and moist putrescent substances, in 

 the same heap, is found to be advantageous. 



The subject of farm-yard and stable dung, practically con- 

 sidered, includes the following particulars ; 1. Collecting the 

 materials , 2. Preparing them for use ; and, 3. Applying 

 them to the soil. 



1. Collecting the Materials. 



1. Farm-yard dung consists of the excrements of various 

 animals, mixed with their litter, and such other absorbent 

 articles, as are calculated to increase the quantity, without 

 injuring the fertilizing quality of the mass. Even weeds of all 

 sorts, may with safety and advantage be collected for that pur- 

 pose in summer; also leaves of trees, or of shrubs, which 

 are often to be obtained in considerable quantities in autumn ; 

 straw, and chaff, not used as food or litter ; likewise ve- 

 getable mould, or peat earth. 



2. The most essential article, however, is the excrements 

 of domesticated animals. Of these, the dung of the hog, 

 owing to the nature of its food, is the strongest and richest ; 

 that of the horse, the driest and most heating; that of neat 

 cattle, the coldest, but the most lasting ( l66 ). The dung of 

 sheep is seldom mixed with other articles, and being only 

 calculated for immediate use, is soon exhausted. 



3. It frequently happens, that the dung of horses is sepa- 

 rately used, particularly when taken from towns; but in 

 farm-yards, there is an opportunity of mixing cattle, horse, 

 and hog dung, which is always to be preferred, as the one 

 corrects the defects of the other, and prevents the ferment- 

 ing process from going too rapidly forward. These sub- 

 stances should be laid, stratum super stratum, which can 

 easily be done every day, when the stables, cow-houses, and 



