230 On Manures. 



ter with which dung is necessarily impregnated ( Z6 ). The 

 profit derived from feeding the live stock, on the green food, 

 ought likewise to be considered. 



9. Burnt Vegetables. These are of various sorts, as wood- 

 ashes, peat-ashes, kelp, or the ashes of sea-weed, and 

 burnt straw. 



Wood-ashes are certainly a valuable manure, and are pe- 

 culiarly well calculated for gravelly soils and loams. The 

 proper quantity to apply, is forty bushels per acre, and 

 spring is the proper season for the application. If rain 

 succeeds, the effect may be relied on( z<51 ). 



The ashes of peat are a common manure, wherever that 

 substance is used as fuel ; but they are frequently of little 

 value. There are two sorts of peat, however, one to be 

 found in its greatest perfection, near Newbury in Berkshire, 

 and the other in some provinces in Holland, the application 

 of which is attended with astonishing results. 



In some soils, particularly chalk, the Berkshire ashes may 

 be of use, by supplying the oxide of iron, an article without 

 which no soil can be productive, and of which chalky soils 

 are extremely deficient. In others, the gypsum or potash 

 which such ashes contain, may promote fertility. 



In Holland, they have two kinds of peat. One which is 

 found on rising grounds, burns quickly and cheerfully, gives 

 a good heat, and leaves only light ashes of very little value. 

 The other sort is found in marshes, which are constantly 

 covered during the winter season, with water of a brackish 

 nature. This peat leaves a much heavier ash, frequently so 

 full of saline matter, that it is sometimes used as a substi- 

 tute for soda, in the manufacture of green glass. These 

 ashes are conveyed by the canals, in barges, into the interior 

 of Flanders ; and after they have reached Brussels, they are 

 sent by land, from 50 even to 1 00 miles into the interior. 

 The effect of these ashes is hardly to be credited. They 

 are sown upon young clover in spring, and insure two good 

 crops of clover that year, and an abundant crop of wheat, 

 unmolested by the wire-worm, next year. If it be the wish 

 of the farmer to have clover for two years in succession, it 

 may be obtained by the aid of these ashes. They are in 

 general carefully sown by the hand, like grain, in a still, 

 hazy morning. They are good for hops ; and a handful 

 should be spread on the surface of each hill, on which the 

 hop vines are planted, to destroy the worms that infest 

 them ( a<Ja ). In various parts of England, Scotland, and Ire- 

 land> peat, producing similar ashes, may be met with ; but 



