234- On Manures. 



upon all soils, than it can possibly be made by any addition 

 to it. But when earth is employed in the formation of a 

 dunghill, it will absorb substances from the dung, which may 

 otherwise be lost. 



The subject of composts, may be considered under the 

 following heads : 1. The materials used ; 2. The soils or 

 crops to which composts should be applied ; and, 3. The 

 effects produced. 



1. Materials. Unslaked lime, and earth of different sorts, 

 are the substances commonly used. Quick-lime is the pro- 

 per stimulus for bringing the powers of a compost into ac- 

 tion ; in some degree operating upon a heap of earth, as yeast 

 does upon a quantity of flour or meal. Enough ought to 

 be applied, to excite a species of fermentation in the heap, 

 and to neutralize or decompose any pernicious mineral sub- 

 stances which may exist in it ( a?I ). 



The preparation and conveyance of compost, being at- 

 tended with much expense, where circumstances will admit 

 of it, horse power ought to be employed in the several pro- 

 cesses, instead of manual labour, and the compost should, 

 if possible, be prepared in the field, to which it is afterwards 

 to be applied. 



It has been ascertained by a number of experiments, that 

 two bushels of unslaked lime, are sufficient for each cubic 

 yard of earth of a medium quality; and as 80 cubic yards of 

 loose earth, are sufficient to manure an acre, 160 bushels 

 of unslaked lime are commonly required, in an average of 

 cases, to bring forward the process of fermentation. To 

 obtain this quantity of earth, it is the practice of many far- 

 mers, to plough the head-ridges at both ends of the field, 

 ten inches deep ; and this can often be spared, without any 

 loss, as these ridges are generally too high, in consequence 

 of the earth accumulated in the course of years, from the 

 plough being cleared every time it turns. This affords an 

 easy mode of manuring a field with compost. 



Composts are frequently made, not only of earth and lime, 

 or dung, but of various other materials, as green vegetables, 

 before they run to seed, soft chalk, tanners' bark, saw-dust, 

 soap-ashes, &c. It is recommended, that instead of being 

 laid in regular layers, they should be mixed as much as pos- 

 sible, in forming the heap. A fermentation is soon excited; 

 and the oftener the heap is turned, so much the more will fer- 

 mentation be promoted ( Z7z ). 



A mode of making compost, of which peat is the basis, 

 was suggested by an ardent friend to agriculture, the late 



