ORGANIC MANURES MADE PERMANENT. 217 



of the manure must remain uncombined for some length of time ; 

 and during that time is as liable to be wasted and exhausted as if 

 in any other soil. And hence, and the more as the dressing is 

 lavish, farm-yard and stable manure so applied must be expected to 

 yield more for the first and second year, while the excess is wasting, 

 than afterwards. But after this first waste and exhaustion has 

 been suffered, whatever of the manure remains to the soil, say for 

 the next ensuing rotation at latest, must be fully combined with 

 and fixed in the soil, and will be permanent for all future time, 

 under proper, judicious, and also the most profitable course of* 

 cropping. This first waste probably cannot be entirely prevented; 

 but it can be much lessened by care. And to this end, putrescent 

 manure should not be applied heavily at once, but lightly, and re- 

 peated subsequently, and should be well scattered and equally dif- 

 fused over the ground. Its subsequent decomposition being slow, 

 and the products being gradually, as well as surely, presented to 

 the 'lime diffused previously throughout the soil, will also tend to 

 remove as much as possible of the manure from the condition of 

 being fleeting and wasting, to that of being fixed and permanent. 



Next let us see how far facts and experience sustain this reason- 

 ing. It is conceded that the time since marling was commenced in 

 Virginia, and since correct views of the action of calcareous ma- 

 nures were entertained and acted on in any case, has been too short 

 to furnish decisive proofs. But so far as accurate facts can thus 

 be referred to, they fully sustain the foregoing doctrine, not only 

 of the permanency of calcareous manures, but also of putrescent 

 manures in combination therewith. Some of these facts will be 

 mentioned generally. 



However much in accordance with the theory of the action of 

 calcareous manures, this absolute permanency of effect given 

 thereby to putrescent manures was not at first counted on or ex- 

 pected, and was not known until it was forced on my observation, 

 by long-continued results. My own practice is not only the oldest, 

 but is all that I can refer to for proofs. And until all my marling 

 was completed, and indeed for some time after, but little care was 

 used by me to make and apply putrescent manures. This culpa- 

 ble neglect was the result of the habits caused by the disappoint- 

 ments and losses experienced in manuring long before. From the 

 same ignorance and carelessness in this respect, no experiments on 

 the durability of putrescent manures were made until long after, 

 and then injudiciously. Thus, in experiments 4, 9, and 11 (pp. 120, 

 131, 134), the putrescent manure applied was in quantity much too 

 great for the calcareous earth to combine with at once, even if the 

 recent and irregular scattering of both kinds of manure had not 

 prevented their meeting in proper proportions. For like reasons, of 

 all the putrescent manures applied on the farm, and since larger 

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