FA 11 



FAR 



augment and to preserve in dung. 

 The organic substances which arc 

 the most advantageous in producing 

 manures are precisely those which 

 give origin, by tlicir decomposition, 

 to the largest proportion of azotized 

 matters, soluble or volatile. I say 

 by their decomposition, because the 

 mere presence of azote in matters 

 of organic origin does not suffice to 

 constitute them manure. While we 

 admit the high importance, indeed 

 the absolute necessity of azotic prin- 

 ciples in manures, then, we must not 

 therefore conclude that these princi- 

 ples are the only ones which contrib- 

 ute to fertilize the earth. 



" It is unquestionable that the al- 

 kaline and earthy salts are farther 

 indispensable to the accomplishment 

 of the phenomena of vegetation ; and 

 it is far from being sufficiently shown 

 that the organic principles void of 

 azote play a merely passive part 

 when added to the soil. But with 

 few exceptions, the fixed salts, wa- 

 ter or its elements, and carbon, su- 

 perabound in manure. The chemical 

 nature of the salts is the same as that 

 of the fodders used. The element 

 which exists there in smallest pro- 

 portion is azote, which is the one, 

 also, that is most apt to be dissipa- 

 ted during the alteration of the bodies 

 that contain it. For these reasons, 

 azote is really the element whose 

 presence it is of highest moment to 

 ascertain ; its proportion is that, in 

 fact, which fixes the comparative 

 value of different manures. 



" Since it is by undergoing modifi- 

 cation in the course of their decom- 

 position by putrefaction that those 

 azotized substances which are fa- 

 vourable to vegetation are developed 

 in quaternary compounds, it will be 

 readily understood that, all things 

 else being equal, a manure which is 

 completely resolved into soluble or 

 gaseous products in the course of a 

 single season will exert, in virtue of 

 this alone, the whole of its useful in- 

 fluence upon the first crop. It is en- 

 tirely different if the manure decom- 

 poses more slowly ; its action upon 

 the first crop will be less obvious, but 

 274 



its influence will continue longer. 

 There are manures which act, it may 

 be said, at the moment they are put 

 into the ground ; there are others, 

 the action of which continues during 

 several years. iSevertheless, two 

 manures, although acting within pe- 

 riods so different in point of extent, 

 will produce the same final result if 

 they severally contain the same dose 

 of azotic elements, if they are of the 

 same intrinsic value. 



" The durability of manures, the 

 length of time during which they will 

 continue to exert their influence, is 

 a matter of great importance. It oft- 

 en depends on their state of cohe- 

 sion, or on their insolubility, though 

 climate and the nature of the soil 

 have also a marked influence on their 

 decomposition and consequent ef- 

 fects. It is not easy, in the present 

 state of knowledge, to predict with 

 certainty how long the beneficial ef- 

 fects of a given manure will continue 

 to be felt ; but we know well enough 

 what will hasten the decomposition 

 of manure and what will retard this 

 result, and so apportion, as it were, 

 the fertilizing principles among the 

 different crops in the rotation." 



In Switzerland it is common to ap- 

 ply a small quantity of the solution 

 of green vitriol or copperas (sulphate 

 of iron) to the yard manure. One 

 pound of copperas in solution will an- 

 swer for about three hundred weight 

 of the manure. This converts the 

 carbonate into sulphate of ammo- 

 nia, and removes any bad odour. It 

 also improves the quality of the ma- 

 nure very considerably. 



FARRIER. One who shoes hor- 

 ses, or treats their diseases ; the lat- 

 ter department is now coming into 

 the hands of educated men, called 

 veterinary surgeons. 



FARROW. A litter of pigs. 



FASCID. In anatomy, a tendinous 

 expansion lying between muscles. 



FASCICULUS, or FASCICLE. 

 In botany, an inflorescence in which 

 the flower-stalks of various lengths 

 form a summit somewhat level, and 

 the uppermost buds expand first, as 

 in the sweet William. 



