AGRlilULTURE OF ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 33 



the surface thaws by day and freezes by night, is 

 something which agriculturists in that country are 

 rarely called to guard against, and which, of course, 

 never enters into their calculations in the prepara- 

 tion of their soil. Here it is advisable, in all cases, 

 to guard against the evil by such a system of plough- 

 ing and manuring as shall most eftectually obviate 

 the danger arising from this source. 



In reading or adopting the modes of English farm- 

 ers in the preparation and application of manure, the 

 influence of climate should not be forgotten. If any- 

 thing has been established by agricultural chymistry, 

 it is, that all manure loses in value exactly in pro- 

 portion as the fermentation and decomposition goes 

 on in the open air, by which most of the volatile and 

 finer parts of the manure are lost to plants. In a 

 high temperature, such as that of our summers, yard 

 or stable manure will ferment rapidly ; and if left, as 

 it generally is, exposed to the rain and sun, its value 

 and efficiency are much diminished. If piled in 

 large masses, as is practised by some farmers, and 

 then allowed to stand through the summer, a custom 

 followed to some extent in England, it must be re- 

 membered that fermentation and decomposition go 

 on here with a rapidity unknown there, a fact de- 

 pending on the greater heat of our summers ; and 

 hence the increased necessity of guarding against 

 the loss of the fertilizing gases thus liberated. The 

 proper place for the decomposition of manure is be- 

 neath the surface of the earth ; but where it is de- 

 sirable, as it sometimes may be, to keep it over the 

 summer for fall application, the manure should be 

 piled in layers alternating with earth (and if this is 

 partially combined with lime, so much the better), 

 which vvill absorb the volatile salts and parts thrown 

 off by decomposition and fermentation, which in our 

 climate must rapidly take place, and the quantity 

 and quality of the manure will be greatly increased 

 over what it would be if left to ferment in the yard, 



