FERTILIZERS. 9 



hay had suffered so little change, that they yet shone 

 in the light. The whole mass had a yellowish color, and 

 smelt as manure smells ; but the puzzle was, to find any 

 thing in it that could be called manure. There were frag- 

 ments of hay, a slight color, and nothing else. Now, 

 where was the plant-food in it? The potash, ammonia, 

 and phosphoric acid evidently must have been hidden 

 among, or soaked into, the fragments of hay. I found, by 

 weighing it before and after it had dried, that it lost 

 seven-tenths of its original weight ; in other words, seven- 

 tenths of its weight was water. Now, fresh barnyard 

 manure has been analyzed, and found to contain the 

 following kind and quantity of elements : 



Water 71.3 



Nitrogen 0.5 



Silica and insoluble matter 10.5 



Alumina and oxide of iron 0.7 



Lime . . . 0.5 



Potash 0.4 



Soda 0.1 



Phosphoric acid 0.5 



Chlorine . . . 0.1 



Now, taking a cord of average stable manure, which 

 will average in weight about 4,500 pounds, we should 

 have in it 3,208 pounds of water, 22 pounds of nitrogen, 

 472 pounds of silica, 31 J pounds of alumina and iron, 

 22i pounds of lime, 134 pounds of magnesia, 18 pounds of 

 potash, 4J pounds of soda, 4i pounds of sulphuric acid, 

 22^ pounds of phosphoric acid, and 4J pounds of chlorine. 

 Taking a common one-horse load of two cord-feet, and it 

 would contain, of water, 802 pounds ; of nitrogen, about 5i 

 pounds ; silica; about 118 pounds ; of alumina, 6J pounds ; 

 lime, 3i pounds ; magnesia, 3 J pounds ; potash, 4J pounds ; 



