32 AMERICAN MANURES. 



derived from the plants that have served them 

 and their predecessors as food, and as no ele- 

 ment can produce itself, and nothing is lost or 

 destroyed ; it is evident that the excrements of 

 animals when living, together with their bodies 

 after death, will contain everything that is 

 necessary for the reproduction of plants. 



But as these bodies are of a complex nature, 

 and in the act of putrefaction and decay resolve 

 themselves into simpler forms, a valuable part 

 passing away in different gases; and as the 

 greater part of the produce of the land is con- 

 sumed in cities and towns, where the excrements 

 are in a great measure allowed to go to waste, 

 it is impossible to return the same elements in 

 their changed form to the soil to produce other 

 crops. * Consequently, we have to look to other 

 sources for the materials to make good this loss 

 and preserve the fertility of the land. 



There is no deficiency of the substances re- 

 quired for the growth of plants. A kind Provi- 

 dence has economically stored them for our use 

 in a variety of forms. Hence the importance of 

 a knowledge of the elements of manures; also 

 where to procure them, and how to prepare and 

 apply them. 



THE ELEMENTS. 



To assist the farmer in obtaining a knowledge 

 of the elements entering into the composition of 



