MODERN HIGH FARMING. 55 



the middle and is altogether lost lower down, in a black slimy mass 

 of decomposition called humus. This body is formed under the 

 influence of atmospheric oxygen by the union of certain elements 

 contained in the straw or vegetable matters, with the ammonia 

 emanating from the fermenting animal matters urea, uric acid, etc. 



That the presence and intervention of these vegetable elements 

 is indispenable to the preservation or fixation of the generating 

 nitrogen, is demonstrated by the fact that, if the animal matters were 

 left to ferment by themselves, this element would rapidly change 

 into the phosphate, thence into the benzoate, and finally into the 

 carbonate of ammonia, in which form it would immediately vol- 

 atilize and be a total loss. 



Humus therefore not only changes this volatile carbonate into a 

 fixed and staple product, but possesses the faculty of absorbing and 

 retaining fresh nitrogen from the air and rendering it assimilable 

 when transferred to the soil. 



We hope that by these explanations we have impressed upon 

 farmers the necessity of allowing their farm yard manures to 

 undergo a thorough process of fermentation, and to completely rot 

 or carbonize before making use of them in the field, and in order to 

 make our meaning still more clear, let it be remembered that : 



A. If freshly made manure be put into the soil, the saline and 

 nitrogenous portions will all be washed away by the first fall 

 of rain, and lost. 



B. If the manure be allowed to thoroughly ferment, the nitro- 

 genous matters will remain insoluble in the soil, and will thus 

 be held at the disposal of the plants ready for assimilation. 



A series of very interesting experiments upon the laws laid down 

 by the illustrious Paul Thenard, were recently made by ourselves, 

 in verification of these assertions, with the following results : 



The drainings from a field near Leeds, in Yorkshire, liberally 

 dressed with freshly made manure, were submitted to careful 

 analysis after a heavy shower of rain, and found to contain note- 

 worthy quantities of nitrogenous matters. 



