AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 185 



dung, was in the ratio of seven to six ; so that we are borne 

 out by these premises in this extraordinary inference, that 

 the putrescible liquor, which in this province, [Nova Scotia,] 

 and under the management of our farmers, is wasted and 

 annihihited as far as regards any useful purposes, is intrinsi- 

 cally worth more than the dung, as an efficacious and per- 

 manent dressing ; and if we take into consideration that this 

 latter manure is not treated with any skill and judgment, it 

 will not seem surprising, that the culture of white crops has 

 never been carried here to any extent, since we have despised 

 and neglected the only means of creating them.'^ 



We apprehend that the farmers of the United States are 

 not, generally speaking, any more solicitous to turn the 

 urine cf their cattle to account for manure, than those of 

 Nova Scotia. There are some cultivators, however, who 

 have taken measures to secure this substance, and to apply 

 it to useful purposes. Mr. Robert Smith, of Baltimore, has 

 his stables constructed in such a manner that all the liquid 

 discharges of his cattle are conducted, together with the 

 wash of the barn-yard, into a cistern, pumped into a hogs- 

 head, and applied in a liquid state to the soil which it is 

 wished to manure.! This mode of making use of this sub- 

 stance is likewise recommended in the Code of Agriculture, 

 as follows : ' The advantages of irrigating grass lands with 

 cow urine almost exceed belief. Mr. Harley, of Glasgow, 

 (who keeps a large dairy in that town,) by using cow urine, 

 cuts some small fields of grass six times, and the average of 

 each cutting is fifteen inches in length. There are disad- 

 vantages, however, attending this mode of applying this 

 powsrful manure. It must be applied soon after it is formed, 

 or oftentimes the putrefactive process will commence, and 

 deprive it of a part of its efficacy. And as urine is of a 

 scorching quality, it is unsafe to apply it to growing crops 

 in great heat or drought. Hence it is unadvisable to use it, 

 except for grass, after the month of April or May, unless 

 diluted. It is particularly useful in the spring, when the 

 application of liquid manure gives a new impetus to the 

 plant, and makes its growth more vigorous. This manure 

 forces newly planted cabbages in a most remarkable manner.' 



If it be true that more manure can be obtained from the 

 stale of cattle than from their dung and litter, in the propor- 

 tion of seven to six, (as would seem by Mr. Alexander's ex- 



* Letters of Agricola. f See N. E. Farmer, vol. i. No. 6. p. 44. 

 16-^ 



