24 



it is injurious when mixed with any common drug, and tends, 

 to render the extractive matter insoluble. It is beneficial to all- 

 new soils, especially where the salts of iron are found. 



Animal and vegetable manures are used to renovate worn-out 

 lands by supplying new soluble and gaseous matter for the nour- 

 ishment of the plant. This is not a permanent good , and requires 

 to be constantly renewed, as it ia found by experience that 

 vegetable and animal substances, used as manure, are consumed 

 during the process of vegetation. The Chinese use every animal 

 and vegetable refuse ; everything of disgusting appearance and 

 offensive effluvia they collect carefully and use as beneficial agents 

 in vegetation, thus converting the loathsome a,nd revolting into, 

 wholesome and inviting. T^he great object in the application of 

 manure should be to make it afford as much soluble matter as 

 possible to the roots of the plants, and that in a slow and 

 gradual manner, so that it may be entirely consumed in forming, 

 its sap and organized parts. Animal and vegetable manures can 

 only nourish the plant by affording solid matter capable of 

 being dissolved by water, or gaseous substances capable of being 

 absorbed by the fluids in the leaves of vegetables. 



The following compost has been used in England, and it is 

 said to have doubled the crops of potatoes and cabbages, an$ 

 to be far superior to stable manure :^- 



Eaise a platform of earth eight feet wide, one foot high, anoV 

 of any length according to the quantity wantecl. On the first 

 stratum of earth lay a thin stratum of lime, fresh from the 

 kiln : dissolve or slake this wi,th salt-brine from the nose of a 

 watering pot; and immediately another layer of earth, then, 

 lime and brine as before, carry it to any convenient height. In 

 a week it should be turned over and carefu% broken and 

 mixed, so that the mass may be thoroughly incorporated. 



MANURES OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL ORIGIN. Experience 

 shows that vegetable and animal substances deposited in the soil 

 are consumed during the progress of vegetation, and they can 

 only nourish the plant by affording solid matters capable of 

 being dissolved by water, or gaseous substances capable of being- 

 absorbed by the fluids in the leaves of vegetables; but such 



