14 



road. The owner of that barn-yard must be of opinion that the 

 importance of manures is overestimated. He might just as well 

 take the bank-bills he gets for his hay or grain, and put them 

 behind the back-log, as to waste such precious mint-drops. I 

 believe there are farmers in every county of the State, and many 

 of them, on which in the life-time of their owners, manure enough 

 has been wasted to pay for the price of the farm. 



Now, without going far into the chemistry of the matter, every 

 body understands that the manure from organic matter may be in 

 liquid, solid or gas. The solid is all that most farmers save, and 

 that imperfectly. How can we preserve ihe liquids Si,nd gases ? 

 The answer is obvious, by putting into the barn-yard and barn- 

 cellar some substance that will absorb and retain them. This is 

 the philosophy of the compost-heap. The earthy matters absorb 

 and retain the fertilizing properties of the liquids and gases, and 

 impart them again to the plants. By covering with loam the 

 fermenting dung-heap, you retain the gases which would other- 

 wise take wings, and by coating the barn yard with loam you save 

 the liquids, which otherwise would run away or evaporate. 



The earth must not only be thoroughly subdued, but liberally 

 and constantly replenished. A plant, like an animal, must be 

 fed. - It is a living being, with organs of digestion. ^ Give it 

 good, nutritive food, and enough of it, and it will laugh and grow 

 fat ; give it poor, scanty food, it will pine and die. You may as 

 well starve your cow as your corn. 



Without the aid of science, the observation of every farmer 

 tells him that the principal food of plants is organic matter, vege- 

 table or animal. Keeping this simple fact in view, some practical 

 conclusions seem to follow. First, that it is as .wise to waste the 

 food of plants as of stock, manure as hay or grain. Second, that 

 it is as judicious to feed two acres of plants with food sufficient 

 only for one acre as to winter two cows on hay just enough for 

 one. Third, that supposing the farmer has the requisite labor to 

 subdue the land, the quantity to be cultivated must depend upon 

 the manure he is able to make, save or buy. Fourth, that the 

 farmer who begrudges the systematic care, labor or expense of 

 preserving his manures, saves at the tap but loses at the bung. 



