AOniCULTURA-DECONOMY. 55 



ready to admit, that he has no reason to exiiect a plentiful harvest 

 where he has not made a plentiful use of manure. This being grant- 

 ed, all animal excretions are, or should be, regarded as being of too 

 great value to the husbandman, to be suffered to be lost, wasted, or 

 improperly employed. After having made such arrangements with 

 reference to saving them that nothing be lost, the next important con- 

 sideration is, how to use them, various and unlike, as they are in 

 their qualities, so as to derive the greatest returns in crops for their 

 expenditures. 



This knowledge can only be obtained by experience, the great 

 teacher in terra-culture. In experimenting, the intelligent manipula- 

 tor may derive some aid from the science and art of chemistry, as 

 well as from direct experiment and observation. If the farmer can 

 know what the elements of animal excretion are, when he knows how 

 the animal has been fed, much is gained — that he can acquire this 

 knowledge from chemical analysis, very nearly, will be generally ad- 

 mitted. Analytical tables, to which farmers have access, have been 

 made, exhibiting the elements of the excretions of different animals. 

 The urine is said to befarricher in nitrogen, alkalies and alkaline salts, 

 than the solid excrements — yet, how few of the farmers save it in such 

 a Avay as to be able to use it on their soil as a fertilizer. The humus- 

 forming substances abound much more plentifully in the solid excre- 

 ments than in the liquid. It is the remark of a modern writer and 

 chemist, that "The solid excrements of herbivorous animals are rich 

 in humus-forming, (organic) and seed-forming substances, (phos- 

 phoric acid, lime, and magnesia,) but poor in forcing, and leaf-forming 

 substances ; and that the urine of the same animals, is rich in sub- 

 stances, forming stalks and leaves, (nitrogen, potash, and soda), but 

 deficient in the seed-forming mineral nutrients," and is better adapt- 

 ed for forcing purposes. The quantity, and quality, and the condi- 

 tion of the food, whether cooked or not, as well as the tending, treat- 

 ment, and employment of animals — all have an influence upon the ex- 

 crements which are to be employed as stimulants for the soil. 



Every farmer should have a tank, or tanks, conveniently located, 

 for the immediate reception and preservation of all urine, until re- 

 quired for use. This is one kind of economy that has been almost 

 entirely overlooked by farmers. Facts will justify the assertion, that 

 the best of our agriculturists lose nearly half the fertilizing elements 

 of the animal excremcntitious substances, before employing them upon 

 the soil. To show the importance of urine, read the following state- 

 ment concerning it : 



