COMPOST M A If U E E S . 51 



specifics, used as manures, some of them being called composts, were 

 not known until a recent, period. 



Having thus briefly sketched the history of the subject under con- 

 sideration, it is time to proceed directly to its discussion. 



Manure is defined, by Dr. Lieber, the author of a German Lexicon, 

 to be "vegetable, animal and mineral matters, introduced into the 

 soil to accelerate vegetation, and increase the production of crops." 

 Loudon, in his work on Agriculture, says, " every species of matter, 

 capable of promoting the growth of vegetables, may be considered as 

 manure." Prof. Low, in his Elements of Agriculture, says, " all 

 substances, which, when mixed with the matter of the soil, tend to fer- 

 tilize it, are in common language, manures." Mr. Johnson, in his 

 Farmers' Encyclopedia, says, a manure may be defined to be any fer- 

 tilizing element, whether a compound, or simple ingredient, if added 

 to a soil of which it is naturally deficient. In these definitions. Prof. 

 Liebig and Dr. Dana, two modern writers on manurial specifics, agree. 



Prof. Low classifies manures as follows: 1. Animal and Vegeta- 

 ble manures. 2. Mineral Manures. 3. Mixed Manures. 



They are also classified into organic, inorganic, and mixed, — into 

 animal, vegetable, and mineral, — nitrogenous, carbonaceous, saline, 

 and earthy, — general and special, — natural and artificial, — simple and 

 compound, — massiv, powdery, and liquid, — diffused and concen- 

 trated, — volatile and fixed, — ephemeral and permanent, — chemical 

 and mechanical, — top-dressings, incorporated and buried manures, — 

 into such as contain the prepared food for plants, and such as resolve 

 themselves by decomposition into the food of plants, — such as partly 

 or wholly combine with ingredients in the soil, or the atmosphere, to 

 form the food of plants, — such as absorb aad store up their food from 

 the atmosphere, such as eliminate their food from the soil, such as 

 increase the absorption and nutrition of plants by stimulating or 

 strengthening their organism, — such as increase their absorption and 

 nutrition by improving the mechanical condition of the soil, and such 

 as increase the vigor and luxuriance of plants by diminishing, modi- 

 fying or destroying substances in the soil, which are injurious to 

 their growth. These classifications, though from the nature of the 

 subject, necessarily, very imperfect, serve, nevertheless, to aid the 

 inquirer in gaining a knowledge of it, as well as the farmer and gar- 

 dener in the practical work of preparing and furnishing plant nutri- 

 tion. 



The art of rightly applying manures to different soils and for the 



