166 MANURES. 



slow as possible ; and not tlie least smell of ammonia 

 should be allowed. 



811. The manure of a stable, thus preserved and 

 gradually fermented, will be ready for use as soon as 

 wanted in the spring, and will be from 2 to 4 times as 

 valuable as if thrown out from windows to be frozen, 

 thawed, and drenched, in the open air. It is painful 

 to think how much labor has been lost, or at best has 

 failed of an adequate reward, for the^want of more la- 

 bor in the right place — in the increase^ preservation^ and 

 right applicatio7i of manures. 



812. This manure, if composted with peat or swamp 

 muck in the cellar, would not be suitable for peaty or 

 swampy lands. I do not mean that it would be of no 

 use to such lands. Containing, as it would, all the 

 salts and the nitrogen of the solid and liquid excre- 

 ments of animals, it could not fail to be of use on any 

 land ; but since a portion of it was taken from peaty 

 or swampy lands, it would be more effective if ap- 

 plied to lands of a different character. Soils are 

 amended by the application of unlike rather than like 

 soils. 



• 813. In applying this manure, without analyzing it, 

 to a soil that is not analyzed, we could not apply it on 

 the principle of supplying precisely what is wanted 

 for the intended crop ; but we could apply it with a 

 certainty that all its ingredients will either go into the 

 first crop, or remain in the soil for future crops. The 

 peat, or swamp muck, with which we have compost- 



