LIME AS A MANL'IIE. ZZi) 



a time-honored praclicc in Europe. I have seen oxcclknt nsiills 

 from llie application of sucii a compost on mcadow-Iaiid. The 

 usu.d plan is, to select an old hcd^o-row or headland, which has 

 lain waste for iiiany years. Plow it up, and cart the soil, sods, 

 etc., into a long, narrow heap. Mi.\ lime with it, and let it lie six 

 months or a year. Then turn it, and as soon as it is tine and mel- 

 low, draw it on to llie land. I have a^^sistcd at making' many a 

 heap of this kind, but do not recollect the proporlioti of lime used; 

 in fact, I (juestion if we had any definite rule. If we wanted to 

 use lime on tlie land, we put more in the hea]>; if not, less. Tlie 

 manure was u.^ually put in wlien the heap was turned. 



Dr. Voelcker analyzed the dry earth used in the closets at the 

 prison in Wakefield, England, lie found that: 



Nitro- J'/iosp/ior- 



ifit. XV Ai-itl. 



10 tons of dry earth bofore usint; contained 6'i lbs. 36 1I)r. 



10 tons of dry cartli after t)oinij used once contnined... 74 " 50 " 



10 tons (if dry citrtli after ticing used twice cnntainetl.. 84 " 88 " 



10 tons of dry eartti after being used thrice contained. 10^ " 102 " 



After looking at the alcove figures, the Deacon remarked : " You 

 say 10 tons of dry earth before jjeing used in the closet contained 

 62 lbs. of nitrogen. How much nitrogen does 10 tons of barn- 

 yaid manure contain?" 



"That depends a good deal on what food the animals eat. Ten tons 

 of average fresh manure would contain about 80 lbs. of nitrogen." 



" Great are the mysteries of chemistry ! " exclaimed the Deacon. 

 "Ten tons of dry earth contain almost as much nitrogen as 10 

 tons of barn-yard manure, and yet you think that nitrogen is the 

 mo;>t valuable thing in manure. What shall we be told next ?" 



" You will be told. Deacon, that :he nitrogen in the soil is in 

 such a form that the plants can take up only a small i)f)rtion of it. 

 But if you will plow such land in the fall, and expose it to the 

 disintegrating eJfccts of the frost, and plow it again in the fiprinir, 

 and let the sun and air act upon it, more or less of the organic 

 matter in the soil will be decomposed, and the nitrogen rendered 

 solulde. And then if you sow this land to wheat after a good 

 summer- fallow, you will stand a chance of having a great crop." 



This dry earth which Dr. Voplcker analyzed appeared, he says, 

 "to be ordinary garden soil, containing a con-iderable portion of 

 clay." After it had been passed once through the closet, one ton 

 of it was .'spread on an acre of grass-land, which produced 2 tons 

 8 cwt. of hay. In a second experiment, one ton, once pa.sscd 

 through the closet, produced 2 tons 7 cwt. of hay per acre. We 

 are not told how much ha}- the land produced without an}' dress- 



