256 OTANTTEES — PREPARATION OF DtJNG. 



all the elements that are essential to the organization of plants. The 

 illustrious English chemist concluded from his experiments, that the 

 well-known efficacy of soot, as a manure, is due, in part, to the vol- 

 atile alkali which it contains. 



Professor Liebig, in adopting these opinions, has sought to gener- 

 alize them ; he has attempted to show, by very delicate experiments, 

 that the air which lies immediately over the surface of the ground, 

 always contains carbonate of ammonia, and that the same salt can 

 be detected in rain and snow, and in spring water. The ammonia 

 of the atmosphere, according to Liebig, concars with that which is 

 developed in manures, in the formation of the azotized principles 

 proper to vegetables. These ingenious ideas correspond exactly 

 with those which M. de Saussure made public in 1802, when he 

 ascertained that the gaseous azote of the air is not directly absorbed 

 by plants. " If azote be a simple substance, and not an element of 

 water," says this celebrated observer, " we must admit that plants 

 do not assimilate it, save in vegetable and animal extracts, and in 

 the ammoniacal vapors or other compounds soluble in water which 

 they absorb from the soil, or from the atmosphere. It is impossi- 

 ble," he continues, " to doubt the presence of ammoniacal vapors in 

 the atmosphere when we see that the pure sulphate of alumina, ex- 

 posed to the air, ends by becoming changed into the ammoniacal 

 sulphate of alumina."* 



In agricultural establishments, in which the importance of manure 

 is duly appreciated, every precaution is taken both for its production 

 and preservation. Any expense incurred in improving this vital 

 department of the farm, is soon repaid beyond all proportion to the 

 outlay. The industry and the intelligence possessed by the farmer, 

 may indeed almost be judged of at a glance by the care he bestows 

 on his dunghill. It is truly a deplorable thing to witness the neglect 

 which causes the vast loss and destruction of manure over a great 

 part of these countries. The dunghill is often arranged as if it were 

 a matter of moment that it should be exposed to the water collected 

 from every roof in the vicinity, as if the business were to take ad- 

 vantage of every shower of rain to wash and cleanse it from all it 

 contains that is really valuable. The main secret of the admirable 

 and successful husbandry of French Flanders may perhaps lie in 

 the extreme care that is taken in that country to collect every thing 

 that can contribute to the fertility of the soil. Our agricultural so- 

 cieties, which are now so universally established, would confer one 

 of the greatest services on the community if they would encourage 

 by every means at their command economy of manure ; premiums 

 awarded to those farmers who should preserve their dunghills ia 

 the most rational and advantageous manner, would prove of more 

 real service than premiums in many other and more popular direc- 

 tions. 



The place where the dung of a farm is laid ought to be rather 

 noar to the stables and cow-houses. The arrangements may be 



 Becherches Chimiquos, p. 207. 



