56 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



trodden mass, when it will undergo farther decomposition 

 and, in a short time, become like paste. Adjoining ever} 

 manure heap, there should be an excavation to receive its 

 liquid drainage, in order that it may be saved, and either 

 applied in the growing season, in a liquid state, diluted 

 with water, or be thrown over the heap. 



" Special manures" have been much talked of lately. 

 By the word " special," is meant a particular quantity, 

 of a particular mixture, for certain species, and even for 

 certain varieties of fruits. Nearly all the suggestions on 

 the subject are speculative and unreliable. The subject 

 is an important one, but we want direct and careful ex- 

 periments. It is only when we know to a certainty what 

 material certain trees need most of, and in what degree it 

 abounds or is wanting in our soil, that we can apply it 

 safely. The experience of farmers and gardeners, grain 

 and fruit growers, all over the world, affords undoubted 

 evidence of the enriching qualities of stable manure. On 

 all soils, and for all sorts of crops, it is an unfailing and 

 powerful fertilizer ; and we make it the base of all our 

 manure and compost heaps. By mixing with it the in- 

 gredients we have mentioned, we hasten its decay, save 

 its parts from waste, and, at the same time, combine with . 

 it other substances that will not only enrich but improve 

 the texture of soils, and increase the supply of the mine- 

 ral substances required by plants. Dr. Daubney, a dis- 

 tinguished writer on the character and improvement of 

 soils, etc., says, " Fortunately we are provided in the 

 dung of animals with a species of manure of which the 

 land can never be said to tire, for this simple reason, that 

 it contains within itself not one alone, but all the ingre- 

 dients which plants require for their nutrition, and that, 

 too, existing in the precise condition in which they are 

 most readily taken in and assimilated." But a good sub- 

 stitute for this article, where it cannot be obtained, is an 



