No. 144.] 487 



their deposit and protection. By the use of liquid manure this 

 mischief is avoided. Witli regard to the time when liquid ma- 

 nures may be distributed with the mo t marked eflfect on vegetar 

 tion, it may be suggested that the best period is when the roots 

 first begin to spread themselves, and the plant is growing vigor- 

 ously, and at different stages of their increase, live or six times 

 during the season. 



Sprengel says the soil, in reference to vegetation, performs the 

 four following distinct and separate, but each of them important 

 and necessary functions : 



1st. It upholds and sustains the plant, affording it a sure and 

 safe anchorage. 



2d. It absorbs water, air and heat to promote its growth. These 

 are its mechanical and physical functions. 



3d. It contains and supplies to the plant both organic and inor- 

 ganic food as its wants require ; and 



4th. It is a workshop in which, by the aid of air and moisture, 

 chemical changes are continually going on ; by which changes 

 these several kinds of food are prepared for admission into the 

 Jiving roots. 



These are its chemical functions. 



All tlie works of the husbandman are intended to aid the soil 

 in the performance of one or other of these functions. The most 

 important operation that the practical farmer can adopt for im- 

 proving the soil in my estimation, is liquid manuring. When lit- 

 ter for cattle is chopped up, it mixes very rapidly with excrement, 

 and readily decomposes, particularly when piled up and occa- 

 sionally irrigated. Two days after the heap is turned it will be 

 found that much fermentation has taken place. And the next 

 •thing to be considered is the expense and profit. To obtain a com- 

 prehensive idea of which, it will be necessary to examine a few 

 of the methods now piactised in great Britain on several large 

 estates. Thirty-eight acres near Edinburgh, Scotland, worthless 

 25 years ago; total cost of works and apparatus per acre, ninety 



