>!.. xTit. NO. 0. AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



45 



I Traiisaclions of ihe N. Y. Stale AgiicuUural Society. 



ZK ESSAY ON THE PREPARATION 

 AND USE OF MANURES. 



BV WILLIS GATLORU. 



liquid Manure. — There ia but one olher nia- 

 I of animal origin to whicli it will be necessa- 

 ) allude in this place, and that i-i urine, or as 

 i commonly called, liquid manure. Analysis 

 cs that this is a substance peculiarly rich in 

 trials required by plants, and e.vporience en- 

 !s the results of analysis; yet not one farmer 

 thousand makes an effort to convert this mine 

 ches to any account, but the whole is most ge- 

 Uy lost to him. Dr. Dana gives the following 

 10 constituents of cattle urine, which may stand 

 le type of all others, though human urine and 

 of the horse differ from this in the character 

 quantity of some of the salts contained in them: 

 Water, 65 



Urea, 5 



]ione dust, 5 



Sal ammoniac and muriate of potash, 15 

 Sulphate of potash, C 



Carbonate of potosh and ammonia, 4 



100 

 alue Urine. — Compared with cattle dung, it 

 be seen that while that gives only 2 lbs. of 

 anate of ammonia to 100 lbs. of dung, the 

 ; gives 5 lbs. of ammonia in its urea, and near- 

 ree times that amount in the other ammonia- 

 alts. One-third of urine is composed of salts, 

 :o action on vegetation is of the most ener- 

 : and favorable kind ; and yet there are thou- 

 s who call themselves pretty good farmers, 

 use ail reasonable precaution to preserve the 

 parts of their animal manures, that have nev- 

 ade an effort to save that which is of far the 

 test value, the liquid part. But it must not be 

 otten that soils must contain decayed organic 

 er or humus for these salts to act upon, other- 

 liquid manure or pure urine can do no good. 

 :re the wash of the barnyard and stables is sa- 

 the loss of a large part of the urine is pre- 

 ed ; but when, as is too often the case, this is 

 lly lost, not only is the urine thrown away, but 

 rge part of the soluble humus of the manure 

 impanies it. It is an excellent plan, there- 

 . to have some reservoir for the reception of 



1 liquid matters as would otherwise be lost. If 

 cannot be done, cover the bottom of your yards 



muck, or even common loam, as this will ab- 

 and retain much of the urine and liquid mat- 

 of the dung. Experience has demonstrated 

 a load of loam, saturated with urine, has a 



2 powerful effect on vegetation, than the same 

 itity of best rotted stable manure. Human 

 e is richer in salts useful to vegetation than 

 other, containing, according to Dr. Thompson, 



00 parts, 42 1-2 lbs. of salts. The slightest 

 ution on the part of the farmer, might prevent 

 loss of this ; and many a load of swamp muck, 

 )ain mixed with gypsum, might, when satura- 

 with urine, be added to his available manures, 

 lid manures, or rather urine, differs much in 

 sails it contains, according as the food is rich 

 otherwise. " White turnips give a weaker 

 e than the Swedish, and green grass is worse 



1 either," according to Dr. Dana. Turner and 

 leg found that urine of fattening animals is 

 er in salts than that of store animals. Indeed, 

 law so well known with regards to solids, that 



the richer the food the more valuable the dung, it 

 is probable holds good in regard to the urine also. 

 Sool. — Soot ia a valuable manure, peculiarly 

 rich in humus as well as salts, and in its composi- 

 tioii more nearly allied to the .=olid substance of 

 animals, than any thing else. It contains of hu- 

 mus or gcine 30.70, of nitrogen 20., and of salts 

 of lime 2.1.31 part.s in 100. It also abounds in 

 salts of soda, potash and ammonia. According to 

 the analysis of Dr. Dana, 100 lbs. of soot contains 

 as many of the valuable salts as a ton of cow dung, 

 and its nitrogen, compared with that manure, is as 

 40 to 1. The ordinary farmer can make but little 

 use of soot, as it is not to be liad in the country in 

 any considerable quantities ; but those in the vi- 

 cinity of cities may avail themselves of this ma- 

 nure with much profit. P'or the gardener or the 

 floriculturist, soot is an excellent manure ; but 

 care must be taken not to use it too freely, as we 

 have known tender garden plants at once destroy- 

 ed by too liberal applications of it, particularly in 

 a dry state. Mixed with water, in the proportion 

 of six quarts of soot to one hogshead of water, it 

 has been found a most efficacious liquid for water- 

 ing plants, particularly those grown in groen hou- 

 ses. 



Jlshes. — Ashes, leached or otherwise, are of 

 great value as a fertilizer, especially when used 

 on soils that are sandy or light. Unleached, the 

 potash contained goes to form silicate of potash, 

 and gives the supply of silex necessary for the 

 stems of the grasses or corn ; and leached, al- 

 though the potash is the greater part of it separa- 

 ted, the remaining phosphates of lime and magne- 

 sia go far to restoring to the fields on which such 

 ashes are strewn, the necessary matters of which 

 previous cropping has deprived them. 100 parts 

 of the ashes of the wheat grain contains 32 parts 

 of soluble, and 44 parts of insoluble phosphates, in 

 all 70 parts. The value of ashes abounding in the 

 required phosphates, when used on grain lands, 

 may be seen at once, as well as the folly of those 

 farmers who waste or sell the ashes produced in 

 their dwellings. 



Lime. — There is no substance, containing no 

 animal or vcgetalile matter, which exercises a more 

 powerful or beneficial effect than lime, in some one 

 or all of its forms of carbonate, phosphate and sul- 

 phate. In the common form in which it is found, 

 that of a carbonate, it acts in two ways, mechani- 

 cally and chemically. Being less porous than 

 sand, and more so than clay, its mixture improves 

 soils in which either of these prevail ; while as an 

 alkaline earth, it acts chemically on such animal or 

 vegetable matters as may exist in the eoil. Lime 

 develops its chemical action most fully when in its 

 caustic state, or when by burning, the carbonic 

 acid has been expelled, and the lime rendered what 

 is termed quicklime. In this state, it dissolves 

 such organic matter as may exist in soils, and pre- 

 pares it for the food of plants. Humus frequently 

 exists in the soil in a solid and insoluble state ; 

 lime applied to this, renders it soluble in water, in 

 which form it may be taken up by the roots of 

 plants. A vast deal of needless controversy has 

 been carried on respecting the value of lime as a 

 manure, or the quantity which should be used per 

 acre. By some, it has been extolled as the very 

 highest on the list of effective manures ; while oth- 

 ers have decried it as of no use whatever ; and 

 both have appealed to experiments as establishing 

 their positions. A knowledge of the nature of the 



action of lime, would have prevented such seeming 

 contradictions. " Lime in excess, forms, from the 

 humus of the soil, an insoluble salt ; and may thus 

 when applied to a soil abounding in salts of lime 

 or in which it already exists, be productive of in- 

 jury, whatever may be the vegetable or organic 

 matter of the soil. In this state" of excess, lime 

 converts, but at the same time locks up, iho humus 

 of the soil; when if applied in the right quantity, 

 it would have been useful. Lime is of no value 

 whatever as a converter, or produces no chemical 

 effect in promoting growth, unless there is organic 

 matter in the soil on which it can act. Lime is 

 most efficient when used on soils full of insoluble 

 humus, such as peaty matter or woody fibre, but 

 which, from the abundance of the tannin principle 

 contained, resist the ordinary processes of decomp- 

 otition." There would seem to , bo no difficulty, 

 therefore, in determining whether liine can be used 

 on any given soil to profit. Indeed there are, it 

 is believed, none where it would not be useful, ex- 

 cept such as are already supplied with this carbo- 

 nate, or those which are wholly destitute of vegeta- 

 ble or organic matter. As a general rule, the 

 greater the quantity of humus in a soil, the greater 

 the amount of lime which may be applied with be- 

 nefit. As long as there is a store of organic mat- 

 ter in the soil, lime, if not in excess, is a valuable 

 manure; but when this is exhausted, the applica- 

 cation of lime only increases the sterility by de- 

 stroying such efforts at vegetation as might in 

 time, aided by light and moisture, partially remove 

 the unproductiveness existing. This fact may 

 serve to explain some of the conflicting statements 

 that have appeared in the agricultural journals of 

 our country, on the use of lime. Where humus is 

 abundant, the quantity that may be safely used, ia 

 very great ; on soils already poor, a small portion 

 speedily exhausted the remaining powers of the 

 soil. Lime, from its alkaline qualities, acts in 

 neutralizing whatever free acids exist in soils, 

 whether exalic, phosphoric, malic, or others. It 

 acts also in decomposing some of the earthy or 

 compound salts formed in the soil, and thus ren- 

 ders the geine held by them, available to the plant; 

 but its great and most important use is in convert- 

 ing the insoluble organic matters existing, into so- 

 luble ones, and thus directly furnishing an abun- 

 dant source of nutriment. Carbonate of lime ia 

 sometimes used pounded or broken fine ; and in 

 this state, its mechanical value is great in stiff' or 

 clay soils. Such soils too, usually abound in 

 acids ; and these gradually acting on the lime gra- 

 vel, its chemical effect is slowly but beneficially 

 apparent. 



[To be continued.] 



Curious Potato. — We understand that Gen. 

 Tallmadge, of New York has with considerable 

 difficulty obtained some specimens of a very cu- 

 rious Potato which it is believed may bo introduc- 

 ed into this country with eminent profit and advan- 

 tage. The few he has been able to procure were 

 raised in Charleston, S. C. from seed recently 

 brought from South America. This potato is not 

 a radical bulb — but is borne above ground, upon a 

 vine which should be trained on a trollise. — The 

 one from which these were gathered covered the 

 end of a piazza and reached the height of fifteen 

 feet. The vine is said to be very beautiful, bear- 

 ing a heart shaped leaf; and the potatoes it bears 

 of a very excellent quality. It is thought it may 

 be propagated in this climate A*". Y. pap. 



