208 



NEW ENGLAx\D FARMER 



DANA'S PRIZE ESSAY ON MANURES. 



Section Fifth. 

 Of the .Icllnn of the Suits of CaltU Dung. 



Here it is wo find ourselves thrown on a sea of 

 opinions, without chart, compass, or pilot, if we 

 trust to the conflicting theories which have been 

 set up for land-marks and light-lmuses. l.et us 

 therefore, reader, trust to ourselves, aided by the 

 little chemistry we have learned from the preced- 

 intr remarks about the composition of salts. 



I have endeavorrd to impress on your memory, 

 that the nrm salt is very comprehensive. But 

 then, to encourage one, it is also to be remember- 

 ed, that salts are compounds of alkalies, earths, 

 and metals with acids. Now the earths, alkalies, 

 metals, may he united to each of the known acids, 

 (and llieir name is leifion,) yet you may not, by 

 this change of acids, alter the nature of the earth, 

 alkali or metal. That always remains the same ; 

 every time you change the acid, you alter the char- 

 acter of the salt. Thus soda may be united to oil 

 of vitriol and form Glauber's salt, or to aquafortis 

 and form South American saltpetre, or to muriatic 

 acid and form common table salt. The soda is 

 called the base or basis of this salt; that is al- 

 ways soda — you do not change its character by 

 changing the acid. To give another example : 

 lime may bo united to carbonic acid and Hirm 

 chalk, or marble, or limestone, or it may be united 

 to oil of vitriol and form plaster of Paris, or to 

 phosphoric acid and form bone-dust. Now, in 

 each case, the base of the salt, that is, the lime, 

 remains unchanged; but, changing the acid, we 

 change the nature of the salt, and of course its 

 effects Will be different. Now it is plain, that 

 where the base of the salt remains the sam.e, that 

 will always act the same, but different effects will 

 be produced by different acids. Each base acts 

 always one way, but each has an action similar to 

 every other. Each acid acts also one -.vay, but 

 each has an action distinct from every other : im- 

 press this on your mind. Reflect upon it a mo- 

 ment, and you will perceive that salts produce dif- 

 ferent effects according to the nature of tlir-ir acid. 

 Now this may be illustrated thus : you take every 

 day, probably, with your every meal, common salt, 

 that Is, soda, a base, united to muriatic acid. Your 

 digestion and health are all the better for it. You 

 give your cattle a little- snlt: it docs them good. 

 Suppose now you change the acid of that%alt, 

 leaving soda, its base, in the same quantity you 

 daily take. Instead of the muriatic, suppose you 

 substitute the nitric acid, or, what is the same 

 thing, suppose *y'>u use saltpetre, from Peru, in. 

 stead of common salt. You need not be told that 

 you would pokson yourself and your cattle by so 

 doing. Y'ou can drink, I dare say you have, cream 

 of tartar punch. You feel the hotter for it. It is 

 refreshing, cooling, opening. Now, cream of tar- 

 tar is a salt of potash : it is potash and tartaric 

 acid. You have a fever: your doctor gives you a 

 sweat with Silvius's salt, that is, acetate of ammo- 

 nia, a salt composed of that and vinegar; or vou 

 take perhaps an effervescing draught, formed of 

 lemon-juice and pearl-ashes. All does you good : 

 but suppose now you change these cooling, vegeta- 

 ble acids for a mineral acid, say oil of vitriol. 

 Y'ou may not take potash united with a dose of oil 

 of vitriol equivalent to the tartaric acid in the 

 cream of tartar, without serious injury. 



So is it, reader, in farming; the acids of some 

 salts arc not only harmless, but beneficial to plants ; 



FEE. 81, ls44 



Others are actual poisons. In the first case salts 

 help to nourish plants, as common salt helps to 

 nourish yourself; in other cases lliey poison plants, 

 just as they would impair your constitution, per- 

 haps kill you. Hut it is to be remembered, as in 

 our own caso, even those that poison, in a small 

 dose, become medicines, so, in plants, a small 

 dose is not only pood, but truly essential. Now 

 if we divide the acids into two classes, the noiir- 

 ishers and the poisoners, such will also be the na- 

 ture of the salts. When we therefore atlem|it 

 such a general division of tlie salts, it may be said 

 that all the acids derived trom the vegetable king- 

 dom are harmless ; so arc the acids called mine- 

 ral, yet whose components are in part like those of 

 the vegetable acids ; f.r instance, aquafortis or ni- 

 tric acid. But the true mineral acids are poison- 

 ous, such are oil of vitriol and spirits of salt. One 

 thing is here to be borne in mind. It must never 

 be out of sight, in trying to understand how salts 

 ninkc plants grow. You cast your salt upon the 

 ground, it lies tliere, no action occurs. It rains. 

 Your salt is dissolved and disappears; it seems to 

 do no good. Cast your salt now among sprout- 

 ing seeds, and growing roots ; here is life ; well, 

 now, life is just as much a power or force as elec- 

 tricity is. It exerts its force, no matter how, that 

 is quite another consideration. I say, life exerts 

 its force here to separate the acid and the base of 

 a salt, just like a chemical force. We can and 

 do separate the components of salts by other sub- 

 stances, nay, we do it by electricity alone. 



Now this is all which it is necpssary for you to 

 know, and to understand about this action of plants 

 upon salts: it does disunite the components of the 

 salts. What is the consequence.' The alkali, 

 earth, and metal act as such, the same as if no acid 

 was present. The acid also acts l>y itself; if it is 

 a nourisher, it helps the plant ; if it is a poisoner, 

 it hurts it. It produces either a healthy, green 

 crop, the effect of alkali, or n stunted yellow, sick- 

 ly plant, the effect of acids. Now, neutralize this 

 acid — kill it — and you see your crops start into 

 luxuriance, and you reap where you have strewed. 

 So much for illustration. 



Let us now apply this view of the action of 

 salts to those contained in cattle dung. In the 

 first place, we have salts of potash, of soda, of lime ; 

 these are the most abundant and active. Then 

 we have ^aits of iron, manganese, of clay and mag- 

 nesia. These last, existing in small proportion, 

 may be thrown out of the account, bearing in mind, 

 however, that, though we set these aside, a plant 

 does not; they enter equally with the others into 

 Its composition. Let us begin with the salts of 

 potash. It is found combined in cattle dung, first, 

 with a vegetable acid, the acid of mould. It is a 

 nourisher of plants. Secondly, with sulphuric 

 acid or the acid of sulphur, called oil of vitriol. 

 This is one of the poisoners, existing only in small 

 proportion in cow dung: it ministers to the wants 

 of a healthy plant. The same is true of the com- 

 mon salt or the muriate of soda of dung. If it ex- 

 isted in larger quantities it would poison the plants 

 to which it might be applied. Tjie next salts are 

 those of lime, phosphate and sulphate of lime, or 

 lime united to sulphuric and phosphoric acid, form- 

 ing plaster and bone-dust. The acids here, if 



abundant, would have a decided bad influence 



they arc poisoners: but the carbonic acid in the 

 carbonate of lime, is a nourisher. Now from the 

 small quantity in which these all exist in cattle 

 dung, they act only beneliciolly. Butifyoi) apply 



a great excess, even of cattle dung, you mav l|i 

 sure of an un'avorahle result, [t will be pmduci 

 by the acids of those salts which we have call, 

 poisonous. To c.intir.ue our remarks on the aci 

 of salts of dung, it is to be observed, that they a 

 also upon the soil. 



They decompose that. That i-, they extra 

 from the soil alkalies, or other substances, !il 

 those in the original suit. Now though applic 

 as they must be, in very small dnses in catt 

 dung, yet, because of their decomposing action c 

 soil, they continually renew themselves, they la 

 till all their acid is taken up to supply the wan 

 of growing plants. 



Let us now, reader, if you understand how tl 

 acids of the salts of dung act, turn to the bases 

 the alkalies and metals and earths of these sail 

 What is their action.' What purpose do tht 

 serve in dung applied as manure ? First, they e 

 ter into and form a part of the living plant: tht 

 form a part of its necessary food as much as ( 

 the constituents of mould. Secondly, when the: 

 alkalies and metallic bases are let loose, by tl 

 disuniting power of a growing plant, then they a 

 as alkalies upon mould. They hasten decay, re. 

 der mould more soluble, fit it to become food f< 

 plants. 



This account of the action of mould and salts : 

 cattle dung, may appear to you, reader, long ar 

 hard to be understood. I do request you not I' 

 pass it over on that account. A patient reading-, 

 perhaps some may require two or more readings- 

 will put you in possession of all you need to knov 

 to understand the why and the wherefore of the ai 

 tion of mould and salts of whatever manure ma 

 be used. What has been said of the action ( 

 mould and salts in cattle dung, is equally applic! 

 ble to all manures. Jf, then, you bend your bonf 

 to this subject, and master it, your labor of undei 

 standing the action of other manures, will be rt 

 duced to the mere statement of the several substar 

 CCS which they may contain. We therefore pre 

 cecd to point out other manures, composed of th 

 droppings of animals. 



Section Sixth. 

 Of A'ight Soil, Hog Manure, Horse and Shee; 

 Dung. 

 These have not all been analysed with the sam 

 degree of care, and as often, as has cattle dung 

 Some, as for instance, night soil, have been exam 

 ined thoroughly but once. Now, it is not quit 

 fair to base our reasoning upon these single analy 

 ses, and say that this or that manure" contain 

 this or that salt in greater or less quantity thai 

 another. 



The quantity and kind of salts are materially af 

 fected by several circumstances, which will h> 

 considered in the next section. An analysis madi 

 when the animal is fed and worked one way, wil 

 vary from the result which would be obtainei 

 when the circumstances are varied. It is there 

 fore, quite useless, in the general consideration o 

 the composition of manures, to enter upon the de 

 tails of each. General results, general expres 

 sions of facts, are suliicient for understanding tht' 

 nature of animal droppings. It is well afcertained 

 however, that all these droppings, of various ani.l 

 mals, contain essentially the Siimo salts as does 

 cattle dung. They all contain portions of each ol 

 the substances which form plants. It will be 

 enough for the purpose of this Essay, to present Ic' 



