394 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JVNE: 13, 1S44. 



From tlis Chester (England) Farmer's Herald. 



PEAT COMPOST. 



The following method of making peat compost, 

 is piven by Mr Alton, and inserted in Sir John Sin- 

 clair's Scotch Husbandry : 



The peat and dung must be thrown up, in alter- 

 nate strata, into a heap four and a half feet high, 

 and in the following proportions: peat six inches; 

 ihmg ten inches ; peat six inches ; dung four in- 

 ches ; peat six inches; and tlien a thin bed of 

 dung, and cover the whole with peat. The heap 

 should be put loosely together, and then made 

 euiooth on the outside. The compost, after it is 

 made up, gets into a general heat, sooner or later, 

 according to the weather and the condition of the 

 dung ; in summer, in ten days or sooner ; in win- 

 ter, not perhaps for many weeks, if the cold is se- 

 vere. It always, however, has been found to come 

 on at last ; and in soinmer it sometimes rises so 

 high as to be mischievous, by producing what is 

 called fn-fanging. 



In that season, a stick should be kept in it, in 

 diflerenl parts, to pull out and feel now and then ; 

 for if it approaches to blood heat, it should be eith- 

 er watered or turned over; and on such occasion, 

 advantage may be taken to mix with it a little 

 fresh peat. The heat subsides after a time, and 

 the heap may then be allowed to remain untouched 

 until within three weeks of using, when it should 

 be turned over, upside down, and inside out, and 

 all the lumps broken. Use it weight for weiglit, 

 like farm-yard dung, and it will be found to stand 

 the comparison with that. 



Let it be observed, that the object of maaking 

 up the compost is to form as large a hot-bed as the 

 quantity of dung admits of, and then to surround it 

 on all sides, so as to have the whole benefit of the 

 heat ana effluvia. Peat, nearly as dry as garden 

 mould, in seed-time, may be mixed with the dung, 

 so as to double the volume and more, and nearly 

 triple the weight, and instead of hurting the heat, 

 prolong it. A correspondent of Sir John Sinclair's, 

 states that he has used this compost for seven 

 years, and considers it to be of immense impor- 

 tance. He would rather bring peat two or three 

 miles, than want it for his compost hills. 



In this process of making compost, a large quan- 

 tity (if almost inert humus is broken down, and 

 rendered fit to yield abundant nourishment to 

 plants, both in the shape of carbonic acid gas, and 

 also saline matter; while the ammonia, produced 

 by the fermentation of the dung, is absorbed and 

 retained by the humus. 



In all cases where peat can be had for the pur- 

 pose of making compost, experience has shown 

 there can be no question about the propriety and 

 advantage of using it for that purpose. The effects 

 of peat-ashes are well known; and in this case 

 the saline and earthy substances, of which they 

 are composed, are made available, as well as the 

 humus, which is retained instead of being dissipa- 

 ted, as in the case of burning. 



It often happens that all the dung upon a farm 

 cannot be used at the most fitting season, and must 

 be kept for a future occasion ; much care is there- 

 fore required to prevent its being wasted, either by 

 ferrnenlation or from the effect of water. The 

 method above noticed, of mixing the dung with 

 peat, can be practiced only in particular situations, 

 but every situation admits of the formation of com- 

 post heaps by means of mixing earth of some kind 



or other. It is usual to form compost by mixing 

 the dung with any kind of soil that happens to be 

 most convenient ; but it is by no means an unim- 

 portant question as to ivhat kind of material is the 

 best for the purpose. 'Ihe muddy deposit of tide- 

 ways, the sediment of ponds, and the scouring of 

 ditches, are the first to be recommended ; next, 

 calcareous road-scrapings, marl, and clay. In 

 making an earthy compost with dung, there is a 

 threefold object answered: first, to prevent the 

 too rapid decay of the dung; secondly, to present 

 an earthy substance to the slowly decoying matter 

 which is capable of uniting with it, and preserving 

 the ammonia; and thirdly, to afford some addition 

 of saline matter, which most earths contain. The 

 most finely divided earths are, of course, the best 

 adapted for these purposes, and perhaps a rich 

 marly earth should be preferred to any other, from 

 its known fertilizing qualities, while there is con- 

 siderable uncertainty in that of the other materials 

 mentioned. It is seldom, however, that much 

 choice can be exercised. In forming a compost 

 heap, a bed of the earth should be first laid down, 

 about six inches deep, and then a layer of dung 

 about a foot deep, lightly and regularly laid upon 

 the earth. Ltt the alternation be repeated until 

 the heap is about five feet high ; a thin coverini; 

 of earth, both on the lop and sides, completing the 

 whole. In about ten weeks, the heap should be 

 turned and well mixed, and again covered with a 

 slight coating of fresh earth. 



Wherever night-soil can be obtained in any quan- 

 tity, the forming it into a compost, so as to preserve 

 it from waste and render it fit for the drill, is an 

 object of great importance, as it is much too pow- 

 erful to be used in the crude state, and indeed can- 

 not be conveniently distributed in that condition. 

 In China, this most valuable material is mixed with 

 fat inarl, formed into cakes, and then dried in the 

 sun, and in this state is transported to great dis- 

 tances by means of the numerous rivers and canals 

 which intersect that country. The best mode of 

 treating night-soil for the purpose intended, is to 

 mix it Willi about double its bulk of charred or 

 half-burnt peat,^vhich will arrest its decomposition 

 and by so doing, render it inoffensive. When 

 peat cannot be obtained, finely sifted coal-ashes is 

 a good substitute. 



In situations where lutp ashes can be procured, 

 it would form an excellent addition to any of these 

 mixtures, as it would supply those salts in whiih 

 night-soil is rather deficient. Lime should in no 

 case be resorted to, as it very much injures its 

 quality by driving off ammonia. The materials 

 should be well mixed, and spread either under a 

 shed, or in the open air, until dry enough to be 

 riddled for the use of the drill. In order to pro- 

 mote the drying, the compost should bo frequently 

 turned over. About 20 bushels of such a compost 

 will be a powerful dressing for an acre of land. 



Whenever both peat and lime are available, they 

 form a very good compost for manuring pasture 

 land. The mode of preparing this compost may 

 be in the usual way, of alternate layers, Ihe peat 

 being used in a double or triple proportion to the 

 lime. The heap should be suffered to remain 

 three or four months, during which time it should 

 be turned and well mixed. The lime acts very 

 powerfully upon the inert fibre of the peat, and ren- 

 ders a large portion of it soluble in water, and in 

 a fit state for becoming the food of plants. 



Any refuse animal matter can of course be em- 

 ployed in a similar manner. The carcase of a 



■dead horse, which is often suffered to pollute the 

 air with its noxious effluvia, has been happily cm- 

 ployed in decomposing 20 tons of peat earth, and 

 transforming it into the most enriching manure. 

 Night-soil may be composted with peat with great ! 

 advantage. 



Many volumes have been written on the subject 

 of composts, as substitutes for farm yard dung, and 

 yet the true principle upon which they should bo 

 formed, does not appear to have been clearly incul- 

 cated and insisted upon. Farm-yard dung is cer- 

 tain in its effect, because it contains all the ele- . 

 ments or substances which plants require for their- 

 food ; and those composite manures which contain 

 the greatest number of the more essential substan- 

 ces are the most likely to act with corresponding 

 uniformity. 



MANURES. 



It is well known to every cultivator of the soil, 

 that no land will continue productive, if some equi- 

 valent for its produce be not returned to it. If the 

 land is always yielding and never receiving, it 

 must in a short time become barren. However, 

 there are particular soils, like those o! Egypt, 

 which, being annually overfli>wed, derive a valua- 

 j ble manure from the hand of Nature, and therefore 

 cannot be rendered barren by bad husbandry or 

 over-cropping. There are also some soils in our 

 own country, which are not easily exhausted, in 

 consequence of being composed of materials which 

 attract and retain the food of plants. Taking 

 these things into consideration, we consider it a 

 duty incumbent on all cultivators of the soil, to use 

 every means to promote its fertility, in the most 

 simple and efficacious manner. We are fully con- 

 vinced that if more attention were paid to the 

 making and saving of farm-yard manure, instead 

 of running after every new importation, they would, 

 at the end of the year, find their purses heavier, 

 and their land in better heart. 



In the north of Scotland, the small farmers aniJ 

 cottagers pay great attention to the making of ma- 

 nure by their pigs, by bedding lliem with leaves, 

 moss, rushes, grass, fern ; all of which materials 

 make excellent manure when trodden under foot 

 and saturated with the urine of animals. We 

 have lately noticed, in some parts of Ireland, bog- 

 earth employed for bedding cows and pigs ; this 

 material makes an excellent manure, especially if ] 

 it has been well saturated with the urine of the 

 cattle. We have seen better crops produced from 

 land which has been manured with these materials, 

 than the produce of any of our new importations. 

 We do not wish, however, to condemn these im- 

 ported manures, but we would have farmers pay 

 more attention to the making of manure on their 

 farms, and when made, not to allow it to manure 

 the atmosphere instead of the soil, which we are 

 sorry to say is loo common a practice. 



We would recommend farmers to adopt the fol- 

 lowing plan : To every two cartloads of farm-yard 

 manure, add one of the scourings of ditches, road- 

 scrapings, or a matted sward; if these materials 

 are properly mixed with the dung, he will be am- 

 ply compensated for any additional expense. The 

 use of mixing the soil with the dung, is to imbibe 

 the gaseous elements, and hinder their di-isipation. 

 Whenever putrid fermentation is going on in his 

 dung-hill, he should apply some earthy substance 

 in sufficient quantity to imbibe and retain all efflu- 

 via. Health, profit, and cleardiness require such a 

 proceeding. The fanner who arrests tlie rank va- 



