PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 147 



qiiantity of oxygen. Organic substances cannot undergo spontaneous 

 change without the aid of an external cause. Before they assume a state 

 of change, the existing equilibrium of their elements must be disturbed, 

 and the most common disturber is the atmosphere. 



A compost manure may be formed bj^ mixing bone dust and a solution 

 of the silicate of potash together and permitting them to become perfectly 

 dry, and then add 12 parts of charcoal dust with 20 parts of common salt, 

 that will supply nearly'- ever}' inorganic substance required by either oats, 

 barley or wheat. If the straw of wheat, rye, oats and barley are burned 

 to ashes, and these used as a manure for either of those grains, the stems 

 ■will be found to possess an extraordinary strength; but if used upon pota- 

 toes, or any leguminous crop, they will not exert tlie least influence in any 

 way. If the composted manures are intended as a top-dressing for wheat, 

 there should be no plaster made use of in them, because it will invariably 

 cause the stems to become covered with rust. Though it will be a great 

 addition to the young clover that may be sown with the wheat, ashes in 

 the compost heap will make the straw to produce rich grain, and legumi- 

 nous plants to grow luxuriantly, because it contains both phosphate and 

 potash. If one per cent, of green vitriol, or sulphate of iron, be added to 

 a compost heap, the mass will exert a poisonous action on all the plants it 

 niay be used upon; these evil effects, however, may be counteracted by an 

 application of lime. If protoxide of iron be added to the heap, it will cause 

 any laud upon which it may be used, to become perfectly sterile. 



MEANS OF AUGMENTING AND PRESERVING MANURES. 



On proper attention being paid to the increase of manures, and the modes 

 of preserving and managing them in a great measure depends the general 

 fertility of farms, and the luxuriance and goodness of the crops grown 

 upon them. It is therefore a matter of the first importance for the agricul- 

 turist to see that nothing is wasted that can, by any means, be converted 

 to such a purpose. There are an immense number of substances that may 

 be advantageously used by farmers, that are little regarded, and often per- 

 mitted to be carried away by rivers, or consumed in other wasteful manners. 



Another cause of loss in the production of manures, is the want of adopt- 

 ing such modes of management, in respect to different substances, as are 

 capable of rendering tliem fit for the purpose of application, in the most 

 expeditious manner. What is necessary to be done to hasten the decom- 

 position and reduction of different .naterials into proper states for applica- 

 tion to the soil, we have already seen to be the free admission of air, water 

 suitable to the conditions cf the matter made use of, and a proper degree 

 of heat. And also by the proper blending of animal with vegetable sub- 

 stances, in the incipient stages, and the addition of lime, according to cir- 

 cumstances, and in proportions suited to the nature and state of the ingre- 

 dients. 



As the principal resource, on the generalitj^ of farms, for the manufacture 

 of manure, is the barn yard, it should be constructed in such a manner as 

 that everything may, with facility and ease, be converted to the desirable 

 purpose. The parts of the farm yard, where the compost heaps are made, 

 should be accessible to air and moisture, and be convenient for depositing 



