350 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



niglit-soil, Avhicli is then rlischarg-ed into the reservoir, where it usually re- 

 mains for several months before being carried out upon the land. This fa* 

 vorite manure is applied in the liquid state (mixed in water) before or after 

 the seed is placed in the ground, or to transplanted crops after they have 

 been dibbled in. Its action is prompt and energetic. They put it on with 

 scoops, having handles twelve feet six inches long. They use it chiefly on 

 tobacco, rape and flax, as these articles are of the highest market value. 

 When intended for oats, they plough down the wheat stubble in November, 

 and distribute immediately'' eleven or twelve hundred gallons of the liquid 

 manure per acre; and the oats are sown early in the spring. For beets 

 tliey use fifteen hundred gallons per acre. The price of Flemish manure at 

 Lisle is 2| cents for a measure, containing twenty-two gallons. And they 

 think that this quantity, which will weigh 2 cwt., is fully equal to 5 cwt. 

 of barn-yard dung. 



A certain degree of fermentation in the manure, previous to its being ap- 

 plied to the soil, is essential in all cases. In general, clay soils, being more 

 tenacious of moisture, and more benefited by being rendered porous and 

 incohesive, may receive manure less decomposed than well pulverised soils 

 of a lighter quality require. Some plants seem to thrive better with fresh, 

 undecomposed manure than others, such as potatoes, for example. 



But all the small seeded plants, such as turnips, carrots, clovers, and the 

 ^•asses, generally require to be pushed forward into healthy, luxuriant v&- 

 getation, with the least delay possible, because they are exceedingly ten- 

 der during the first stages of their growth, and this can be done more rea- 

 dily with well diluted liquid manure than in any other way. At all events, 

 whenever liquid manure is used, the object should be to produce an imme^ 

 diate effect, that the plants may not remain stationary, at all. Ground 

 bones, or bones dissolved with sulphuric acid, should be mixed with the 

 liquid manures, as fiftj' per cent, of them are composed of fatty matter, car- 

 tilage, and jelly, which are entirely constituted of the same elements as 

 plants, and all of them, sooner or later, will be absorbed by the roots. The 

 cartilage in bones, when they are used dry, is exceedingly indestructible, 

 as it has been found in bones of very great antiquity, though not discovered 

 in antediluvian bones. A hundred parts contain 



Azote 10 



Oxj'gen 25 



Hy d rogen 10 



Carbon 55 



100 



The composition of vegetables, exclusive of earthy salts, approximates to 

 the above. 



Azote 01 



Oxj'gen 43 



Hydrogen. 05 



Carbon 51 



100 



The above analysis plainly shows that a large portion of the bones we 

 apply to the land are at once consumed by plants as their elementary food, 



