. 



4 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Feb. |. 



gardiw* the use <>f dm water as a m mure ; it was applied 

 in much too small a quantity. ^ 



| in. in. 



1 Pro. 



141 n 



j 



»3 < 





Dunic water w o.q. 



tea k»iu. 



per acre. 

 Saltpetre 



I cwt. 

 Nitrat.soda 



1 cwt. 

 Crop with 

 out manure' to ft" o|r> o 



otqrlb.la.a ctqrlb. $. </.*.». d. *. d. 



7 3 12 2 2 2 3 



i 



15 2 i S 12 4 4 



9 i» 



2 11 K I 



, 3 12 25 10 2» 

 51 2 ) 15 2 24 10 4 1 10 2 24 



I 



-22 



^ M ^-_-_-_--------------------P^^___i^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^_ -_-_-___l----_^^^^^M^^^^^^^^^^^fr - ^^^^^^^^^^^^___________ 



by taking away the Wheat! and why is it so useful on 1 lime should be well harrowed in, which will p r 

 peaty gronn h generally abounds in phosphates? coming into close contact with the dung, w |jT 



To show tint we have not over-rated the phosphates in important for reasons previously stated. All lot* 



________ * £ I _ K^flAflaA _ri m* a fc (-__. 1 * -— - — ______ — a I s\_ _ a 



t 



S 



3 



A proper attention to the preparation of manure, ana 

 to the application of It in kind and quantity suited to the 

 nature, oi the | It cultivated, would b influential in in- 



creasing the fertilr »f the soil. 



2,1— The stirrings given to land during its cultivation 

 influence its fertility in two ways i by •witting the decom- 

 position of the manure in the soil, and by giving a depth 

 of loose land in which the r of ihe plant may 



spread. In both of these, the depths of the stirring* and 

 the fineness to which the mould is red' d by rhem are of 

 the greatest imj i tance. In the sta'e in which manure 

 s generally applied to land, it is useless, it is only after 

 undergoing a process of fermentation in the soil that it 

 becomes a source of nour The products of that 



fermentation are soluble, an i therefore admit of being 

 taken op by the roots of plants. The presence of air is 

 necessary for ferine: n, and therefore land is in a 



j.r or eondit i only when in such a state of I oteness 

 tkW r has free access to every part of it. The pi er 



farm- yard manure, under ordinary circumstances, we mai 

 Mist refer to Liebig, who gives ho. i f long as containing 

 :> per cent, of phosphate of lime, cows' dung 10 per cent., 

 and straw varying from 7 to Hi per cent. 



As regards the very small quantity of phosphate of 

 magnesia, the above remarks apply in greater degree. 



Is it, then, the animal matter— con Dg principally 

 of gelatine, but also containing some fat, oil, and cartilage, 

 to which bones owe their jralue ? Gelatine, according to 

 Gay, Lussac, and Taouard, consists of the following pro- 

 portion! of 



Carbon 47-88 Parte. 



Oxypen • • • 



H>< gen . . . .7 91* 

 A e >' \ 



It would therefore appear that bones contain about >> 

 per cent, of azote, and to this we submit, nearly the whole 

 of their fertilising qualities owe their existence. Azote 

 is the principal feature in all powerful or concen- 

 trate I mas I— the base, so to speak (if the term 

 may be allowed in this sense) of all the forms of 

 the nitrates, and the compounds of ammonia — two 

 forms of gas by the quantity of which, as by a standard, 

 Dearly all manures may be reckoned in value, becau* 



rops supplied with ■ full quantity of az tieed manure in- 

 fariably i el In taxoriai being thereby enabled to 

 assimilate a, greater quantity of their other constituents. 



The great value of bones, moreover, above many other 

 az ted mtnuros, consists in its having its peculiar 



« -* * ___ * ■ ■ 





fc. 





"est t 

 tie* I 



- All aorta 



CerealU manured with lime will be conspicuom for** 



grain having very thin husks, and being verv hetv 

 mealy, but there will be less straw than after dune aa?* 

 will 'scarcely ever be laid down. After inniiL 

 with lime, the stubbles are generally so clear of graZtkT 

 they will afford but a poor pasture for sheep, on wS 

 account lime manure has often been rejected, hut witW 

 sufficient ground. "^ 



It is to be regretted that the present high price of 

 lime often prevents its application on a large g C aU 

 wherever this does not hinder it, the application < 

 should not be neglected, as all fodder, as well as 

 grown on it, will be nutritious and wholesome. \Y e k% 

 stated - ) ni my advantages to be derived from it, that 1 ** 

 must reach a very high price indeed, before its nst *j 

 cease to be advantageous. j 



Respecting the quantity of lime which is t# |, 

 put on a certain area, it is to be obser. fc- 

 sandy soils require much less than heavy ones, 30^ 

 per acre is generally sufficient for sandy soils, whit* £ 

 clayey soils will bear 5000 lbs. In England, where be* 

 lime, on account of the cheapness of fuel (coals), ii * 

 dear, even 10,000 lbs. are applied to an acre. Mink 

 soils generally require a large quantity of lime, ragfe 

 effect is not always favourable, as this sort of soil a* 

 only deficient in lime, but also in many other mwth. 

 substances, which are absolutely necessary for the peer* 



III.IL till ••»* II»W •«»«»»».«— -■— w»~.j , - , , ■/.Ulltrtl III 1IIMM I, VWW0IP«W ••■ » «~ ■— -.— Q - - | 



decree of looseness varies, of conrte, with t»«e plant col- elemeiita in h state of considerable fixity. While the 



. ■ n*, .i _r ._ . s. i:.u 'P..-..,.. ...I....K . i _ . . ..i :i _. » r..„.. _,u___:_. 



tivated. Thus in the case of the Swedish Turnip, which 

 requires large and constant supplies of nourishment, the j 



land should be as loose MDOSalble, not only that the root 



may be able to increase in bulk, but also that the 

 manure in the soil mav rapidly undergo fermentation. 

 while in the case of the I- an, or of Wfc it, the n • of 

 the plant requires a considerable decree of firmness. A 

 degree of looseness in the soil and I soil doubles the 

 resources of land. It is not liable to injury under 



extr linary circumstances, as in the cases of extreme 

 drought, or of extreme wetru The roots ol the plant-. 



In the one case, stretch far downwards beyond the drying 

 influence of the sun and air, whence they can supply the 

 plants with moisture; while in places where the subsoil 

 has been left firm and unstirred, tlie plants are withered 

 for want of it. In the other case, if the stirring of the 

 subsoil has bflCO effected after a thorough drainage of the 

 land, the plant is uninjun- I by the rain which, stagnant on 

 land not thus treated, destroys the vegetation covering it. 



(T- • >ued.) 



IN WHAT CONSISTS THI-Z FERTILISING 



QUA I. Ill MS OF RONES? 



Wun.E every farmer oc< ving ■ sandy or peaty soil will 



acknowledge the incalcula value of bones as a manure, 

 scarcely two practical agriculturists or chemists will 

 •gree as to what portion oi the bones it is which furnishes 

 the fertilising principle. Sufficient facts, however, seem 

 now collected by the former class of per it. and sufficient 

 analyses made by the latter, to furnish data to enable us 

 to decide this not unimportant question ; for it is only by 

 ascertaining the precise fertilising principle of bones, that 

 we can certainly calculate when certain soils are in need 

 of a dressing of them, and when they are an injudicious 



application. 



As regards the practical results of their application, we 

 may safely lay down the ascertained facts, that they are 

 most useful to peats and sands, and least useful to 

 tenacious soils. It is likewise established that they are, 

 of all crops, most useful to Turnips, and succeed when 

 applied alone, in producing many tons per acre, on land 

 which without manure would not mature a single plant. 



It is settled, too, according to the authority of Fourcroy 



and Vauquelin, that bones consist of 



Decomposable animal saatHf • . 6i* Parts. 



Phosphate of lime . • . 87*7 



Carbonate of lime .... 10* 

 Phosphate of magnesia • ..13 



IjM 



Now the question arises, is it the mineral or gaseous 



principles to which their value is to be referred, seeing 

 they contain these in nearly equal proportions ? 



To begin with the mineral. Many writers contend that 

 this is the element to winch bones owe their value. 

 The Highland Society of Scotland offered the gold 

 medal for the best essay on the subject of the 



nitrates require only solution in the soil to set free their 

 azote with great rapidity, and while the VariOM forms of 



ammonia are even still more vol itile, the gelatine in bones 



requires to be fermented, and to undergo a process of 



decomposition anything but raj. id, before theatott will be 



given off; and when it is so given off, it is in away 

 so gradual, as to be in strict applicability to the wants of 



the plants. 



It has been asked, with some degree of confidence, if 



the bones owe their utility to the gelatine, Low does it 



happen that burnt bones are also in some cases decidedly 

 advantageous Spplit ons as manure? The experimenter.-*, 

 however, did not say how they were burnt. If they were 

 burnt to whiteness, so as to crumble to powder, doubtless 

 they would he deprived of the whole of their azotised 

 matter ; and if these were equally useful with unburnt 

 bones, doubtless practice would decide against our theory. 

 But if the bones were but partially burnt, only to black- 

 ness, or burnt in a confined position, the azote would not 

 be dissipated in any great quantity, but only made more 

 volatile, and therefore likely to produce an equal, if not 

 greater effect upon the crops, though they would not be of 

 such permanent value. For if the burning did partially car- 

 bonise the bones the carbon would take up the ammonia, 

 for which it has c dder.able affinity, and give it off only on 

 the appl tion of excessive moisture. Bones thus burnt 

 may therefore have even a more apparent influence on the 

 first crop, and in its early stages, than unburnt bones ; but 

 this rather confirms than invalidates the opinions stated 

 above.— IV. E. N. 



No. V. 



ON MINERAL & INORGANIC MANURES. 



By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



(Translated from tht German.) 



As it is useful, for reasons which every one mav easily 

 guess, that lime should be intimately mixed with the, 

 furrow-slice, it is generally brought on the fields during a 

 summer fallow, after which the land is planted in the autumn 

 with winter crops, Wheat, tor Instance, Rye, winter 

 Barley, Sprit, Rape, Sec The use of lime on fallows is 



- . t . , . ______ _ _ _ contains also c.ius.._ 



the more necessary, the greater the number of the crops by the action of the lime up_„ 



that have been taken oil" the land. Lime, however, is also | ^e ashes), and which affects the vegetable reman" 



**>_**•? aH Alt * _ ^ rt _fl ♦ /\ ■* n a _ vw« -«n ^■■•>_*___*»_f-Xv_kM wire * ^_ ____- I ' v__h •__-* #m%7\ **_._.!» **».** I * m rft* 



of plants, as potash, silica, gypsum, ike. The appltot* 



of lime will produce the greatest effect on marsh 1*4, > 



which is very natural, as it will find there much of tV 



coal of humus ready for decomposition, and it will aliofe 



beneficial by changing the protoxides of iron and mop. I 



nese, which are very abundant in such soils, into pafe 



oxides ; the former being v^ry noxious, the latter dns 



tageous to vegetation. It kills also all insects, which w 



plentiful in new marshes, and increases f.erehy tlr 



amount of manure. On account of all these reason 



heavy liming will be required, and accord ■ 



the soil is loamy, clayey, or sandy, 1000 to K.DOli 



» per acre are to be used. A soil winch has entirely rn 



wild and has been exhausted, requires also a strong \m 



manuring, but it must be soon followed by dung, else Ik 



ground will become absolutely useless. It may be pi 



down as a general rule, that the amount of lime maitk 



the greater the more clayey the soil is, the moreinat 



contains, and the more carboniferous and resinoM tk 



humus contained in it is. Iu fine, lime will act k 



neficially only where the soil has been previoaslyfl 



drained, which may be caused by the lime formin$,i 



that case, with the sand a sort of mortar, which bas, 



insoluble in water, can produce no effect. 



In some countries, lime is also used along with wnl 

 ashes, which, as can be easily understood, must prodoew 

 very beneficial effect, for wood-ashes contain all the* 

 neral substances necessary for the nourishment ofsfaeft 

 as we shall hereafcer see. For this purpose, the Uw 

 is placed in a heap, sprinkled over with a little water, » 

 immediately covered with a thin stratum cf ashes; t» 

 lime gradually slakes, swells, and becomes «* 

 in some spots, after which the heap is stirred throsf) 

 sprinkled with water, and again covered with st» 

 and after the lime has again become inflated, the w WS)» 

 stirred and worked up. This sprinkling with ■■ 

 covering with ashes, and working up. is repeated unW» 

 lumps of lime have disappeared, and the whole prww 

 a homogeneous pukeriform iiJass. That such a mixta* 

 lime and wood-ashes will be more active than part** 

 may be expected, because besides caustic line- 



stic potash (which latter has been form 

 he lime upon the carbonate of potart 



very often used for summer crops, viz., for Beans, Vetches, 

 and Peas, which plants require much lime, and are there- 

 fore much benefited by it. The Peas grown after being 

 manured with lime have the property of boiling better, 

 and of being nicer to the taste than those grown after 

 dung; the same is the case with Peas grown after the 

 application of marl. We may assume that this 

 property is derived from the nature of its compo- 

 nent, parts, and limed or marled Pens will probably 

 otain more starch than dunged Peas, the latter on 

 the other hand more legumen. Lime, moreover, is useful 

 with other crops also, in producing more starch, whilst 

 dung will promote the formation of nitrogenous sub- 

 stances, such as the lesrumen in Peas, which docs not 

 become soft after boiling; whilst starch, on the other 





fertilising qualities of bones as compared with farm-yard hand, swells and softens the other component parts. This 

 manure, and the prize was awarded to Dr. Midden, who •—*-*— L ? ... 



gave it as his opinion, that the value of bones was 

 principally due to the phosphates which they contain. 

 His calculations, however, have been proved to be falla- 

 cious, and are known to be quite erroneous in principle, 

 though at the time they were thought by some to have set- 

 tled the question. 



Now, admitting that about six cwt. of bones is the 

 average application to an acre of land, something like 

 2\ cwt. of phosphate of lime will be applied to the soil; 

 on the other hand, calculating twenty tons as an ordinary 

 dressing of fold-yard manure for Turnips, and calculating 

 it to contain, on the very lowest average, three per cent, 

 of phosphate of lime, we shall have no less than twelve 

 cwt. of phosphate of lime supplied by it to the crop. If 

 it were the phosphate <>f lime to which the whole of the 

 credit were due, how does it happen that bones are peculi- 

 arly beneficial to Turnips, which, compared wuh many 

 other plants, contain but a small comparative per centage 

 of it, and why is it not equally efficacious on clay soils, 

 where there is so constant a drainage of their phosphates 



subject being interesting as respects the physiology of 

 plaotS, shall be more closely adverted to. 



If a Potato crop is manured with lime, the roots become 

 not only much more mealy, but more savoury ; be- 

 cause lime will not only neutralise the acid of the tuber, 

 but may even form some saccharine matter in them. 

 Again, it is not advisable to manure Flax with lime, 

 to which it will impart a Is tenacious and coarser fibre. 

 [o Belgium, where they know more about the growing of 

 Flax than anywhere else, it is only a r ter a lapse of seven 

 years subsequent to the application of lime, that it is ever 

 planted on the same field. Still less is the growth oi 

 Buckwheat improved by lime, although its ripening may 

 be accelerated thereby. I have found by expeiinient that 

 306 lbs. of lime per acre will cause it to ripen eight or ten 

 days sooner than usual, which will be of importance in 

 soils where Buckwheat grows too luxuriantly, or where 

 it continually flowers without forming any grain. Rape 

 will grow exceedingly well after a joint manure of lime 

 and dung, but in this case, only the half of the usual quan- 

 ity of lime is to be used ; and it will also be best that the 



the coal of humus more powerfully than caustic ft* 

 produces from it humic acid after the lspse «• 

 hours. If the wood-ashes contain also sulphate of 

 (as is the case at times), gvpsum also will be P^JT 

 In order that the caustic potash thus obtained ** 

 attract the carbonic acid of the air and become n» 

 mixture is to be used as soon as possible, b« ^ 

 merely on fields which are not yet sown, else 

 would act very detrimentally upon the plants. • 

 instead of wood-ashes, peat-ashes are used, in * ^ 

 however, no such useful mixture will be obtain** •. 

 peat-ashes are always deficient in carbonate o rj 

 Peat-ashes (as we shall see hereafter) act "'^'•j^* 

 containing gypsum, common salt, phosphate o ^ 

 magnesia ; at times, also, by an admixture ot a P^ 



potash. 



(To he continued.) 



CULTURE OF THE LAND FOR ^ VH fj> 



When land is ploughed only to the depth ot ^^ 

 e active soil is so very limited, that the leas 



V . ■ _ _.. ,_r-iimr Oil 



re sou is so very itu.ueu, ""» — - 



her is injurious to the plants g™?" 15 "*** 



which is always applied to the V\ lw»i^ ^ 



the 



the weathe 



manure which is always applied to the Wn< ?^! qht 

 this svstem of shallow ploughing forms a 1*5 u&¥ 

 surface ; the roots of the plant ramify only tluo ' *$# 

 row-slice in which the dung is placed, and con- ^ ^ 

 plant has but little hold of the ground. I 4 t .'* lir0 irt<* 

 severe weather in spring, the plant gets ^ 



as it is termed, by the frost. The roots ,,a r jt« 

 out horizontally near the surface are easily e -M £* 

 weather, and whether it be mild or froft J &^ 



are entirely under its influence -ma ') 



< 



bed 



shallow soil and the manure m i'- beCon1C J^J.u.e*^ 

 active ; in wet weather the roots having u ^0 

 the ground, a soaking rain and a little ^ ^ deiplr5 

 plant and it is bio 



tivated soil, exerts the whole of its energv 



r,atnrs : 





