THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



^T^^nTuiSlcre, covers a space of about two feet 

 nine inches, has five coulters, each 23 inches long. The 

 diameter of the hindmost wheels is 22 inches. The 

 principal improvements lately effected here in the con- 

 struction of the grubbers, consists in strengthening the 

 whole machine, adding stays to the coulters and increas- 

 ing the height of the wheels. Price of grubbers, o/. 



to 61. 10s. . 



2 Sowing Machines.— Under this head are in- 

 cluded machines for sowing the seeds of Turnips, Beans, 

 and Peas, Carrots and Corn in drills; also a machine for 

 sowin* Corn and Grass seeds broadcast; most of these are 

 now well known. The machine for sowing Corn in drills or 

 rows is nowbut seldom used,excepton light mossy or sandy 

 soils, where a sufficient cover for the seed cannot be had by 

 the operation of the harrows, or in some foul land ; the 

 distance between the rows allowing the ground to be 

 ■worked, and the weeds destroyed, by the hand-hoe— or 

 horse-shoe of a peculiar construction— now rarely em- 

 ployed. The rows are invariably made across the ridges ; 

 the machine sows from six to ten rows at a time accord- 

 ing to its size, and is drawn by one horse. The Oat is 

 the only C,)rn crop generally sown in rows. A machine 

 very extensively employed in this county is that for 

 sowing Corn and Grass seeds broadcast. Its great 

 recommendations are, the regularity with which it dis- 

 tributes the seed, the saving thereby effected, and in 

 remedying the inconvenience and loss of seed arising 

 from sowing with the hand during high winds. The 

 machine consists of an oblong box, 18 to 19 feet in 

 length, supported upon a frame-work on three wheels. 

 A revolving horizontal spindle, with pinions in the inside 

 of the box, scatters the seed ; when working, the box 

 extends over half the space of each adjoining ridge, the 

 horse walking in the furrow. Clover and Grass seeds 

 are now rarely sown by the hand, this machine being 

 peculiarly adapted for sowing such small seeds, and ob- 

 viating the difficulty always experienced in distributing 

 irith regularity the small allowance usually given per 

 acre, especially during winds, when, from the lightness 

 of the seeds, they are liable to be blown away.— 

 T. Sullivan. 



LIQUID MANURE. 

 In former Papers on Black Horse-ponds, we have 

 shown the large amount of highly fertilising ingredients 

 annually lost to those farmers who allow the urine of 

 their cattle to run to waste. Let us suppose some have 

 determined to collect and preserve it in tanks or other- 

 wise,and to avail themselves of its advantages. The object 

 of the present paper is to point out how this can be best 

 and most economically accomplished, as far as the vola- 

 tile ingredient ammonia is concerned, passing in review 

 the different modes which have been recommended, and 

 their respective merits and cost. 



We have seen that the urine of man and our domestic 

 animals contains a substance called urea, which, when 

 pure, may be preserved for a considerable length of time 

 without change, but which, under favourable circum- 

 stances, uudergoes a true fermentation, and is converted 

 into carbonate of ammonia. The mode by which this 

 change is brought about is thus described by M. Dumas, 

 in his '• Chemical and Physiological Balance of Organic 

 Nature :" — " In the urine, Nature has placed, side by 

 side with the urea, traces of an albuminous or mucous 

 substance, so slight that they almost escape detection by 

 analysis. Nevertheless, this infinitely minute quantity ot 

 matter undergoes a change when it comes into contact 

 with the air, becomes one of those ferments which are 

 found distributed over the whole of organic nature, and 

 determines the conversion of the urea into ordinary 

 ammonia." The carbonate of ammonia thus generated, 

 is very soluble in water, and it is also very volatile, con- 

 stantly tending to assume the gaseous form and to escape 

 into the atmosphere. Water absorbs ammonia, readily 

 taking it up at ordinary temperatures : hence the 

 ammonia lately discovered by Liebig in rain-water and 

 dews. Volcanoes, and even crevices in volcanic soils, 

 give off into the atmosphere ammoniacal gas in abun- 

 dance ; so do all animal, and some vegetable substances, 

 during putrefaction. Thus given off, it is absorbed and 

 dissolved by the descending shower, and again brought 

 down to the earth— again escaping, again to be returned, 

 until it is seized upon by the roots of plants and appro- 

 priated in their texture. Much of the value of all manure 

 depends on the proportion of this volatile ingredient that 

 it contains, and it ought to be the object of the farmer to 

 secure for his crops as much of it as he can. In Holland 

 and Flanders the use of liquid manure is well understood, 

 and duly appreciated. " It is chiefly by its peculiar and 

 extraordinary fertilising powers, that the industry of the 

 Fleming is described as having brought so much of the 

 originally sandy and sterile tracts of his country into a 

 state of garden cultivation. The Heath and Broom, 

 which grow on the poorest soils, are encouraged, till 

 their roots bind the loose and white sands together. 

 These being cut, small patches of diminutive Clover are 

 induced, or a few patches of Potatoes are planted, when 

 a cow is kept. The urine is collected carefully in a 

 small tank, or perhaps a cask sunk in the earth ; and 

 this is the nucleus from which, in a few years, a little 

 farm will spread around. n 



fr Solid dung is comparatively inert. It contains much 

 less ammonia, and ferments with much less activity ; and, 

 until moistened, and partially decomposed, acts with 

 much less vigour on the plant. It is by the rapid effect 

 on vegetation produced by the ammonia in liquid 

 manure, that the bulk of roots, and of vegetable matter, 

 are so increased, even in these poor sands, that they are 



but by its improved condition capable of absorbing and 1 

 retaining the moisture necessary to the plant, and with 

 the moisture, the fresh supplies of ammonia which it 

 brings with it. Now, the great blunder of many practical 

 farmers in this country is, as I have endeavoured to 

 show in my former papers on Black Horse-ponds, that 

 they pay little or no attention to the preservation of the 

 urine of their cattle. It is true they make great heaps 

 of solid dung by the road-side, or in their fields, and 

 think they have laid in a large stock of fertility, while 

 they are so totally careless of the liquid and much more 

 valuable portions" of the animal excrement, that most of 

 it is lost. There is no douSt but that there is consider- 

 able difficulty in preventing this loss, especially of that 

 part which passes off by evaporation. Let us now con- 

 sider the best methods which practice or science have 

 suggested, of checking this evaporation, i.e., technically, 



of fixing: the ammonia. m 



The Flemish farmers are in the habit of mixing water 

 with the urine before fermentation ; this addition of 

 water retains much of the ammonia in solution. Thus, 

 on referring to the analysis of Sprengel, we find that 

 when cows'" urine was allowed to ferment alone for one 

 month, 100,000 lbs. of it was found to contain 20o lbs. 

 of ammonia ; but when an equal quantity of water 

 was added previously to fermentation, he found the 

 liquid to contain 1022 lbs. of ammonia: this quan- 

 tity, although large when compared with that retained 

 by the undiluted urine, is not all the ammonia the urea 

 had yielded bv its decomposition, nearly 300 lbs. having 

 escaped into the atmosphere in a gaseous form. Another 

 disadvantage arising from the use of water to retain the 

 ammonia, is the loss of another portion of the ammonia 

 by volatilisation from the surface of the soil, after the 

 application of the liquid manure, more particularly if it 

 be applied in dry and warm weather. The expense of 

 its application also must be greater where the ammonia 

 is retained by water, than where it is fixed by an acid, 

 since at least double the quantity must be conveyed on 

 the land to produce the same effects. 



Sulphate of Iron (green vitriol or copperas) is fre- 

 quently used in Flanders and Holland for the purpose of 

 converting the carbonate of ammonia of the urine into a 

 sulphate. When sulphate of iron is added to fermented 

 urine, the sulphuric acid, which, in the sulphate, is in 

 combination with oxide of iron, quits the iron and com- 

 bines with the ammonia of the urine, forming sulphate 

 of ammonia, a soluble but not a volatile salt ; while the 

 iron and the carbonic acid, the latter of which was in 

 combination with the ammonia, combine together, form- 

 ing a carbonate of iron, which is insoluble and falls to 

 the bottom of the vessel. In using sulphate of iron the 

 formation of sulphate of ammonia is complete, provided 

 sufficient sulphate of iron has been added to the urine: 

 the sulphate of ammonia being a fixed salt, remains in 

 solution, and may be thus kept for any length of time 

 without loss. This mode of fixing the ammonia is sub- 

 ject to the disadvantage of leaving a sediment of car- 

 bonate of iron in the tank ; which, in time, would collect 

 to a considerable amount. If more sulphate of iron be 

 added to the urine than sufficient to fix the ammonia, by 

 converting it into a sulphate, it might act injuriously on 

 vegetation in soils devoid of time.— Alfred Gyde, 



Pains wick. (To be continued.) 



[July 6, 



tied by the heat, are easier decomposed by humic andT 

 It is also to be considered, that a slight roasting of ;lay 

 will require much less fuel than the burning. The 

 quantity required will be always greater than that of a 

 clayey soil, provided that the texture of the former, as 

 well as its composition, requires to be improved. If it 

 b, however, merely considered as a manure, the quantity 

 to be used will depend on its chemical ingredients. 

 Loamy soils require the least quantity of roasted clay, 

 as they do not need to be physically improved, but 

 merely to receive some manuring substances. For this 

 sort of soil, therefore, 20,000 lbs., and often even lest, 

 will be sufficient; nay, some affirm that they have pro- 

 duced an effect by merely applying to this sort of soil 

 twelve times the bulk of the seed-corn ; the clay used, 

 however, in this case might be marl. 



It is difficult to say how long burnt clay will act as a 

 manure, as this depends on the quantity used, on the 

 chemical properties of the clay, as well as those of the 

 soil. The formation of ammonia decreases in measure as 

 the protoxide of iron and manganese are converted into 

 oxides, andtheeffect of the silicates will cease, when their 

 bases have passed, by means of the humic acid, into the 

 plants. Even the effects of strongly burnt clay, as a 

 means of loosening the soil, cease finally, as it gradually 

 assumes an earthy consistency, or becomes dissolved. 

 Sandy soils, on the other hand, will become permanently 

 improved by slightly roasted clay. In the first year of 

 application, it chiefly advances the growth of the cerealia, 

 which is easily to be explained, by their receiving nitrogen 

 through the roots, as they absorb the ammonia which is 

 formed with the oxide of iron and manganese. 



If only small quantities of roasted clay .or loam are 

 used, they are strewed over the field, and harrowed in 

 with the seed ; larger quantities are to be ploughed 

 under, which, however, must be done very shallow, as 

 the nitrogen of the air (indispensable for the formation 

 of ammonia,) must always have free access. Before it is 

 ploughed in, it is best to break it still more to pieces 

 with both harrow and roller, because if the humic acid 

 is to decompose the silicates, it is necessary to come 

 into close contact with them. At times fields are 

 manured simultaneously with roasted clay and lime, but 

 this practice appears to me advantageous only when the 

 soil contains much free humic acid, as otherwise the 

 lime will expel the ammonia. The humate of ammonia 

 which is formed, can only subsist along with lime, when 

 the latter finds sufficient humic acid to combine with. 





ON MINERAL AND INORGANIC MANURES. 



No. XXI. 



By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



(Continued from p . 435.) 



Clay and loam may be roasted immediately on their 

 bein°- dug out of the ground ; still, the operation will 

 succeed better if they have become somewhat dry. It 

 may be as well to observe, that roasting should be done 

 in the dryest and hottest season. 



At times, clay or loam fit for roasting may be found in 

 the subsoil of the field, in which case much carriage will 

 be saved, and the ovens should be erected close at hand. 

 It is calculated that two men can roast daily from 500 to 

 600 cubic feet, for which, however, two ovens will be 

 required, of which one will be in operation whilst the 

 other is cooling. By roasting iu ovens, some fuel is 

 saved ; but the produce of roasting in heaps yields bet- 

 ter manure, as it will be mixed with the ashes of a 

 greater amount of fuel. It is the soil on which the loam 

 or clay is to be used, which has to decide the duration 

 and the degree of heating. A stiff clayey soil has not 

 only to be manured, but also loosened by the burnt loam 

 or clay, on which account they are to be burnt for that 

 purpose till they have become hard, as they will then 

 keep the soil loose like sand ; still, the burning is not to 

 be continued too long, 1 else the whole protoxide of iron 

 would be re-converted into an oxide, which would 

 cause no ammonia at all to be afterwards formed. It 

 will not be too muchfor aclayey soil to use 100,000 lbs. of 

 the burnt material on one Magdeburg acre of land ; and 

 if these contain, as is not rarely the case, 2000 lbs. pro- 

 toxide of iron, 200 lbs. of ammonia can be successfully 

 formed. Generally, however, not so much is used, as 

 burnt clay is not a cheap manure. Clayey soils are at 

 times also manured with the dust of burnt bricks ; in 

 this case, however, no ammonia can be formed, as 

 this contains no protoxide of iron or manganese. Sandy 

 soils, on the other hand, require a slightly roasted clay, 

 because, as it is necessary to improve it physically as well 

 as chemically, a strongly burnt clay would be of little 

 avail, as it does not possess much power of retaining 

 moisture, and cannot become well mixed with the soil. 

 A slightly burnt clay is a better manure than one much 



BRITISH OAK. 

 In a book entitled the " Library of Useful and Enter- 

 taining Knowledge," in the volume which treats of timber- 

 trees, it is said, -The Oak is the father of ships, -the 

 knotty Oak of England-the unwedgeable and gnarled 

 Oak, as Shakspeare called it; in these two words 

 describing its leading properties." Now it is » eTiderfta 

 me that this term will only apply to Q. i sessi *£., ™J 

 is more full of knots, from its habit an< ™™« ™ 

 growth, than Q. pedunculata, and which » *e only k«* 

 that cannot be riven with wedges In the »™^£ 

 it is, however, added that « A *nter in U* Quarter^ 

 Review' (Sir Walter Scott ascribes the dry wt m t 

 Navy to the substitution of a fore W '1»««J °<f ak S 

 our 'own plantations, instead of ^^^S% 

 The author then goes on to acquaint his readers ; wi 

 he calls N a fact long known to botanist but of wh^ 

 our planters and purveyors of timber for Na^ Ig- 

 to have had no suspicion, that mere » d 



species of Oaks in England-the &-«* 



Quercus sessiliflora, the former of which aff ord a d 

 grained, firm, solid timber, rarely subject to ro 

 other more loose and sappy, very liabU to rot, an 

 half »„ durable. Here the term Q. robur is app» 



are so increasea, even iu iucsc ^uv. « u « , vu«u kWJ a iC burnt, as it contains always more protoxide of iron and 

 ultimately converted into a soil, not only rich in itself, L manganese, besides silicates which not having been vitri- 



half so durable. Here the term Q. '»"« » J £&, to 

 the example of the late Sir James Etora ^ 

 Q. pedunculata, to which the name best ,belon ? .^^ 

 strength (robor) of the timber is con8, ^-" a 'iiifloraUthe 

 ing to the experience of practical men, Q. «s flf tbe 



most close-grained, firm, and solid timber y tenned 

 two. Probably Q. pedunculata, or what ^ 



Q. robur, may be the best for particular P art. f 



where weight or stress is required, as trom^ 

 growth it is more free from knots than the UJflora . 



gnarled Oak," which without doubt is Q- ° g t 

 Thus the one may be more proper for uppo»M U"*- 

 weight and resisting a strain ; and the otn ^ 



flora, for not splintering by a cannon-shot, V ... ,. 



thick planks, boards 



laid. I say probably, 



quoted by Jael, the »essiliflora reqtt.res » 15-— . -^ 



break it than the other. As to its »»»«'" if c ut at 

 ness, and durability superior to Q. P'^Vubt, **» 

 a proper age, I think there cannot be the ^ east ^^ 

 what has been stated on former occastoM 



they are both valuable K P^^P"£wd that «& 

 In the same volume it is further state* a 



sessiliflora is supposed to have been intw*££ tbe O* 

 or three ages ago, from the Continent -he „, 



are chiefly of the latter species, especially in ^ 



forests, the timber of which » know to be 'ery ^ 



but what is of more importance to us is, " J .„ the 

 rmposmre abounds and is propagated -T^/no** 

 New Forest and other parts °f Hampshire, t „ ere 



and the northern counties, also ^out London 

 is too much reason to believe that the nun e .^ 

 plaints that were heard about ou. r .tap- £™ ot wer 



i with what was called improperly enougl lb t £ .„, fh e 

 owing to the introduction of this species ot dWiDe BoO 

 naval dockyards, where, we » nderst » n .f' or book-ma^ 

 was not even suspected." How any writer 0^ iT&b l e . 



I could pen such a passage as this is, to me, 









