128 Catalogue of ^ Works on Gardenings fyc. 



stable manure and night-soil render clayey soils fertile, by furnishing the mag- 

 nesia in which they are deficient. The ashes of all kinds of herbs and decayed 

 straw are capable of replacing wood ashes. 



" A compost manure, which is adapted to furnish all the inorganic matters 

 to wheat, oats, and barley, may be made, by mixing equal parts of bone dust 

 and a solution of silicate of potash (known as soluble glass in commerce), 

 allowing this mixture to dry in the air, and then adding 10 or 12 parts of 

 gypsum, with 16 parts of common salt. Such a compost would render unne- 

 cessary the animal manures, which act by their inorganic ingredients. Accord- 

 ing to Berthier, 100 parts of the ashes of wheat straw contain — 



Of matter soluble in water - - 9*0 



Of matter insoluble in water - - 81*0 



Now 100 parts of the soluble matter contain — 

 Carbonic acid 

 Sulphuric acid 

 Muriatic acid 

 Silica - 



Potash and Soda 



100-0 



100 parts of the insoluble matter contain- 

 Carbonic acid 

 Phosphoric acid 

 Silica 

 Lime 



Oxide of Iron and Charcoal 

 Potash 



100-0 



" The silicate of potash employed in the preparation of the compost de- 

 scribed above must not deliquesce on exposure to the air, but must give a 

 gelatinous consistence to the water in which it is dissolved, and dry to a white 

 powder by exposure. It is only attractive of moisture when an excess of 

 potash is present, which is apt to exert an injurious influence upon the tender 

 roots of plants. In those cases where silicate of potash cannot be procured, 

 a sufficiency of wood ashes will supply its place. 



" All culinary vegetables, but particularly the Cruciferae, such as mustard 

 (Sinapis alba and nigra), contain sulphur in notable quantity. The same is the 

 case with turnips, the different varieties of rape, cabbage, celery, and red 

 clover. These plants thrive best in soils containing sulphates ; hence, if these 

 salts do not form natural constituents of the soil, they must be introduced as 

 manure. Sulphate of ammonia is the best salt for this purpose. It is most 

 easily procured by the addition of gypsum or sulphate of iron (green vitriol) to 

 putrefied urine. 



" Horn, wool, and hoofs of cattle, contain sulphur as a constituent, so that 

 they will be found a valuable manure when administered with soluble phos- 

 phates (with urine, for example). 



" Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia form the principal inorganic con- 

 stituent of the potato ; salts of potash also exist in it, but in very limited 

 quantity. Now the soil is rendered unfitted for its cultivation, even though 

 the herb be returned to it after the removal of the crop, unless some means 

 are adopted to replace the phosphate of magnesia removed in the bulbous 

 roots. This is best effected by mixtures of night-soil with bran, magnesian 

 limestone, or the ashes of certain kinds of coal. I applied to a field of potatoes 

 manure consisting of night-soil and sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), and 

 obtained a remarkably large crop. The manure was prepared by adding a 



