162 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



may happen to be unmixed with soil. By fer- 

 mentation it is rendered safe for vegetation. 



Pig's -dung. — Fresh pig's dung, consisting of 

 the excrements and urine, contains, according to 

 Professor Solly, 93 parts of dry organic matter, 

 87 parts of mineral ingredients, and 820 parts 

 of water. This manure contains more nitrogen 

 than horse-dung, and is considered as powerful 

 as night-soil. In an unmixed state it is too 

 strong for vegetation; but when mixed with 

 litter and as much earth as will moderate fer- 

 mentation, it becomes an excellent manure. By 

 throwing in weeds where the pigs can search 

 them over, and which they will not fail to do 

 very assiduously, the portion which they reject 

 is formed into manure of considerable strength. 

 But when weeds enter thus into the composition 

 of manure, it is absolutely necessary that the 

 whole should be thoroughly fermented, other- 

 wise the seeds will germinate, and render the 

 ground manured very foul. When seeds are 

 exposed to moisture, and a degree of heat equal 

 to that which is required for inducing vege- 

 tation, they must either grow or rot; they will 

 attempt to vegetate, but, stimulated by heat 

 and moisture, and at the same time deprived 

 of air and light, they will soon die. At and 

 near the outside of the heap, seeds may exist 

 cool and free from excitement, and consequently 

 their vegetative powers will be preserved, to 

 produce in due time a crop of weeds, after being 

 transferred, along with the manure, to the ground. 

 It is, therefore, advisable that the manure should 

 be turned after fermentation has gone on so far 

 as to kill all seeds in the interior of the heap. 

 The outside or other cool portions should then 

 be carefully turned inwards, where they will be 

 most subject to the effects of fermentation. By 

 adopting this plan, weeds may be turned to 

 account by partly feeding the animals, and by 

 forming a bulk of manure of that which they 

 refuse to eat. The strength of the manure will, 

 of course, be lessened in proportion to the 

 quantity of weeds and adherent earthy matter 

 introduced; but if no more of these be thrown 

 to the pigs than they can thoroughly moisten, 

 the resulting manure will be strong enough for 

 ordinary garden crops. 



Pig's-dung, free from litter or other matters, 

 is employed with very beneficial results in form- 

 ing with turfy loam a compost for Pine-apples. 



Farmyard Manure. — By this is generally under- 

 stood the manure produced by horses, cows, or 

 other cattle kept on the farm. It may be that 

 of one kind of these animals, or it may be com- 

 posed of a mixture of the excrements of several. 



When the excrements of the several kinds of 

 animals are kept separate, their properties can 

 be ascertained by referring to what has been 

 stated respecting the dung of each, and therefore 

 they need not be here further noticed. But, un- 

 less for particular purposes, which may render it 

 desirable to use the dung of one kind of animal 

 in preference, it is in general better that the dung 

 of horses and that of horned cattle, &c, should 

 be mixed. When this is the case, plants can 

 obtain with greater certainty the various ele- 

 ments which they require for their nourishment. 

 The best farmyard manure is accordingly formed 

 by mixing together the excrements, both solid 

 and liquid, of the different animals. The liquid 

 portion cannot be better nor more economically 

 employed than by being soaked up by the litter, so 

 that the latter may have, in consequence, moisture 

 ; enough to allow of its decomposition by a slight 

 fermentation, instead of being dried up and for 

 some crops rendered worse than useless. 



With many it has been, and is still a question, 

 whether farmyard manure should be applied to 

 the soil without the least previous fermentation. 

 But we are convinced that manure is rendered a 

 much readier and better source of food for plants 

 by being judiciously fermented before it is ap- 

 plied to the soil. At the same time we admit, 

 and would strongly urge, the necessity of guard- 

 ing, as much as possible, against the dissipation 

 of its volatile fertilizing principles by violent 

 fermentation. When manure is slightly fer- 

 mented, it produces a more immediate effect 

 than when it is applied fresh. Vegetable fibre, 

 which constitutes a large proportion of the bulk 

 of farmyard manure, decomposes but slowly 

 when introduced without previous fermentation 

 into the soil, and until such time as it does 

 become decomposed, it affords no nourishment 

 to plants. Its presence in that insoluble state 

 may do good in certain soils that require to be 

 kept open, especially at a particular period of 

 the season. Moderately fermented farmyard 

 manure, composed of the dung of various kinds 

 of animals, and which likewise contains as much 

 as possible of their urine, is most proper for gar- 

 den soil that has been duly prepared and reduced 

 to a proper texture. 



Composts are mixtures of various earths or 

 manures. Their number may be said to be 

 infinite, and they are of the greatest utility in 

 horticulture. Many manures, of which only 

 small quantities are necessary, require to be 

 mixed with other substances in order to ensure 

 their even distribution; others, again, are so 

 powerful, that in an unmixed state, instead of 



