THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



G43 



ical laws above presented, it will be seen 

 that they remove the opposing difficulties, 

 and sustain the position even nnore strong- 

 ly than has been done by experience and 

 observation of actual results in farming 

 practice. The summer cow-pens were 

 not littered, and the trampling of the cat- 

 tle in a few nights destroyed all vegeta- 

 tion,, and made a hard, close, and bare 

 surface. On this bare surface, the remain- 

 ing manure consisting entirely of the ex- 

 crements of the cattle, was left after a 

 week or two, when the animals were mov- 

 ed to enrich another space. If this rich 

 and very putrescent manure remains thus 

 exposed, the hot sun soon dries it so per- 

 fectly, that fermentation either does not 

 begin, or is soon checked ; and this state 

 must continue as long as the weather con- 

 tinues dry. When rain occurs, it pene- 

 trates the dried manure so slightly, that 

 it again becomes dry very quickly, and 

 before fermentation can make much pro- 

 gress, even if it begins. And, therefore, 

 for want of enough and continued mois- 

 ture, there must be but little wa^ite of the 

 manure. 



But suppose this manure to be turned 

 in by the plow, and covered by some four 

 or six inches of soil : then moistuie, the 

 condition before wanted, is furnished to 

 the mianure from the earth, while the air 

 still continues to have sufficient easy ac- 

 cess, and the tempeiature, though lower- 

 ed, is, stiil as high as need be. All the 

 three conditions necessary for fermenta- 

 tion are there operating in the most fa- 

 vourable manner, and its progress must be 

 rapid accordingly. And, as there is no 

 crop then growing on the land, nor any 

 vegetation, to take up the products of fer- 

 mentation, they must pass from one stage 

 of decomposition to the next, subject to 

 waste at every successive change, until 

 the final result is reached, of the forma- 

 tion of gases, and their expansion and 

 escape into the atmosphere, and being 

 mostly carried far off by winds. 



The strongest case of known practice 

 has been here presented, to show how^ 

 manures may be the most completely and 

 quickly wasted by the very means used 

 for their better preservation. But the 

 principle is the same in all cases. And 

 the foregoing statement may have more 

 or less of application to many other and 

 different kinds of manuiing of land. If 



the positions assumed above are consider- 

 ed as established, then enough has been 

 said already to show the fallacy of the 

 generally prevailing opinion, that the cov- 

 ering of manure with the soil is the 

 most effectual mode of securing it from 

 waste. What will next follow, will ser\e 

 as premises for the main proposition 

 designed to be maintained, viz: that by 

 top-dressing, on clover especially, there 

 is less loss of manure, less labour re- 

 quired, and more sure and profitable re- 

 turns, than in any modfe of applying 

 ordinary stable and cow-yard manures. 



Let us proceed to consider the manner 

 in which putrescent manure acts on soil 

 and plants, and is acted upon by decom- 

 posing agents. 



All putrescent manures, or vegetable or 

 mixed materials of which manures may 

 be made, and in every different state as 

 to soundness or decay, consist of matter 

 partly soluble in water, partly insoluble. 

 The proportion of soluble parts in any one 

 mass or kind of material, is the least be- 

 fore fermentation or decay has commenc- 

 ed, and also the less in proportion as the 

 substances are solid, hard and unbroken. 

 In this state of vegetable matter, the part 

 which water can dissolve is very small. 

 This soluble or extractive matter is the 

 part, and that only, which serves as food 

 for plants. Of course, manure, in this 

 fresh and unbroken state, can then furnish 

 but a very minute proportion of what is 

 useful and nourishing to any crop ; and 

 nearly the whole mass is, for the time, in- 

 ert and useless as manure, if not absolute- 

 ly an incumbrance to the soil and crop, or 

 an obstacle to the tillage. However, with 

 every step of advancing fermentation or 

 decay, more and more of the- insoluble 

 and inert parts become soluble and fit for 

 use; and if permitted to feed plants as 

 fast as the parts become soluble, then 

 nothing of the manure will be wasted, 

 and all will be put to immediate and pro- 

 fitable use. But fermentation or decom- 

 position, which acts so beneficially, first 

 in reducing the hard and before useless 

 Ipaits of manure to the soluble and useful 

 state, proceeds next to act upon them in- 

 juriously. If the soluble parts of manure 

 are not taken up by plants, their decom- 

 position still advances — and every suc- 

 cessive step serves to destroy or lessen 

 ome of the remaining fertilizing princi- 



