Liquid Manure. 
135 
In the fifth experiment it was thought desirable to use a very 
dilute fertilizing; mixture ; and, consequently, liquid manure, 
kindly supplied to me by Mr. Mechi, of Tiptree-hall, was 
selected. The composition of this liquid manure will be stated 
in a subsequent page. 
The first filtration experiment was made with a soil from field 
No. 19 of the Royal Agricultural College Farm, Cirencester. 
Submitted to a mechanical analysis, this soil was found to 
contain, in 100 parts, — 
Moisture I'ol 
Organic matter ll'OB 
Carbonate of hme 10"82 
Clay 52-06 
Sand 24-53 
100-00 
It appears from this that the soil in question is a calcareous 
clay. In wet weather it is very sticky and stiff; worked in dry 
. weather it breaks up in hard unmanageable lumps. By autumn 
cultivation its physical properties have been considerably im- 
proved. A portion of the soil, taken from a large well-prepared 
sample, yielded, on being submitted to chemical analysis, the 
following results : — 
Moisture I'ol 
Organic matter and water of combination .. 11-08 
Oxides of iron and alumina 14-25 
Carbonate of lime 10-82 
Sulphate of lime "71 
Magnesia '51 
Potash (in acid solution) '32 
Soda (in acid solution) -05 
Phosphoric acid "10 
Insoluble sihcates and sand (chiefly clay) .. 61-78 
101-13 
This soil was mixed with liquid manure in the proportion of 
2000 grains of soil to 7000 grains of perfectly clear liquid 
manure, the composition of which has just been stated. After 
shaking the soil and liquid together, and repeating this at in- 
tervals several times, the whole was allowed to settle ; after a lapse 
of 24 hours the tolerably dear liquid was syphoned off. Notwith- 
standing that the filtration through fine filtering-paper was re- 
])eated many times, the liquid remained somewhat turbid. It 
was found, however, that a perfectly clear liquid could be ob- 
tained by allowing the filtered liquid to subside for eight days, 
and then carefully pouring off tlie clear liquid from the small 
deposit. This course has been followed in all subsequent ex- 
periments, and yielded tolerably satisfactory results. 
The liquid manure originally had a brown colour ; after filtra- 
tion through the soil the colour of the liquid was scarcely less deep. 
