The Farming of Cheshire. 
89 
pressing', especially in cold weather, it can be conveniently re- 
moved to any warm situation. Artificial heat is now introduced 
into many cheese-rooms, either by means of hot-air stoves or steam 
conveyed in cast-iron pipes through the rooms, for the purpose 
of forwarding the ripening of the cheese. By these means, large 
dairies, which formerly were scarcely ever marketable before 
April or May, are now sold as early as October or November. 
Manures. 
In addition to the old-fashioned manure from the farm-yard, 
marl, lime, and bones — all alluded to by Dr. Holland, though 
the latter at that time were in very limited use — the most im- 
portant kinds which have of late years been tried in this county, 
are guano and nitrate of soda. 
The manure from the farm-yard, if well prepared by occa- 
sional turnings, and if, when carted out into the fields, previously 
to its being applied to the land, it be properly thrown into heaps, 
and covered with soil to keep in the ammonia — is considered the 
best for general purposes ; but for pasture-land alone, especially 
the poorer kind, there is nothing to equal in efficacy " bone 
manure," either as regards the permanency of its effects or the 
production of a sweet luxurious herbage, of which all cattle are 
fond. Many thousand acres of the poor clay-soils have been 
covered with this manure during the last eight or ten years, and 
the results have been truly astonishing. There are two descrip- 
tions of bones which are used — the boiled and unboiled. The 
former sort undergoes a process of boiling for three or four days, 
by which the grease and nearly all the glutinous matter are ex- 
tracted. This kind of manure is preferred by many, being much 
quicker in its operations when applied either to pasture-land or 
turnips ; and nothing has yet been advanced to prove that the 
durability of its effects is not as lasting as those of the unboiled 
bones. The average quantity applied is about a ton and a half 
per acre. The unboiled bones, by means of improved mac hinery, 
are reduced to a much smaller size than they formerly were, and 
from this cause are undoubtedly more speedy in their effects. 
The manure thus prepared is also in high favour ; but as bones 
in this state contain a portion of animal matter, valuable for manu- 
facturing purposes, though not very essential as a manure, they 
are invariably sold at about 50 per cent, more than those which 
are boiled ; and it has not been demonstrated that they possess 
any properties which are more permanent or more fertilizing than 
the cheaper kind. When bones are applied to pasture-land they 
are generally paid for by the landowner, the tenant being re- 
stricted from breaking up the lands which are thus improved, and 
charged from 7 to 8 per cent, upon the outlay. 
