416 
Management  of  Manure. 
at  a cost  of  towards  21.  per  acre,  in  order  to  distribute  the  urine 
of  150  cattle  by  hose  over  the  entire  surface, — however  much  one 
must  respect  enterprise  and  ingenuity,  it  becomes  imperative  to 
examine  the  philosophy  of  the  arrangement.  Now,  it  actually 
appears  by  the  analyses  of  Boussingault  and  of  Von  Bibra,*  that 
the  urine  of  the  ox  and  the  horse  contain  none  of  the  phosphorus 
voided  by  them,  which  remains  exclusively  in  their  solid  drop- 
pings. The  arrangement,  then,  really  seems  opposed  to  theory 
as  well  as  to  practice,  since  an  expensive  and  troublesome 
apparatus  is  laid  down  which  not  only  leaves  behind  carbon, 
about  which  some  doubt  may  exist,  but  actually  forgets  another 
element  — phosphorus,  known  positively  to  be  essential  for  a 
principal  crop,  that  of  turnips.  It  may  be  possible  to  amend  the 
plan  by  mixing  the  solid  droppings  with  the  urine,  and  force  both 
united  through  those  pipes.  It  may  be  possible,  I say,  to  force 
this  pulpy  fluid  through  a long  range  of  pipes  without  clogging 
them,  though  I much  doubt  it.  But  even  then,  I ask,  what  is  to 
become  of  the  straw  ? Are  we  prepared  to  forego  all  use  of  it  upon 
the  land  ; and  if  not,  in  what  form  is  it  to  be  applied  ? When  the 
capital  of  landlords  is  so  much  wanted  for  undoubted  improve- 
ments, it  becomes  a bounden  though  ungracious  task  to  warn  them 
against  what  appears  to  the  last  degree  questionable  in  science  as 
well  as  novel  in  practice.  We  indeed  have  little  or  no  experi- 
ence on  the  subject;  but  foreign  writers  who  are  best  acquainted 
with  liquid  manure,  seem  least  enamoured  with  it.  We  have  heard 
Sprengel,  a German  and  a chemist,  who  says  again,  speaking  of 
its  German  use  as  mixed  largely  with  water,  “ The  urine  tanks 
are  not  such  excellent  arrangements  as  they  are  frequently  repre- 
sented to  be,  and  it  is  in  many  cases  more  profitable  to  pour  the 
urine  over  the  dung  in  the  dung-pit,  or  to  supply  so  much  straw 
that  the  whole  of  the  urine  may  be  absorbed.”  What  says  our 
other  great  authority,  Boussingault,  a French  chemist  and 
farmer?  “ He  is  led  to  adopt  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Creed  re- 
specting them,  viz.,  that  the  advantages  ascribed  to  them  in 
Switzerland  are  exaggerated.”  Lord  Spencer,  I know,  had  strong 
objections  to  the  housing  of  cattle,  except  of  course  the  fatting 
beasts.  When  he  first  began  farming,  as  he  told  me,  it  was 
the  fashion  for  every  gentleman  who  piqued  himself  on  his  farm- 
ing, to  soil  his  cattle ; but  he  had  seen  the  fashion  expire.  Sir 
John  Sinclair  visited  a field  of  a Mr.  Harley’s,  manured  by  an 
engine  with  cow-house  drainage,  which  had  been  mown  sixteen 
times  in  three  years.”  This  statement  is,  I suppose,  forty  years 
old,  yet  one  would  think  it  had  been  written  yesterday. 
This  marvellous  effect  of  liquid  manure  is  not  indeed  due 
* Liebig’s  Agricultural  Chemistry,  4tli  edition,  p.  209. 
