112 Manure. 
MANURES. 
BY L. CHANDLER BALL. 
The subject of manures has, until a recent period, been very 
imperfectly understood; but science which has done so much for 
other departments of labor, has shed its light upon the neglected 
fields, and deficient crops of the farmer; and among the benefits 
it has confered, is a more correct knowledge of the composition 
and action of manures. 
Analytical chemistry, by resolving into their constituent ele- 
ments, both soil and plants, and the atmosphere by which they are 
surrounded, has discovered and established the true theory of ve- 
getable nutrition, and the farmer is now enabled to place the plant 
or tree which he desires to cultivate, in a position most favorable 
to its habits, and supply it with food best suited to secure its 
perfect development. 
Plants are composed of two classes of ingredients, called or- 
ganic and inorganic. Therefore the food supplied to them must 
contain these two classes, for no amount of one can possibly sup- 
ply the want of the other. Nitrogen cannot take the place of 
lime, nor carbonic acid of silica. The organic part of plants con- 
tains three or four substances, each unlike the other, and this por- 
tion of their food must also contain all these ingredients. The 
inorganic part of plants is likewise made up of eight or ten dif- 
ferent ingredients, none of which, it is believed are capable of re- 
placing the other in the tissues of the plant which they assist to 
build up; and of course the inorganic, or earthy and saline por- 
tion of food supplied to them, must of necessity contain each and 
all of these ingredients, to enable them to maintain a healthy con- 
dition, and mature their seeds and fruits. 
The only difl[iculty at present surrounding the subject, is to as- 
certain with sufficient exactness, what portion of these substances 
is contained in the soil, and what portion must be artificially sup- 
plied. If the crop requires nitrogen, and does not find it in the 
soil, then organic products containing substances from which this 
