MANURES — THE FOOD OF PLANTS. — NO. 4. 
243 
MANURES— THE FOOD OF PLANTS— No. 4. 
Nitrogen, so important in the formation of 
the gluten in wheat, and an indispensable con- 
stituent of all muscle-forming food of animals, 
constitutes about 79 per cent, of the atmosphere, 
but abundant as it is in the air, plants cannot 
absorb it by their leaves, nor in its simple form 
by the roots. For this purpose, it must be in a 
chemical combination with its equivalent of hy- 
drogen, forming ammonia ; or with oxygen 
united to some alkaline base, as a nitrate. 
Ammonia is generated in large quantities 
from stabk; and other rich manures while pass- 
ing through the process of fermentation. It es- 
capes in the form of carbonate of ammonia, and 
passes into the air, and is lost to that farmer 
who suffers his manure heaps to obtain a great 
degree of heat. The ammonia in the manure, 
(as confidently asserted by some, who have 
written upon the subject,) is the most valuable 
part of it. Guano is generally esteemed valua- 
ble in proportion to the amount of ammonia it 
is found to contain upon analysis. There are 
several ways by which this volatile gas can be 
partially, or wholly arrested in its upward flight, 
from the fermenting manure. For this purpose, 
dilute sulphuric acid, gypsum, copperas, charcoal, 
clay, and sawdust are used. The three first-named 
will fix the ammonia, as the acid will chemically 
combine with it, forming sulphate of ammonia, 
a soluble, but not a volatile salt of ammonia. 
The three last-named substances possess in a 
.great degree, the property of absorbing and re- 
taining for the use of* the plants the carbonate 
of ammonia. It is not only important to the far- 
mer who wishes to grow good crops, to save all 
the ammonia of his manures, but to obtain from 
other sources as much as possible. Probably 
but few, compared with the great mass of far- 
mers, are aware of the great loss they suffer 
from a lack of knowledge in the proper man- 
agement of manures. Thousands are careful 
to save most of the solid part of the droppings 
of their cattle, while they take no means to save 
the urine, which is vastly more rich in nitrogen 
than the dung, as ' also inorganic matters 
(with perhaps the exception of silex). I have 
before me, a statement by Mr. Flietman. of the 
Geissen Laboratory. He has recently found 
that the inorganic constituents in the urine 
and excrements of man, for a period of 24 
hours, are to each other as 13 to 2-J-. That 
is, that the urine contained nearly six times 
the amount of earthy salts that the faces 
did. Perhaps, there is not that difference be- 
tween the solid and liquid excrements of cattle 
and horses, but I think, I do not hazard much, in 
saying, that t&e urine of a stock of cattle, if 
rightly managed and applied, is worth as much 
as the manure. Not having a barn cellar, I use 
at the rate of one bushel of fine dry charcoal 
and three quarts of ground plaster daily to 
every ten head of my cattle. This is spread over 
the hovel floors, with litter of straw and refuse 
hay thrown upon the coal. The manure is dai- 
ly thrown under sheds and protected from rain 
and snow. The charcoal I obtain at our rail- 
road depot — a mile from my farm. There are 
thousands upon thousands of bushels made daily 
by the locomotives on our railroads in this 
country, and probably nearly the whole of 
which is wasted, a large proportion might be 
very cheaply obtained by farmers. Charcoal 
for agricultural purposes is much more valua- 
ble than most farmers ever dreamed of. 
There are various sources besides what a far- 
mer has about his premises, from which he can 
obtain materials for increasing the amount of 
nitrogen for feeding his crops. The fleshings 
of hides and skins from tanneries — ten pounds 
of lean meat contains as much nitrogen as 
100 pounds of cowdung. Also waste wool 
from cording mills — woolen factories, &c, re- 
fuse fish and fish offal, hair bristles, the drop- 
pings of the hen roost, &c. All accidentally de- 
funct animals from a mouse up to an elephant, 
instead of being unburied to polute the air by 
their stink, should be covered up, (not buried,) 
in ten times their bulk of loam, turf, muck, or 
clay. All the above-named substances yield 
nitrogen in large quantities, and many of them 
are equally rich in the phosphates. The phos- 
phates and nitrogen constitute the most impor- 
tant part of all animal manures. If farmers 
would generally exercise a little more industry 
and skill in this matter, hundreds of thousands 
of dollars' worth of extra manure, might annual- 
ly be made from waste materials that, in many 
cases, are a nuisance. 
At page 64 of your February number, I perceive 
that one of your correspondents, Mr. Oglesby, of 
Missouri, has got on the right track, as he is in 
the habit of collecting from town a great variety 
of fertilisers which he gets all " free gratis for 
nothing" — as thousands of farmers could if they 
possessed equal tact and go-a-head-i-tive-ness. 
He says from reading your paper, he finds these 
materials all contain the elements of fertility 
if he only knew how to manage them. I will 
just say to Mr. O. compost all your materials 
collected in town, with loam, muck, clay, &c, 
for a few months before using, and you will 
have a large amount of the " element of fertility" 
in an available form for your crops, and this 
you can have without purchasing Bommer's or 
any other man's patent right for making manure. 
Levi Bartlett. 
Warner, N. H., March, 1850. 
Spaying Sows. — Have you ever heard of 
spaying sows, by a new process? Two months 
ago, I tried with success, and with less pain to 
the animal, than when done with the knife. It 
is, to inject with a small syringe, up the uterus, 
about a wine-glassful of sulphuric acid. This 
destroys, on the part of the sow, all desire to 
take the boar. I would inquire whether any 
other one has tried this plan? Inquirer. 
Sore Necks of Oxen are sometimes cured by 
covering the yoke with sheet lead. White lead 
is also an excellent thing to dry up the sores of 
oxen or horses. 
