38 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
lue as to discourage the planter in tiis efforts to 
obtain it. 
One of the most successlul planters in this 
Society has declared, that for many years past, 
he has ceased to perceive any improvement in 
his crops Irom the use ot cow-pen manure. The 
stalks have indeed increased to a large size, but 
they either produce little Iruit, or fail to mature 
a good crop. It is obvious from this result, 
that there can be no want of nitrogenized matter 
in the manure, or it would not promote rank 
vegetation. The defect must lie in its inorga- 
nic constituents, and we may, by comparing the 
analysis of cotton and of our manures, find 
wherein the deficiency exists. Let it be remem- 
bered, however, that we are hampered in our 
reasonings by the want of full information 
which it is the province of the chemist alone to 
give. 
Dr. Ure gives the following as the result of 
his analysis of cow dung: lime, phosphate of 
lime, magnesia, iron, alumina, silica, mu 
riate, and sulphate of potash— in other words, 
all the inorganic constituents of cotton. It is to 
be remarked, that though all the ingredients are 
there, yet some exist in almost infinitessimal 
quantities. Thus, all the ehloritie, sulphur, 
and potash, in 34 lbs. of dried cow dung, amount 
altogether to about J9 ounces, while the amount 
of potash alone in a thousand pounds of cotton 
in the seed, is equivalent to five pounds. Now 
a good crop of cotton in the limits of this Soci- 
ety, not unfrequenlly yields a thousand pounds 
of cotton in the seed, or five pounds of potash, 
on two acres of land. Let us now suppose a 
liberal supply of compost bestowed upon two 
acres. If we say a hundred loads of manure to 
the two acres, we will far ex eed the average 
amount of manuring. Another liberal allow- 
ance would be the supposition of the presence 
of the equivalent of three bushels of thoroughly 
dried cow dung in each load of compost, and the 
measure of our liberality will be filled to over- 
flowing, if we suppose each bushel to weigh fifty 
pounds. Now, the 15,000 lbs. of cow dung, 
which is thus applied to the two acres, contain 
but five pounds of sulphur, ch'orine, and potash 
together, whereas the cotton to be obtaine : Irom 
the two acres, would require five pounds of po- 
tash alone. It is obvious, theretore, that if the 
soil is wanting in these ingredients, the crop of 
cotton to be obtained by this manuring must 
fall far short of an average good one, and this 
becomes' perceptiblv so, when it is recollected 
that the whole amount of manure is not con- 
sumed in a season, but that its effects are con- 
tinued for several years.* 
It is but just to observe that the urine of the 
cow, yields by analysis a larger proportional 
quantity of these necessary ingredients in which 
the dung is deficient But this advantage is 
hardly compensated when we reflect that in a 
thousand parts of this excrement all the saline 
ingredients together do not constitute a fiftieth 
portion. 
Chemistry has revealed the composi'ion of 
the excrements of the cow, a manure which we 
find decidedly inferior in value to that of the 
horse. We have not, however, the same accu- 
curate analysis ot these last to enable us to com- 
pare them rigorously. We must use the lis-ht 
we have so far as it goes, and trust to logical 
deductions for some of the conclusionsto which 
v;e shall arrive. 
And in the first place, chemists differ very 
materially in the partial analysis which they 
have made of horse dung. Macaireand Mar- 
cet found 27 per cent ot inorganic matter or 
salts, in that analyzed by them. Lie' ig admits 
that he has never found over 10 per cent, and 
Dr. Jackson, of Boston, somewhat under 8 per 
Since the above was wiitlen. we have seen Dr Da- 
vis’s statement, that the weight of cow dang, as evacu- 
ated, isjnst87 pounds. Now. if 83 per cent, of this 
be water, the al lowance of .'iO lbs , as the weight of the 
dry dung, is indeed an excess of liberality. The true 
weight of the dry dung is just 22 lbs and the qmntity 
necessa. y to equal 15.00 i lbs . would be 652 bushels. 
Compare this with the statement in the text, and we 
will see ho\y small a portion of these salts is conyeyed 
to the 5«il through the medium of cow dung. 
cent. These discrepancies stagger our laii.. in 
the partial results which have een produced. 
Suppose, however, the lowest to be the most 
accurate, and we have nearly four times the 
amount of inorganic matter in the excrements 
of a horse as in those of a cow. It is to be re- 
marked, also, that the p osphate of magnesia 
exists in a notable quantity in the dung of a 
horse, and is also a conspicuous constituent of 
cotton. The partial report of Dr. Jackson, how- 
ever, gives no potash nor sulphur whatever. 
This consideration alone induces uslo consider 
the analysis incomplete, and compels us in 
the absence of a rigorous analysis, to resort to 
the indications afforded by a logical investiga- 
tion. 
The cattle whose excrements have been sub- 
mitted to the test of analysis, are better treated 
in every respect than those from which we de- 
rive our manure. It is a common sense prin- 
ciple, and a rule in practical agriculture is 
based upon it in Europe, that the excrement of 
an animal shall bear a fair proportion to the 
food he eats. Ihus in the neighborhood of 
Hildeshrine, in Germany, the farmers pay a 
higher price for the excrements of Protestants 
than for those of Catholics, as those of the latter 
are impoverished by the numerous fasts enjoin- 
ed by the Church of Rome. The same must 
be true likewise of the lower animals. In Eu- 
rope, where cattle constitute an important item 
in a farmer’s wealth, they are led with the most 
nutritious food which they are capable of di- 
gesting, and their excrements must par ake of 
the nature of their food. The clover and tur- 
neps which the happy cattle of that country 
consume, are rich in the most valuable inor- 
ganic constituents, and hold in large quantities 
potash, magnesia, sulphur, and phosphorus, 
and yet, with all Ihis advantage in pointof food, 
their excrements are inferior in value to those 
of the horse. Far greater then must be the dif- 
ference here, where ihe cow is left to her own 
ingenuity to draw her nourishment from the 
soil. The grasses abounding in phosphates 
are not found w'ith us, and it is more than pro- 
bable that the small quantity of earthy phos- 
phates they do contain, are all required to aid 
in the formation and support of the bones of the 
animal, leaving a very minute portion to pass 
out in the excretions. 
The horse on the contrary is as well fed here 
as in any part of Europe, perhaps (for w'e have 
not yet learned the economy ol farming) he is 
better ^ed. W e have therefore a right to expect 
to find in his excretions the constituents of 
maize, viz: potash, lime, phosphorus, magne 
sia, and sulphur, and the quantity ol sulphur 
will be sensibly increased when he is ted on 
peas. Moreover, his urine yields nearly five 
I er cent, of saline ingredients, while that ot a 
cow fails short of two. 
We can thus, by investigating the constitu- 
tion of the food which the two animals eat, dis- 
pense in a great measure with any particular 
analvsis of their excrements, and salelv come 
to the following conclusion : That the inorganic 
constituents of the excrements of a horse, are 
more than double in quantity to those ot the 
COW', and that while tho'e ot the latter consist 
chiefly of silicates, those of the former abound 
in the phosphates of lime and magnesia, two of 
the most important constituents of cotton. 
We would suggest therefore the propriety of 
improving the value of oui cow pen composts, 
by the admixture of certain mailers of known 
utility, and either cheap, it purchased with mo 
ney, or easily accessible to every cotton plan- 
ter. 
And in the first place, we would recommend 
the addition of a bushel ot gypsum for every 
acre which it is intended to cover with the com- 
post. 
The advantage of this mixture is a double 
one. In the first place, we add to the manure 
both lime and sulphuric acid, substances which 
perform important functions, not only in the 
growth of cotton, but of every crop we cultivate ; 
and, in the second place, we prevent the evapo- 
ration of the amtnoniacal gases which have al- 
ways a temlency to escape during the piogress 
of decomposition. 
A strong prejudice prevails in many parts of 
South Carolina against the use of gypsum, and 
this prejudice is strengthened by the considera- 
tion that it was imported largely for the sake ol 
its supposed fertilizing properties, and failed. 
But it should be remembered that, at that time, 
the use of any manure was a blind practice, 
equivalent to quackery; that from the use of 
gypsum, unaided by other agents, all virtues 
were expected; that it was used as a panacea 
tor all agricultural evils, and that disappoint- 
ment was the natural consequence of such un- 
reasonable practices and hopes. And yet, with 
all the odium attached to its memory, we have 
heard of some singularly favorable results at- 
tending its use. Among others, we have heard 
that the late Thomas Palmer, Esq., from his 
plantation in St. Stephens,lheaverage production 
of w hich was 60 lbs. of cotton per acre, obtain- 
ed one year, with the aid ol gypsum, an ave- 
rage of 120 lbs. Il subsequent experiments re- 
sulled in failures, this may be accounted for in 
a variety of ways; the gypsum may (as lime 
will do) have exhausted the soil; this is no 
mystery in countries where lime is used; the 
seasons may have been unpropiiious. And it 
may be true, that in the absence of any marked 
beneficial result, our planters may have been 
discouraged, and seized gladly any pretext lor 
saving their money and avoiding a labor to 
which they were unaccustomed. Ol all men in 
the world, agriculturists are the most unwilling 
to follow improvements in their profession, and 
the readiest to discover the inability of those 
suggested. Our planters long since knew that 
lime was used in their very neighborhood with 
favorable results, but it requited the energy and 
fire ot a Ruffin to make the adoption of its use 
general. 
In addition to the gypsum, we would recom- 
mend that all the spare cotton seed should be 
cast upon the compost heap. It is needless to 
dwell, betore this Society, upon the inestimable 
value of this manure. We would only suggest 
that the cow-pen would be materially improved, 
while the coiton seed would be permitted to be 
spread profitably, though in small quan'ities, 
over a much greater surface than they could be 
if applied in the u'-ual vvay. 
Lastly, we would pertect the compost by the 
addition of ashes. There is no manure, coiton 
seed perhaps excepted, which, applied singly to 
land, proriucessuch strikingresults. The ashes 
of the oaK, though most acce.'<sible to us, con- 
tain all the inorganic constituents of cotton, and 
are particularly rich in lime, potash, sulphuric 
aci't', ' hlorine, and phosphoric acid, while they 
contain so much of all iis other constituents as 
to preclude the idea of deficiency in any. 
It may be objected to the addition of ashes to 
the compost heap, ih u the mixture will hasten 
the evolution ofa.nmonia, and thus roh ihe ma- 
nure of its nitrogen. Il, however, gypsum be 
applied previously, or in combination with the 
ashes, this objec'ion will in a great measure be 
removed, since the ammonia has an affinity 
with the sulphuric acid of the gypsum, with 
which it fo ms a solid body, the sulphate of am- 
monia. but even were this not the case, ob- 
serv'ation has taught that it is almo-^l impossible 
to expel all the nitrogen; that which remains, 
will unite with the potash; in the great labnra- 
torv ol nature, fresh supplies will be elicited 
'rom the atmosphere, and the p-sult will be the 
nitraie o' potash, or common saltnetre of com- 
merce, an agricultural agent at least as valua- 
ble as any preparation of ammonia can be. 
We close our report with the relation of a few 
facts, cooling under our observation, corrobora- 
tory of the views we have <'fl' red. 
On thc22dday of August la^t, the Commiuee 
on Manures visited Fair Spring, the plantation 
ol Mr. Robert Mazyck, to witness the result of 
his experiments with green sand. This marl, 
of which this is the only locality hitherto dis- 
covered in the State, is found in a ravine, on 
the Eastern side of Begin Swamp. It is ol a 
lively green color, so soft as to be easily turned 
