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noxious quality in unfermented dung ; but it seems 
to be rather the result of an excess of food fur- 
nished to the plants. 
The question of the proper mode of the appli- 
cation of the dung of horses and cattle, however, 
properly belongs to the subject of composite ma- 
nures , for it is usually mixed in the farm yard with 
straw, offal, chaff, and various kind of litter ; and 
itself contains a large proportion of fibrous vege- 
table matter. 
A slight incipient fermentation is undoubtedly 
of use in the dunghill ; for by means of it a disposi- 
tion is brought on in the woody fibre to decay and 
dissolve, when it is carried to the land, or ploughed 
into the soil ; and woody fibre is always in great 
excess in the refuse of the farm. 
Too great a degree of fermentation is, however, 
very prejudicial to the composite manure in the 
dunghill 5 it is better that there should be no fer- 
mentation at all before the manure is used, than 
that it should be carried too far. This must be 
obvious from what has been already stated in this 
Lecture. The excess of fermentation tends to the 
destruction and dissipation of the most useful part 
of the manure ; and the ultimate results of this 
process are like those of combustion. 
It is a common practice amongst farmers, to 
suffer the farm-yard dung to ferment till the fibrous 
texture of the vegetable matter is entirely broken 
down ; and till the manure becomes perfectly cold, 
and so soft as to be easily cut by the spade. 
Independent of the general theoretical views 
T 
