272 
FERTILIZERS. 
The inorganic portion, or ash, consisted of, 
Alkaline salts,. 207*80 
Phosphates of lime and magnesia, with a 
little phosphate of iron,. 25*10 
Carbonate of lime,. 18*20 
Carbonate of magnesia,. 4*30 
Silica and alumina and loss,. 13*40 
268*80 grs. 
The object of the analysis is to determine how much of the soluble salts waste out of the 
heaps of barn-yard manure, when left exposed to the rains. It is evident that those drainings 
are equally rich as the pure liquid excrements, and when the yard is so situated as to drain from 
the premises they are most lost; and indeed the loss must always be great from volatilization. 
The greatest losses from these heaps is in the phosphates, which, of course, can not come from 
the urine, as it is too poor to furnish it. The drainings are still richer when the urine is mixed 
with the heaps or poured upon them. They are found to contain, in a gallon, 617^ grains of 
dry residue, rich in ammonia, which escapes freely when boiled, or when mixed with quicklime. 
This residue consists of, 
Ammonia,. 21*50 
Organic matter,. 77*60 
Ash,. 518*40 
The latter consists of, 
Alkaline salts,. 420*40 
Phosphates of lime and magnesia,. 44*50 
Carbonate of lime,. 31*10 
Carbonate of magnesia,. 3*40 
Silica and alumina,. 19*00 
518*40 grs. 
To save, in the most economical way, the drainings of farm-yard manures, no method has 
been found so effectual and cheap as peat, where it abounds. In many cases charred peat may 
be used. The great tract of peat and marl country, from Rome west, traversing the counties 
of Onondaga and Cayuga, abounds so much in these substances that they could be employed to 
the greatest advantage in increasing the amount of the fertilizers of the stables; that too much 
can scarcely be said in recommending the subject to farmers. The river counties also abound 
in peat. In the northern, it is equally common. There is, therefore, an immense amount of 
peat for agriculture in the State of New-York, which is not exceeded, probably, by any country 
in the world ; and there is probably no method of turning peat land to so much profit as the 
application of them in the way and manner recommended. If the time has not yet come which 
