HOME-MADE GUANO. 
87 
this vicinity, from whom he purchased 1837 hogs, 
making an average of 334 60-100 lbs.; and when the 
world can beat such weights, old Butler County will 
try again. R. H. Hendrickson. 
Middletown , O., Jan. 27, 1845. 
> HOME-MADE GUANO.—No. 2. 
Liquid Manure .—Besides the carbonate of ammonia, 
which exists in this in considerable proportions, it con¬ 
tains a large quantity of salts, or the earthy constitu¬ 
ents of vegetables ; among which, phosphate of lime 
is one of the most valuable. In the animal economy, 
most of these materials, which have been taken into 
the stomach as nutriment, are by the action of the 
kidneys separated from the contents of the intestines, 
and pass into the bladder with the urine, thus de¬ 
spoiling the feces of its most important fertilizing 
properties. Hence, analytical chemistry has shown, 
that the urine of an animal is much more valuable 
as a manure than the solid excrements. Now, 
although this information, in part, may not be a new 
idea to thinking agriculturists, yet, in its fullest extent, 
it probably is to all who have not, either by direct 
and accurate experiment, or by the perusal of the 
best authorities, satisfied themselves of its truth. The 
remark is common among good farmers, that when 
cattle are permitted to drop their manure on straw or 
refuse hay, or turf (any vegetable or earthy absorb¬ 
ents), which is carefully protected from washing or 
evaporation, it is worth double or treble the same 
droppings when not so incorporated and treated; yet 
it has probably occurred to very few of them, that 
their increased value was due almost solety to the 
effectual absorption and retention of the urine. 
The most economical and efficient method of secur¬ 
ing this invaluable ingredient, is by the construction 
of tanks, of sufficient capacity to hold all that is 
voided till it can be properly applied. To give it the 
greatest value, it is necessary that it should undergo 
fermentation, by which ammonia is developed. This 
can be effected by having separate tanks, each of 
■which, when filled, should be allowed to ferment, 
and may then be directly applied to the land, or in¬ 
corporated with muck till wanted for use. Ten dol¬ 
lars per annum for each cow’s urine, has for a long 
time been given by the clo.se, calculating, and penu¬ 
rious Flemings; and it has been estimated by Pro¬ 
fessor Johnston, that if all the urine is saved, a sin¬ 
gle cow will yield 900 pounds of fertilizing materials, 
fully equivalent to an equal weight of the best Peru¬ 
vian guano, which has hitherto commanded $60 per 
ton in the English market. The farmers of the 
United States ought to be highly obliged to any of 
their friends who will suggest a more certain and 
rapid way of making their labor and capital produc¬ 
tive, than in the construction of tanks for husbanding 
the urine of their horses and cattle, and applying 
their contents to their exhausted fields. 
This practice, judiciously carried out, would add 
largely to the merits of the soiling system, where the 
urine by this means is properly economised. There 
is no doubt a great saving of labor to be made in the 
present manner of managing urine; for to prevent the 
escape of the ammonia while it is undergoing the 
putrefactive or fermentative process, it is required to 
add three times its quantity of water; otherwise a 
loss occurs in the unmixed of 85 per cent., or nearly 
xx-sevenths of what would in the other case be re¬ 
tained. The addition and subsequent removal of this 
large quantity of water must necessarily be attended 
with a good deal of labor; and it will hardly be con¬ 
sidered as presuming too much on the prospective de¬ 
velopments of agricultural chemistry, to Delieve that 
it will hereafter suggest such economical combina¬ 
tions as will enable the farmer to evaporate the large 
proportion of water which holds the valuable ingre¬ 
dients in solution, and allow him to carry as much of 
the fertilizing principle on to his fields in a small 
basket, as he is now enabled to draw with a span of 
horses in his hogshead. 
Since penning the above, the practice of a shrewd 
farmer, as detailed in a Scotch paper, has fallen under 
my notice, which, as embodying as practical and 
perhaps as economical a method of treating liquid 
manure as is known, I subjoin. 
“ Liquid manure, if applied upon an impervious or 
gravelly soil, in a fresh state, is not retained long 
enough for its decomposition to take place, or for the 
roots to drink it up. [t is put on a liquid manure, 
and runs off in the same state; but apply it to a soil 
rich in decayed or decaying vegetable matter, and on 
which a vigorous vegetation is going on, and it never 
fails of its extraordinary effects. The plan of admin¬ 
istering liquid manures in a perfectly fresh state, is 
probably the best of any, were it not the continued 
care and consequent expense necessary in supplying 
our crops with saturated water in all their stages 
throughout the year, and were we certain of the ex¬ 
act strength of the solution suited to their wants. 
“ As we, therefore, cannot apply our liquid ma¬ 
nures on the best principle, on account of the ex¬ 
pense, we must try the next best plan, that of de¬ 
composing them by the aid of decomposed vegeta¬ 
ble matter; and this can happily be done, to great 
perfection, by reducing the vegetable matter to the 
state of carbon or charcoal—which we make from 
peat, as being trifling in expense, easily pulverized, 
and withal an excellent manure of itself. We divide 
a shed into two compartments, one of which we 
make water-tight, by puddling the side walls with 
clay to the height, say, of two feet, and separated 
.from the other compartment by a low water-tight 
wall or boarding. This is my fermenting tank, 
which is filled half or three parts full of pulverized 
burnt peat, and the liquid manure from the stable, 
pig-styes, &c., directed into it. This is mixed up 
with the pulverized peat, and allowed to remain three 
or four weeks, till the decomposition seems about 
completed, being occasionally stirred about after the 
composition has become about the consistency of 
gruel. The whole is then ladled (with a pole and 
bucket) over the low partition into the second floor, 
which is also three parts filled with the carbonized 
peat; and as the second floor is meant merely as a 
filter, we have it lower on one side than the other, by 
which means, in the course of a day or two, the car¬ 
bonized peat is left comparatively dry. The water 
having passed off at the lower side, the first or fer¬ 
menting floor is again filled as before, and the con¬ 
tents of the second floor, if considered saturated 
enough, are then shovelled up into a corner, and 
allowed to drip, and further dry till used, which may 
be either immediately, or at the end of twenty years, 
as scarcely anything will affect it, if not exposed to 
the continued washing of pure water, or exposed to 
the influence of the roots of growing plants. By 
