160 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 23, 1893. 
applied may, and does, act upon the constituents of the soil, decomposing 
them and rendering them soluble, when they can be utilised by the 
plant. A highly important effect of manuring is that it alters the 
physical character of the soil. Farmyard manure owes its value to a 
great extent to its mechanical action in dividing and pulverising the 
soil. Stiff land always works easier after liming, and the addition of 
marl gives greater consistency to sandy soils. A gardener or farmer 
should know before cropping his ground the constituents that a par¬ 
ticular crop requires for its support, and whether these constituents are 
present there in a soluble state ; if they are not, he should ascertain the 
best way of placing them in the ground at the least cost and trouble. 
If he has a thorough knowledge of these points it will prevent his 
wasting money in the form of applying manure for crops that may be 
of no practical value to them, and which could otherwise be more 
profitably used in the right place and at the right time to be serviceable. 
Manures are generally divided into two classes. First, natural; and 
secondly, chemical. By natural manures we mean, or understand, the 
excrement of animals and residues of crops. These form the natural 
manures of the farm ; with them we should, I think, include guano and 
the blood, bones, and other remains of animals. These form what we 
know as general manures—?'.e., those which supply the main portion of 
the losses of the soil, and therefore provide those requirements of plant 
life that are appropriated by the roots of trees and crops. 
Natural Manures. 
Farmyard Manure. —This contains the excrement of the horse, 
cattle, sheep, and pigs, with litter. The value depends upon the method 
of treatment upon the animals producing it, and their food. It is the 
most valuable from fat and full grown cattle fed upon corn and cake, 
as they remove less from the corn and cake than young and lean stock 
do, or than cows do in production of milk. 
Nitrogenous Guano. —This has been formed from the excrement 
of and remains of the bodies of sea-fowl. When fresh it is highly 
nitrogenous, and consists mainly of uric acid and calcium phosphate. 
In hot, dry climates the substance rapidly loses moisture, and the 
nitrogenous matter is preserved. This nitrogenous guano comes from 
Peru, Chili, South Africa, and Patagonia. It varies in its constituent 
parts, and contains from 3 5 per cent, to 14 per cent, nitrogen, and 12 to 
20 per cent, of phosphorus pentoxide. Some samples contain potassium 
as potass sulphate. 
Phosphatic Guano. —In moist and rainy districts the nitrogen is 
rapidly converted into ammonia, which is lost by evaporation and 
drainage, a phosphatic guano remaining. Phosphatic guanos have been, 
and are obtained from a great variety of sources, Bolivia, Australia, and 
the islands of the Pacific Ocean, especially contributing. They contain 
30 to 36 per cent, of phosphorus pentoxide, and about 1 per cent, of 
nitrogen. 
Bones. —Seldom used in the fresh state ; they are usually steamed 
or boiled to extract the fat. They contain about the following per¬ 
centage of nitrogen and phosphorus pentoxide. 
NITROGEN. PHOSPHORUS PENTOXIDE. 
Fre=li bones .. .. 3 to 4 per cent.19 per cent. 
Steamed .. .. 3 „ 4 „ 23 „ 
Boiled.1 „ 5 „ 23 „ 
Bones are applied to the land as kibbled about half inch fragments, as 
bone meal or flour, and as bone dust. They are also used in the 
production of superphosphates. 
Dried Blood. —A very valuable manure if used in a properly dried 
state. It contains much nitrogen which is readily available for the 
use of crops. The commercial article should contain 10 per cent, of 
nitrogen. 
Meat Meal or Meat Guano. —The residue from the manufacture 
of meat extract in South America, New Zealand, and Australia is so 
named. The composition depends upon the proportion of bones ground 
up with it. It contains from 6 to 13 per cent, of nitrogen and 1 to 
17 per cent, of phosphorus pentoxide. 
Hoop and Horn. —These, with the residue after manufacture of 
combs and buttons, are ground up and form a valuable nitrogenous 
manure containing about 15 per cent, of nitrogen. 
Soot. —This is used as a top-dressing for corn and garden crops. It 
is very valuable when mixed with potting compost, and also with other 
manures in liquid form for watering various soft and hard-wooded 
plants. It yields about 5 per cent, of nitrogen. 
Fish Manure. —This is used when certain crops or plants that 
require phosphorus and ammonia. Valuable for Vines, Peaches, and 
most stone fruit, and largely used for Chrysanthemums. Fresh sprats 
contain 63 per cent, of water, 2 per cent, of nitrogen, 21 per cent, of 
ash, which contains 43 per cent, of potash and 9 per cent, of phosphorus 
pentoxide. Fish offal is simply dried and powdered ; it contains about 
8 per cent, of nitrogen and 6 to 13 per cent, of phosphorus pentoxide. 
Chemical Manures. 
These include the great number of substances, most of which are 
rich in one, two, or most of the constituents necessary to be present in 
the soil; such as nitrogen, potash, phosphorus, and other elements or 
compounds. 
Sodium Nitrate occurs naturally in large beds in Chili and Peru, 
and is known as Chili saltpetre. This is one of the most important 
sources of nitrogen, probably the most important. The impure deposit 
called caliche contains about 50 per cent, of pure nitrate, and is purified 
by boiling with water; the liquid is allowed to stand till the solid 
impurities have settled, and is then run off into tanks, and the pure 
nitrate crystallises out from the solution. The commercial salt should 
contain 95 per cent, of real nitrate, and 15-65 per cent, nitrogen. This 
nitrogen is present in the form most readily assimilated by plants, and 
its great solubility renders it the most powerful and rapid of all 
nitrogenous manures. 
Saltpetre or Nitre forms an efiiorescence on the soil in hot 
climates, as in India. This efflorescence is collected and treated with 
water, in which the nitrate of potash dissolves. On allowing the liquid 
to stand the earthy and clayey matter subsides, the clear liquid is 
drained off and evaporated, when crude nitrate of potash remains. 
Potash Salts (Kainit). —Crude potassium salts are generally 
used under the name of kainit, which is found as a deposit at 
Stassfurt in Prussia. A good sample should comprise the following 
ingredients :— 
COMPOSITION OF KAINIT. 
Water.3-36 
Combined water .10-88 
Sulphate of potash.24-43 
Sulphate of calcium (gypsum).2-72 
Sulphate of magnesium .. 13-22 
Chloride of magnesium .. .. .. .. .. .. 14-33 
Chloride of sodium (salt).30-35 
Insoluble matter .0-71 
For the benefit of readers not acquainted with the reading of 
chemical analysis, it will be clearer if I say when 100 lbs. of kainit is 
applied to a Potato or Carrot crop 24-43 lbs. of the 100 will be sulphate 
of potash, 2-72 lbs. sulphate of caleium, 30 35 lbs. chloride of sodium 
(common salt), and so on as is given in the analysis. Combined water 
is the water of crystallisation. 
Potassium Sulphate (K 2 SO 4 ) is a compound where 2 atoms of 
potassium have displaced 2 atoms of hydrogen from sulphuric acid 
(H2S04). 
Example 
:-H2S0^ 
-h 2 KC 1 
= ^ 2^04 
-f 2 HC 1 
Sulphuric 
acid 
Potassium 
chloride 
Potassium 
sulphate 
Expelled hydrogen, 
re-combined with 
chlorine from the 
potassium chloride, 
and forms 
hydrochloric acid 
(HCl). 
Calcium Sulphate (CaS04) is 
also a compound, which occurs 
in nature, and is known as anhydrite, but a more usual variety of the 
sulphate is that termed gypsum. As will be seen, 1 atom of calcium 
displaces 2 atoms of hydrogen from sulphuric acid (H^SOp. 
e,y. :-HSO^ -f CaCO, = CaSO, + HO -f CO„ 
^ i o 4 2 « 
Sulphuric Calcium Calcium Water Carbon 
acid carbonate sulphate dioxide. 
Magnesium Sulphate (MgS 04 ).—This salt is found in nature 
combined with seven molecules of water, and is known as Epsom salts, 
soluble in water. A form combined with one molecule of water, known 
as kieserite, is very insoluble. Magnesium also displaces 2 atoms of 
hydrogen from sulphuric acid. 
e.g. + MgCOg = MgSO^ -f H^O + CO^ 
Sulphuric Magnesium Mg. sulphate Water Carbon 
acid carbonate dioxide. 
Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2) is a compound of magnesium and 
chlorine, it occurs in th 3 “bittern,” or mother liquor remaining in the 
' purification of common salt, chloride of sodium. 
