108 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ings betray the existence of greater mischief within the 
foot. The case will, at all events, occupy a considera¬ 
ble time, and give no little degree of trouble; and it will 
be for the owner to consider whether he had not better 
destroy the sheep if he is in tolerable condition, than to 
run the risk of his pining away, and ultimately sinking 
under long-continued and increasing suffering. 
The sheep that has been attacked by foot-rot should 
not be suffered to rejoin his companions while there is 
the slightest discharge from any part of the foot. This 
goes on the supposition that the foot-rot may not only 
be produced by the causes that have been mentioned, 
but that the discharge from the sores and sinuses is of 
an infectious nature. Some valuable writers, and Pro¬ 
fessor Dick among the number, have denied the infec¬ 
tiousness of foot-rot. They find sufficient reason for 
the spreading of this disease through a whole flock, 
from all the animals having been exposed to the same 
exciting cause; the feet of all of them having been ma¬ 
cerated by the soft and damp pasture on which they 
have trodden, and the internal part of the foot being 
thus denuded and injured. 
There cannot be a doubt on which side the preponde¬ 
rance of evidence lies, and the question would not have 
been entered into at so great length were not the settle¬ 
ment of it so essentially connected with the interest of 
the sheep-breeder. It is produced in certain individuals 
of the flock, by the process of maceration and softness 
which the hoof undergoes on the moist surface of cer¬ 
tain pastures ; but once set up, an ichorous and venom¬ 
ous fluid is secreted, by which the disease is too surely 
and rapidly spread. “ In all situations where it has ob¬ 
tained a footing,” says Mr. W. Hogg, “ we find it be¬ 
ginning in a particular place, and, if unopposed ex¬ 
tending wherever there are sheep to be affected by it.” 
It has been said that the manner in which the conta¬ 
gion is conveyed has not been satisfactorily explained. 
There is no necessity, however, to have recourse to any 
epidemic influence, or to any constitutional affection 
produced by feeding on the grass on which the virus 
has been deposited. The account thathas been given of 
the state of the foot, its degree of maceration, the open¬ 
ing of all its pores, the frequent laceration of the horn, 
and the absolute exposure of a greater or less portion 
of the sensitive substance of the foot, the frequent in¬ 
flammation, and sometimes ulceration of the thin skin 
which covers the coronet,—all these circumstances af¬ 
ford means more than sufficient for the absorption of the 
virus and the production of the disease. 
Some persons have imagined that foot-rot is propa¬ 
gated by means of animalcul® which are bred in the vi¬ 
rus of the part, and falling on the pasture, attack the 
feet of other sheep. They have gone so far as to de¬ 
scribe this insect, and to give it a name —the pulex pene¬ 
trans. The author of this work has often sought for it 
in vain ; and the sources of contagion are numerous and 
satisfactory enough, without any gratuitious supposition 
of this kind. 
The establishment of this cause of the disease leads 
to an evident and an effectual mode of prevention ; the 
removal of every sheep that begins to halt, and before 
the secretion of the virus has commenced. It is bad 
policy to let the poor animals crawl about the pasture 
on their knees, day after day; and the sheep-owner will 
severely suffer for his folly. How long a pasture may 
be considered to remain tainted it is impossible to de¬ 
cide; but a heavy rain or sharp frost would probably 
wash the virus away, or destroy its power. The sheep 
that are removed should not be permitted to return un¬ 
til their feet are perfectly healed, and have been well 
washed. 
The previous habits of the sheep would have a more 
decided influence in the production of foot-rot. Suppos¬ 
ing different lots of sheep were taken from a dry upland 
pasture, and placed on a moist and richer soil; the con¬ 
sequence would be that the hoofs of all would be mace¬ 
rated and softened, and exposed to injury, but that inju¬ 
ry would be proportionate to the pressure upon and the 
wear of the foot. That was a very interesting account 
which was given by Mr. Black, p. 532, of the progress 
of foot-rot among certain sheep of different kinds, that 
had been turned into one of the parks. The black-faced 
sheep were first affected, and to the greatest degree ; 
next in degree was a cross between the black-faced and 
the Cheviot; then the Cheviot, and, last and least of all, 
the Leicester breed. “I was at a loss,” says he “ to ac¬ 
count for this peculiar liability in the different breeds, 
while all were exposed to the same circumstances; but 
by carefully watching the flock, I found that the black¬ 
faced got up from their lairs the earliest in the mornings, 
and from their being accustomed to roam from the hill 
to the glen at-the approach of daylight in search of then- 
food, continued from habit to wander through the park 
before they began to feed. The other breeds possessed 
this disposition precisely in the order in which the dis¬ 
ease appeared. Consonant with this is the common re¬ 
mark, that Southdown sheep, removed from their native 
downs to low and moist pasture, are peculiarly subject 
to foot-rot. A most useful conclusion will naturally be 
drawn hence, as to the kind of sheep that should be se¬ 
lected for different soils and pastures. 
As the foot-rot proceeds from the distorted form of the 
hoof, and the irregularity of the pressure, more than 
from the simple wearing away of the softened horn, it 
might be useful, and especially on suspected ground, 
to pare the feet of all the sheep twice in the year—in 
October or November, and April or May, taking advan¬ 
tage of a wet day or two, when the horn will be more 
than usually soft. If there should be the slightest ap¬ 
pearance of unsoundness at these periodical parings, 
the proper applications should be made to the feet.— 
The sheep might occasionally be folded on some bare 
and hard spot, or driven twice or thrice in the week a 
little way along the road. Prevention would in this, 
and many other cases, preserve the animal from disease 
and torture, and the owner from expense and loss. 
Of the Nature and Action of Manures. 
[From, Chaptal’s Chemistry applied, to Agriculture .] 
Under the general head of manures are comprehend¬ 
ed all those substances which, existing in the atmosphere 
or combining with the soil, can be drawn in by the or¬ 
gans of plants, and contribute to the progress of vege¬ 
tation. 
Manures are furnished by various bodies belonging 
to the three kingdoms of nature. Those most common¬ 
ly employed are the results of decomposed vegetable 
substances, and some animal matters. 
The salts, which likewise serve for manures, are im¬ 
bibed by the pores of plants, and serve to stimulate ve¬ 
getation. 
By comprehending all these substances under the ge¬ 
neric name of manures, too extensive a signification is 
given to the word. I divide manures into two classes; 
and in order to deviate as little as possible from the cus¬ 
tomary mode of expression, I shall call those nutritive 
manures, which supply plants with nourishment, and all 
those which excite the organs of digestion stimulating 
manures. These last are, strictly speaking, the season¬ 
ing; the spices, rather than thefood. 
1. OF NUTRITIVE MANURES. 
The nutritive manures are those which contain juices 
or other substances, which, being dissolved in water, or 
otherwise divided to the most minute degree, are capa¬ 
ble of being drawn into the organs of plants. All the 
vegetable and animal juices are of this description. 
These substances are rarely employed in their natu¬ 
ral state for the aliment of plants. It is generally con¬ 
sidered preferable to allow them to putrify or ferment ;* 
the reason of this is simple. Besides the decomposition 
resulting from this operation, which renders the sub¬ 
stances more soluble in water, the gases produced by it, 
such as the carbonic acid, the carburetted hydrogen, 
azote, and ammonia, furnish food for plants, or stimu¬ 
lants for their organs of digestion. It is not, however, 
well to prolong this decomposition too far; for if it be 
comjdeted, there will remain only some fixed salts, mix¬ 
ed with those earths and juices which have resisted its 
action. Besides, the effect of manures, which have been 
entirely decomposed, is almost momentary, lasting but 
for a single season; whilst those which are employed 
before arriving at this state, continue to exert an influ¬ 
ence for several years. In this last case, the decompo¬ 
sition, retarded by the separation of the manures into 
small portions, continues to goon gradually in the earth, 
and thus furnishes vegetation with its necessary ali¬ 
ments for a long time. 
The excrements of animals, formed by the digestion 
of their food, have already undergone a decomposition 
which has disorganized the principles of their aliments, 
and in a greater or less degree changed their nature. 
The strength of the digestive organs, which varies in 
each species of animal, the difference of food, and the 
mixture of the digestive fluids furnished by the stomach, 
modify these manures to a very considerable extent. 
The excrements of some animals, as of pigeons, fowls, 
&c. are employed without undergoing any new fermen¬ 
tation, because they consist mostly of salts, and contain 
but few juices. Fields are often manured with the ex¬ 
crements of sheep, collected in the sheep-folds, or scat¬ 
tered, as in parks, by the animals themselves upon the 
soil; but in general the dung of horses and of horned 
cattle is made to undergo a new fermentation before be¬ 
ing applied as manure. 
The most general method of producing the fermenta¬ 
tion of the dung of quadrupeds, is, in the first place, to 
form upon the ground of sheep-folds and stables a bed 
of straw or dry leaves This bed is covered with the 
solid excrements of the quadrupeds, and impregnated 
* The arguments of Count Chaptal in favor of partially 
fermenting manures before they are applied, seem to rest 
wholly upon the supposition, that the fibrous and woody parts 
of vegetables do not readily become soluble in the soil. This 
conclusion will be correct according to circumstances. The 
refuse vegetable matters of common farm crops, as straw, 
stalks, &c. will decompose if burned in the soil, without any 
admixture, but with greater facility if mixed, as they are in 
the cattle-yard, with the dung and urine of animals, materi¬ 
als that have already undergone decomposition, according to 
the Count’s showing, “ which has disorganized the principles 
of their aliments, and in a greater or less degree changed 
their nature.” And if these are not decomposed the first 
year, they are not lost, but, like the bone and the horn, they 
continue to impart their fertilizing influence for years. But 
if fermentation is permitted to go on in the yard, what do 
we lose? Why, according to our author, we lose the gases 
produced by it, “such as the carbonic acid, the carburetted 
hydrogen, azote and ammonia, [which] furnish food for 
plants, or stimulants for their organs of digestion.” Under 
the fermenting process, we lose most of the active and valu¬ 
able portions of the manure; under the mode of applying 
them in an unfermented state, we save these volatile proper¬ 
ties, and ultimately lose nothing. The writer sets out with 
the proposition, that fermentation should precede the appli¬ 
cation of dung; but liis arguments go conclusively to show, 
that fermentation should not. precede its application. We 
suspect an error has here been committed, either in the 
translator or the printer; and that the proposition, like the 
proof, should stand in favor of unfermented, or but partially 
fermented manures—and not in favor of their being allowed 
to putrify or ferment.— Cond. Cult. 
with their urine. At the end of fifteen days or a month, 
it is carried to a place suited for fermentation, and there 
formed anew, care being taken everyday to spread upon 
it litter and the scatterings of the racks. The forma¬ 
tion of these beds, contributes much to the healthfulness 
of the stables and to the cleanliness of the animals.—• 
When from a scarcity of straw, the beds cannot be 
made of sufficient thickness, or renewed often enough, 
a layer may be formed of lime or gravel, broken line 
and covered with straw. These earths will imbibe the 
urine, and when they are penetrated by it may be car¬ 
ried into the fields to be buried in the soil. The nature 
of the earth, upon which beds are formed in sheep folds 
or stables, should vary according to the character of the 
soil which is to receive them, because, by attention to 
this, the soil may be improved as well as manured.— 
For argillaceous and compact earths, the layers should 
be formed of gravel and the remains of old lime mor¬ 
tars ; whilst those of fat marl or of clayey mud should 
be reserved for light and dry soils.* 
In some countries where good husbandry is much at¬ 
tended to, the floors of the stables are paved and slight¬ 
ly sloping, so that the urine flows off into a reservoir, 
where it is fermented with animal and vegetable sub¬ 
stances, and used to water the fields at the moment when 
vegetation begins to be developed. 
The art of fermenting dungs with litter is still very 
incomplete in some parts of France. In one place they 
let it decay till the straw is completely decomposed; in 
another they carry it into the fields as soon as it is tak¬ 
en from the stables. These two methods are equally 
faulty. By the first nearly all the gases and nutritive 
juices are dissipated and lost; by the second, fermenta¬ 
tion, which can take place only in masses, will be but 
very imperfectly carried on in the fields, and the rains 
can convey to the plants only that portion of the nou¬ 
rishment afforded by the manure; which they can obtain 
by a simple washing. 
The most useful art perhaps in agriculture, and that 
which requires the most care, is the preparation of the 
dung-heaps. It requires the application of certain che¬ 
mical principles, which it is not necessary for me to ex¬ 
plain, since it is sufficient to point out to the agriculturist 
the rules by which he should be governed in his pro¬ 
ceedings, without requiring of him an extensive know¬ 
ledge of the theory upon which they are founded. 
Solid substances, whether animal, vegetable, or mine¬ 
ral, do not enter into plants unless they are previously 
dissolved in water, or are drawn in with that fluid in a 
state of extreme division. 
Animal and vegetable substances which are by their 
nature insoluble in water, may, by being decomposed, 
form new soluble compounds, capable of furnishing 
nourishment for plants. 
Animal and vegetable substances deprived by the ac¬ 
tion of water of their soluble particles, may, in the 
course of their decomposition, form new compounds sus¬ 
ceptible of being dissolved. Of this I have given in¬ 
stances in speaking of mould. 
That which renders the art of employing dung-heaps 
difficult, in proportion as it is useful, is, that some me¬ 
thods which are adopted occasion the loss of a part of the 
manure. In fact when the clearings of the farm-yard 
are carried fresh into the fields, and applied immediate¬ 
ly to the soil, vegetation is undoubtedly benefitted by the 
salts and the juices contained in them; but the fibres, 
the fatness, the oils, remain inactive in the earth ; and 
their final decomposition is slow and imperfect. If, on 
the contrary, the collections of the farm-yard be heaped 
up in a corner of it, the mass will speedily become heat¬ 
ed, carbonic acid gas 'will be evolved, and afterwards 
carburetted dydrogen, ammonia, azote, &c. A brown 
liquid, of which the colour deepens gradually almost to 
black, moistens the heap, and flows upon the ground 
around it; all is by degrees disorganized; and when the 
fermentation is completed, there remains only a residue 
composed of earthy and saline substances, mixed with 
a portion of blackened fibre, and some carbon in pow¬ 
der. 
In those places where they do not allow fermentation 
to arrive to this degree of decomposition, they still lose, 
by mismanagement, a considerable part of their ma¬ 
nure. 
The most common method is, to deposite in a corner 
of the farm-yard the dung and litter, as it is drawn from 
the stables, adding to the mass every time these are 
cleared, and allowing it to ferment till the period of sow¬ 
ing arrives, whether it be in spring or autumn, when it 
is carried upon the fields requiring it. 
This method presents many imperfections. In the 
first place, several successive layers being formed, no 
two of them can have undergone the same degree of 
fermentation; in some it will have gone on for six 
months, and in others but for fifteen days. In the se¬ 
cond place, the heap, being exposed to rains, will, by fre¬ 
quent washings, have parted tvith nearly all its salts and 
soluble juices. In the third place, the extractive por¬ 
tions of the lower and central parts of the mass, themu- 
cilage, the albumen, and the gelatine, will be entirely 
decomposed; and, lastly, those gases which nourish 
plants, if developed at their roots, will have escaped in* 
* These processes involve too much labor for our farmers; 
they innovate too much upon their customary habits; and 
are, withal, we think unnecessary, in the present state of 
our husbandry. A capacious concave cattle-yard will form 
the cheapest, if not the best, bed for a compost for dung, 
urine and litter; and fermentation will have sufficiently pro¬ 
gressed in April or May, when the mass should be taken to 
the field, and buried by the plough, for the hoed autumnal 
ripening crops, to afford a full benefit to the crops.— Cond. 
