THE CULTIVATOR. 
109 
to the air; and Davy has observed, that, by directing 
these emanations beneath the roots of the turf in a gar¬ 
den, the vegetation was rendered very superior to that 
in the vicinity. 
How long should dung-hills be allowed to ferment; and 
what methods ought to be pursued in forming them ? 
This question leads us to cast a glance upon the nature 
of dunghills; and it is not till after having ascertained 
the difference amongst them, that it can be answered. 
The principal parts of vegetables which are employ¬ 
ed as manure, contain mucilage, gelatine, oils, sugar, 
starch, extractive matter, and often albumen, acids, salts, 
&c. with an abundance of fibrous matter, insoluble in 
water. 
The different substances afforded by animals, includ¬ 
ing all their excretions, are gelatine, fibrine, mucus, fat, 
albumen, urea, uric, and phosphoric acids, and some 
salts. 
The greatest part of the substances, constituting ani¬ 
mals and vegetables, are soluble in water, and it is evi¬ 
dent that in that state they can be employed as manures 
without previous fermentation ; but it is necessary, that 
those which contain much insoluble matter should be 
decomposed by fermentation, because by that process 
their nature is changed, and they form new compounds, 
which, being capable of solution, can pass into the or¬ 
gans of plants. 
Messrs. Gay-Lussac and Thenard have obtained, by 
an analysis of the woody fibre, oxygen, hydrogen, and 
especially more carbon, than from any other part of the 
plant, and they have determined their several propor¬ 
tions. We know that fermentation carries off much car¬ 
bon ; it is then evident that, by causing the fermentation 
of the vegetable fibre, the principle which forms its dis¬ 
tinguishing characteristic will be gradually diminished, 
and that it will no longer be a body insoluble in water. 
It is in this manner that woody plants and the driest 
leaves are converted into manure. 
But as all the solid parts of plants contain fibres 
which cannot be rendered soluble in water, but by a long 
period of fermentation; and as it is in the fibre that 
carbon, a principle so necessary to vegetation, chiefly 
exists, the fermentation of plants is indispensible to the 
procuring of the best part of their manure. 
The custom of appropriating some crops whilst green 
to the manuring of the ground, may perhaps be objected 
to; but I have observed, that in that case the plants are 
buried in the earth at the time of flowering; and whilst 
they are succulent, and their fibres soft, and but little 
formed; and that warmth and the action of the water in 
the earth was sufficient to decompose them; this would 
not take place if the stalks were dried and hardened by 
the formation of the grain. 
The dung of quadrupeds may be mixed advantageous¬ 
ly with the earth at the time of being taken from the 
stable, if it contain no litter, but if it does, it appears to 
me better to cause it to undergo a slight fermentation, 
in order to dispose the straw or leaves of which it is 
composed to become manure. 
It is necessary, in producing the fermentation of dung 
and litter, to use certain precautions by which the in¬ 
conveniences arising from the usual mode may be 
avoided. 
Instead of heaping up in large masses the collections 
of the barn-yard and stables, and allowing them to rot 
uncovered, and exposed to the changes of weather, they 
should be placed under a shed, or be at least protected 
from the rain by a roof of straw or heath. Separate lay¬ 
ers should be formed of each clearing of the stables, 
cow-house, and sheep-pens. These layers should be 
from a foot and a half to two feet in thickness; and when 
the heat, produced in them by fermentation, rises in the 
centre to more than 95°, or when the mass begins to 
smoke, it should be turned, to prevent decomposition 
from going too far. 
Fermentation should be arrested as soon as the straw 
contained in the heap begins to turn brown, and its tex¬ 
ture to be decomposed. To do this, the mass may be 
spread, or carried into the fields, to be immediately mix¬ 
ed with the soil; or there may be mixed with it mould, 
plaster, turf, sweepings, &e. 
When the dung is not of the usual consistency, as is 
the case with that of neat cattle during the spring and 
autumn, it ought to be employed immediately, as I have 
already stated; but if it be impossible to apply it to the 
fields whilst recent, it should be mixed with earths or 
other dry and porous substances, which may serve as 
manures for the fields destined to receive it. 
Upon nearly all our farms the dung of quadrupeds is 
exposed to the open air, without the protection of a shed, 
as soon as it is removed from the stables; and is thus 
washed by the rains, which carry otf all the salts, urine, 
and soluble juices, and form at the foot of the mass a 
rivulet of blackish fluid, which is either wholly evaporat¬ 
ed or lost in the ground. In proportion as fermentation 
advances, new soluble combinations are formed, so that 
all the nutritive and stimulating principles of the dung 
gradually disappear, till there remain only some weak 
portions of the manure, intermingled with stalks of 
straw which have lost all their goodness. 
To remedy as much as possible an abuse so injuri¬ 
ous to agriculture, it is necessary at least to dig a deep 
ditch to receive all the juices which flow from the dung¬ 
hill, in order that they may be used in the spring upon 
the corn or grass lands; or they may be preserved to 
water the grass lands with, after the first mowing. A 
large cask, fixed upon a small cart, and which can be 
filled by means of a hand pump, is sufficient for this pur¬ 
pose. Beneath the tap of the cask must be fitted a nar¬ 
row chest about four feet long, with the bottom pierced 
with holes, through which the liquor may be scattered. 
This mode of watering, when used after mowing, pro¬ 
duces wonderful effects upon the crop of the following 
year. 
Before deciding upon the question, whether dung and 
litter should or should not be made to ferment, it is ne¬ 
cessary to take into consideration the nature of the soil 
to be manured. If this be compact, clayey and cold, it 
is better that fermentation should not have taken place, 
as two effects will be produced by the application of the 
manure in an undecomposed state. In the first place it 
will improve the soil by softening and dividing it, so as 
to render it permeable by air and water ; and in the next 
place it will, whilst undergoing the successive processes 
of fermentation and decomposition, warm the soil.* If, 
on the contrary, the soil be light, porous, calcareous, 
and warm, the thoroughly fermented manure or short 
muck, as it is called by farmers, is preferable, because 
it gives out less heat, and instead of opening the earth, 
already too porous, to the filtrations of water, it mode¬ 
rates the flow of that fluid. Long experience has made 
these truths known to observing, practical farmers. 
When it is required to apply dung to any particular 
kind of soil, it is necessary that it should be used accord¬ 
ing to a knowledge of its qualities. The dung of ani¬ 
mals bearing wool is the warmest; next, that of horses; 
whilst that of cows and oxen contains the least heat of 
any. 
Soft or fluid animal substances change the most easi¬ 
ly ; and the progress of their decomposition is rapid in 
proportion to the diminution of the quantity of earthy 
salts contained in them. Their decomposition produces 
an abundance of ammonial gas. This circumstance dis¬ 
tinguishes them from vegetable substances, the decom¬ 
position of which gives rise to the production of that 
gas, only as far as they contain a small portion of albu¬ 
men. It is particularly to the development of ammo¬ 
nial gas, which, combined with gelatine, passes into 
plants, that we can attribute the wonderful effect produc¬ 
ed upon vegetation by certain dry animal substances, of 
which we shall speak presently. 
Next to the dung of animals, of which I have just 
spoken, the urine of horned cattle and of horses is the 
most abundant manure which can be used in agricul¬ 
ture; and it is not without regret that I see every day 
so little pains taken to collect it. I have already ob¬ 
served, that in those countries where agriculture is con¬ 
ducted with the most care and skill, all the stables are 
floored, and the bottoms of them gently sloping, so as to 
'conduct all the urine into a reservoir, where the remains 
of rape seed, flax, wild cabbage, human excrements, &c. 
&c. are thrown into it to undergo fermentation. In the 
spring, when vegetation begins to be developed, this fer¬ 
mented liquor is carried into the fields to water the crops. 
There are few animal substances of which the nature 
varies as much as that of urine; the quality of food, or 
the state of health, produces a sensible change in it.— 
The urine of animals is more or less abundant and ac¬ 
tive in its qualities, in proportion as their food is juicy 
or dry. Those which live upon dry fodder give less urine 
than those which aie fed upon green herbage; but that 
of the first contains a greater quantity of salts than that 
of the last; and that which is produced directly by 
drink, contains less animal matter than that which is se¬ 
creted from the blood by the urinary organs. There are 
different states of individuals, which may explain satis¬ 
factorily the disagreements in the results which have 
been given, by the numerous analyses which have been 
made of this fluid. 
Mr. Brandt has found the urine of a cow to contain, 
Water,. 65 
Phosphate of lime,. 5 
Muriate of potash and ammonia,. 15 
Sulphate of potash,. 6 
Carbonate of potash and of ammonia,.... 4 
Urea,. 5 
100 
Messrs. Fourcroy andVauquelin have extracted from 
that of the horse,. 
Carbonate of lime,. 11 
Carbonate of potash,. 9 
Benzoate of soda,. 24 
Muriate of potash,. 9 
Urea,. 7 
Water and mucilage,.940 
1,000 
An analysis of human urine byM. Berzelius afforded, 
Water,. 933 
Urea,. 30.1 
Uric acid,. 1 
Muriate of ammonia, free lactic acid, lac¬ 
tate of ammonia, and animal matter,.. 17.4 
981.5 
The remainder is composed of sulphates, phosphates, 
and muriates. 
It may be seen from these analyses, that there is a 
wide difference in the urine of various animals, but that 
* A virtual admission, that the vegetable litter of the yards 
will undergo fermentation in a compact, clayey, cold soil; of 
course this process will the more readily take place on a po¬ 
rous, light and warm soil. Whence, then the economy of 
fermentation in the yard, at the expense of the volatile and 
more valuable parts of the manure? If fermentation will 
warm a cold soil, it will equally benefit a warm one, which 
we intend for our corn crop, and where the grand desidera¬ 
tum, in our northern climate, is to accelerate the growth and 
maturity of the crop.— Cond. 
all contain salts which enter into plants, with the water 
by which they are held in solution; and draw in at the 
same time those animal portions, which, like urea, 
are easily soluble, and can be decomposed without dif¬ 
ficulty. 
Amongst the principles contained in urine, there are 
some salts undecomposable by the digestive organs of 
vegetables; such are the phosphate of lime, the muri¬ 
ate and the sulphate of potash. These can serve only 
to excite and stimulate the organs; but the urea, the 
mucilage, the uric acid, and other animal matters, must 
be considered as eminently nutritive. Urine in its re¬ 
cent state should never be employed as manure; it acts 
with too much force, and has a tendency to dry the plants; 
it should therefore be either mixed with water, or al¬ 
lowed to ferment. 
Urine is very useful for moistening all those substan¬ 
ces which enter into compost; it increases the fertilizing 
properties of each one of them, and facilitates the fer¬ 
mentation of those which need to be decomposed be¬ 
fore yielding their nutritive qualities. 
Urine, when combined with plaister, lime, &c. forms 
a very active manure for cold lands. 
Bones have, at the present time, become in the hands 
of the agriculturist a powerful agent in fertilizing the 
soil. These parts of animals are principally composed 
of phosphate of lime and of gelatine. Those bones 
which are most usually employed, contain about equal 
quantities of phosphate and gelatine. The bones of the 
ox yield from fifty to fifty-five per cent of gelatine; those 
of the horse from thirty-six to forty; and those of the 
hog from forty-eight to fifty. 
The bones of young animals contain more gelatine 
than those of older animals, and have a less compact 
texture. The bones of the feet of the elk, the roe-buck, 
stag, and hare afford, upon analysis, from eighty to 
ninety per cent of phosphate. 
When bones are to be employed as a manure, they 
should be ground fine, and thrown into a heap to fer¬ 
ment. As soon as this action shall have commenced, 
so as to give out a penetrating odor, the mass should be 
spread upon the earth, and be afterwards mixed with it; 
or it may be thrown upon the seed, and buried in the 
ground with it. When seeds are sown in furrows, it is 
a good method to place some of the ground bones in the 
furrows with them. 
In some countries the fat and the greater part of the 
gelatine are extracted from bones, by boiling them in 
water, before selling them for agricultural purposes.— 
But by this operation they are deprived of a great part 
of their fertilizing powers. Upon carefully observing 
the appearance of a mass of bones under fermentation, 
I found the surface of a part of them to be covered with 
a thin coating of an unctous substance, sharp and biting 
to the taste. This appeared to me to be formed by the 
combination of gelatine with ammonia; this last being 
always developed during the decomposition of all ani¬ 
mal substances. The observations of M. D’ Arcet, to 
whom we are indebted for a very valuable work upon 
gelatine, support this opinion. 
It is possible, that, when the ground bones are em¬ 
ployed without having been first submitted to the com¬ 
mencement of a fermentation, the gelatine is gradually 
decomposed in the ground, and the same result at length 
produced; or, we can conceive that water, acting upon 
the bones, will dissolve the gelatine, and transmit it to 
plants; and in both these cases the influence of the bones 
upon vegetation is very great, whether it be considered 
as h purely nutritive manure, or in the double connexion 
of a nutritive and stimulating substance. 
When bones are calcined in a close vessel, they yield 
oil and carbonate of ammonia; the proportion of the 
phosphate is not sensibly diminished; but the gelatine 
is decomposed. There remains after the operation from 
sixty-six to seventy-two per cent, of the weight of the 
bones employed. This residue, broken and pulverized 
with care, is of great use in the process of refining su¬ 
gar. After having been used in this process, and be¬ 
come impregnated with ox blood and animal carbon, I 
have found it to be one of the best manures which I 
could employ for trefoil and clover. It should be scat¬ 
tered with the hand upon the plants, when vegetation 
begins to be developed in the spring. 
Some of the dry parts of animals, as the horns, hoofs, 
and claws, approach closely to bones in the nature of 
their constituent principles; but the proportions of 
these vary prodigiously. In such parts, gelatine consti¬ 
tutes the largest portion; and for this reason they are 
more esteemed as manure than the hones. M. Merat- 
Guillot has found but twenty-seven per cent of phos¬ 
phate of lime in the horn of a stag, and M. Hatchett, by 
an analysis of five hundred grains of the horn of an ox, 
gained only one-fifth part of earthy residuum, of which 
a little less than one half-was phosphate of lime. 
The clippings and parings of horns form an excellent 
manure, of which the effect is prolonged during a suc¬ 
cession of years, owing to the difficulty with which wa¬ 
ter penetrates them, and the little tendency they have to 
ferment. 
A very good manure is likewise formed from wool. 
According to the ingenious experiments of M. Hatchett, 
hair, feathers, and wool are only particular combina¬ 
tions of gelatine with a substance analagous to albumen; 
water can only dissolve them by means of fermentation, 
which takes place slowly, and after a long time. 
One of the most surprising instances of fertile vege¬ 
tation that I have ever seen, is that of a field in the 
neighborhood of Montpelier, belonging to a manufac¬ 
turer of woollen blankets. The owner of this land caus¬ 
es it to be dressed every year with the sweepings of his 
