234 
THE CULTIVATOR. July, 
but does the merchant, the manufacturer, the me¬ 
chanic find fault with them? Does the navigator, 
as he sails over the wide expanse of ocean, throw 
aside the chart that was to guide him on his way, 
and when he nears some perilous shore, some rocky 
coast, does he exclaim -—“ Charts are of no use to 
me—I heed them not—if there are hidden rocks here 
I will strike them, and then I will know where they 
are again for myself.’’ Suppose for a moment that 
something too theoretical has been advanced,—some¬ 
thing that practice will not bear out,—is it the right 
way to correct the error to turn one’s back upon 
everything that has ever boon written—to pronounce 
it all bad and dangerous, and to brand it with infa¬ 
my? Have not wild theories been advanced at dif¬ 
ferent times in philosophy and the sciences? How 
have they been corrected? Why simply by men read¬ 
ing them, reflecting upon them, and by the aid of 
their intellects, working out truth from amid the 
mass of rubbish beneath which it was buried. And 
so too must the truths of agriculture be worked out 
from the mass of rubbish beneath which they are bu¬ 
ried . 
Farmers, we are here in an age of improvement; 
inventions and discoveries are crowning every art 
and science. Shall we remain torpid, while every 
thing around us is teeming with the impress of in¬ 
tellect? Depend upon it, we are but in the infancy 
of our occupation so far as mind is concerned. Can 
any man of ordinary intelligence look upon the pre¬ 
sent system of agriculture without discovering in it 
some of the grossest errors? Men wonder that ag¬ 
riculture is not more profitable; but are too indif¬ 
ferent to seek for remedies. Let us awake from this 
indifference—let us seek and examine—let us bring 
hidden things to the broad daylight—summons che¬ 
mistry, geology, philosophy, mathematics, to our 
aid, and press onward to develop new resources and 
principles. H. C. W. Putnam Valley , N. I r ., 
March, 1850. 
JfogUctcb JHamn*c 0 —JCo. 7. 
Liquid Manures, Tanks, &c. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, ) 
New-Haven, Conn., June, 1850. j 
Eds. Cultivator —Having now mentioned in 
succession, a variety of manures in a number of 
classes; having called attention to the fact of their 
being almost universally neglected,and to the leading 
characteristics which in the several cases constitu¬ 
ted their chief value, I propose to leave this subject, 
lest your readers should find it becoming tedious. It 
is far from being exhausted, indeed it is but begun: 
still enough has been said to call into exercise on the 
part of attentive readers, a spirit of watchfulness that 
nothing worth saving shall escape them in future. 
In the present letter, I shall notice the great 
waste of liquid manure, which occurs in many parts 
of the country, and the imperfect methods of at¬ 
tempting to preserve it, which are often adopted. 
Chemical analysis shows the liquid manure, or 
urine,of animals,to contain many valuable fertilizing 
substances. It is always particularly rich in nitro¬ 
gen, also in the alkalies, potash and soda, and in car¬ 
bonic and sulphuric acids. The excrements of birds 
contain both the liquid and the solid part together, 
hence their great richness; this fact alone should 
convince the farmer, that in losing the liquid he 
greatly reduces the value of his solid manures. 
The nitrogen in fresh urine exists there chiefly in 
the form of a substance called urea; this consists in 
a large part of nitrogen, and if dry may be exposed 
to the air for a long time, before it undergoes any 
perceptible change. In the presence of water how¬ 
ever, and the other substances with which it is as¬ 
sociated in urine, a species of fermentation soon 
commences; it is then speedily changed into car¬ 
bonate of ammonia, which readily escapes into the 
atmosphere. In warm weather, the smell of this 
ammonia escaping may be perceived after the lapse 
of a very few hours. If the fermentation be allow¬ 
ed to proceed, the whole of the nitrogen will be 
transformed into carbonate of ammonia, and the lar¬ 
ger part of this will evaporate into the air. If this 
constituent can all be retained, and the liquid ap¬ 
plied to the crops, it is found to be a powerful ma¬ 
nure. Prof. Johnston states, that at Flanders the 
urine of each cow is valued at about $10 per annum. 
Scarcely less valuable are the drainings from the 
dung heaps, or from barn-yards. These. contain, 
large quantities of ammoniacal substances, and al¬ 
so of useful mineral ingredients, dissolved out from 
the solid parts of the manures. They undergo the 
same fermentation as urine, but more slowly, and the 
ammonia also escapes in this case. Where the ma¬ 
nure, as is to be seen in many yards, is exposed to 
constant washing by rains, nearly everything solu¬ 
ble in water is gradually dissolved out, and it is 
thus rendered quite inferior in quality. 
The question now arises, how are these valuable 
liquids to be preserved? and how is the loss of their 
ammonia to be prevented? The method of accom¬ 
plishing this, may vary with circumstances and sit¬ 
uation. 
Where it is practicable to build the barn upon a 
side hill, there is probably no better plan than to 
form a cellar beneath it, where all of the solid ma¬ 
nure can be thrown from above, and the liquid con¬ 
ducted down upon it. A layer of peat or muck up¬ 
on the floor, would prevent any thing from soaking 
through and escaping. In certain situations, ma¬ 
nure kept in this way becomes too dry, and does not 
decompose properly ; in all such cases the liquid ma¬ 
nure would be doubly valuable. Some farmers turn 
in hogs to root over and compost the material in 
such cellars. Manure made in this way is neither 
exposed to evaporation, nor to washing, and one 
load is worth two or even more, of the bleached and 
washed straw and stalks, which we see being cart¬ 
ed out from some yards. If it ferments too much, 
it is necessary to turn it over to check fermentation; 
mixing earth and sprinkling plaster over the top is 
also a good practice. 
In cases where the formation of the ground does 
not admit of a convenient cellar under the barn, a 
tank is the most advantageous receptacle for the li¬ 
quid drainage. This may be made by digging a 
square hole at the lowest part of the premises, and 
rendering it water-tight by a lining of planks, 
brick or stone. This is far better than an open hol¬ 
low, such as may be seen in many yards. These 
are not only disagreeable to the eye, and a source 
of many inconveniences, but they expose the liquid 
to the full evaporating and decomposing influences 
of the sun, so that it decreases and deteriorates in a 
very rapid manner. 
Many farmers think that a tank must necessarily 
be made of great size, or it will overflow. If all 
the water from the eaves of the farm buildings be 
allowed to flow into it, such a necessity exists, but 
if this water is carried away by separate drains, as 
it should be, then the quantity flowing into the tank 
cannot be excessive. During the summer, except 
where much stock is kept, or after showers, little li¬ 
quid would be collected; especially if the yard were 
