576 HUSBA 
very rapidly into the ftate of putrefaction, they may fre¬ 
quently be incorporated with fuch vegetable materials as 
are little difpofed, or with difficulty made to rot or be¬ 
come putrid, and by fuch means ufeful compofts be more 
expeditioufiy formed. In making die of luch earthy fub- 
ftances as have been mentioned, it may be of much ad¬ 
vantage to have them expofed to the influence of the at- 
mofphere for a conflderable length of time, frequently turn¬ 
ing them over before they are mixed with the manures, as 
by fuch means they become in a more pulverized Ifaite, and 
are capable of being more intimately blended with fuch 
materials, and afterwards fpread over the land with much 
greater equality, a circumflance upon which their effefts 
very much depend. If, in- performing this bufmefs, the 
earthy fubftances be .formed into a fort of ridge, about 
five or fix feet in height, and nearly the fame breadth in 
the bottom, they will be in the molt proper iituation for 
being united with dung, or other matters that may be 
employed. 
• Animal Substances with Lime.- —Lime is a fub- 
ftance that has often been too indifcriminately made life 
of in the formation of compofts, but which, by attending 
to tbs following circumftances, may admit of being em¬ 
ployed extenfively and with more beneficial effeils. 
Where the deftrudlion or decay of green or frefti vegeta¬ 
ble matters, efpecially thole of the more coarfe and hard 
kinds, is intended, it ihould be ufed in its caultic ftate in 
fmall quantities; as in this condition, thus fparingly em¬ 
ployed, it reduces more expeditioufiy the ligneous and 
.more hard parts of fuch matters to an earthy ftate; and 
as, during its aftion in this way on thefe fubftances, fuch 
elaftic matters are fet at liberty, as by their fubfequent 
combination afford ammonia or volatile alkali, it may fre¬ 
quently be a beneficial practice to blend fuch earthy fub¬ 
ftances as have been juft mentioned with them, and there¬ 
by prevent the elaftic matters from being diflipated and 
loft. If a portion of rich farm-yard dung be afterwards 
incorporated with thefe materials, a valuable compolt will 
be formed. 
Quicklime is likewife found ufeful fometimes in bring¬ 
ing the hard parts of dead vegetable matters, as tanners’ 
bark, fern, ftraw, cabbage-ftalks, leaves, &c. quickly into 
the ftate of earth or mould ; but, whenever it is made ufe 
of in this way, it Ihould be had recourfe to only in a very 
fcanty proportion to thofe of the matters with which it is 
mixed, as when it is employed in large proportions it is 
liable, from the heat that is extricated or difengaged by 
its combining with the moifture of fuch fubftance, being 
fo augmented during its flaking, to convert them into 
a coaly fubftance that is infoluble, and at the lame time 
to force off, in the form of gas, their elaftic principles, 
except fuch a quantity of carbonic acid as may combine 
with the lime during the procefs. 
By the common practice of blending quick or cauftic 
lime with farm-yard dung, much lofs is frequently fuf- 
taine-J; as, by its violent operation upon fuch fubftances, 
forne of the elaftic matters are not only fet at liberty and 
quickly conveyed into the atmofphere, but, with what re¬ 
mains, infoluble faline compounds are formed which can¬ 
not aflift vegetation. 
There can be iittle doubt but that, by combining lime 
with animal fubftances, they may be rendered highly ac¬ 
tive as manures* efpecially when applied on foils that have 
a l'ufficiency of thole earthy fubftances on which they can 
exert their full influence. Lime might thus be combined 
with bones or woollen-rags, or with a comport: of earth 
and night-foil; and would certainly greatly facilitate their 
conversion into manure, as well as render them more ac¬ 
tive in producing their effefts in the flipport of vegetable 
crops. And by fome of their properties being abforbed by 
the lime, during the time of tlreir decompofltion, and af¬ 
terwards parted with more flowly in the foil, they may 
alfo by fuch means be probably rendered more durable 
and lafting as manures. Lime thrown into a privy will 
spake an excellent compoft with the excrement, -and at 
NDRY, 
the fame time take off the ill fmell and noxious vapours 
of it. Saw-duft, peat-mofs, or any common earth, will be 
highly ufeful in abforbing the urine. Lime will alfo ren¬ 
der the excrement fo ftiort and dry, that it may be ufed 
as a top-dreffing. Two cart-loads of ordure mixed with 
ten loads of earth and one of lime will be a fufficient top- 
dreffing for an acre, and is excellent upon light lands for 
wheat or barley; for the former of which it Ihould be 
ufed early in the fpring ; and for the latter, it may be ei¬ 
ther fcattered upon the young crop, or harrowed in with 
the feed. It is particularly convenient for all drill-crops. 
Mr. Wight, in his Survey of the Huflxmdry of Scot¬ 
land, mentions a compoft of two parts lime, and one part 
pigeons’-dung, to remain mixed until a conflderable fer¬ 
mentation advances, which is known by the effluvia. Six 
bolls of this compoft, he fays, is fufficient for an acre, and 
will mark itfelf for many years. There are many combi¬ 
nations of this nature that may be fuccefsfuily made ufe 
of for the purpofes of agriculture, but which have not 
yet been fufficiently attended to, to afeertain their dif¬ 
ferent effedls. 
Various animal fubftances of the fifli kind, as the blub¬ 
ber remaining after the preparation of oil from the whale 
and other large fifties, and different forts of fmall fifli ’ 
both of the fliell and other kinds, may be employed'as 
manures; and alfo the offals of fuch animals, where they 
can be procured in a large quantity, as in large towns, 
fea-diftrifts, and where they are cured or prepared in great 
numbers for the market. Thefe fubftances may be readily 
reduced to that ftate which is proper for manure, by mix¬ 
ing with them a fmall portion of the carbonat of lime, 
and afterwards, according to circumftances, a quantity, 
two or three times more than the whole, of good vegeta¬ 
ble mould. Shell-fifli, fuch as mufcles, are commonly 
applied without being mixed with earthy matters; but 
this is certainly a wafteful practice, as much of fiieir va¬ 
luable principles is diflipated and loft, as is evidfent from 
the highly dilagreeable ttench that alTails the neighbour¬ 
hood of the ground on which they have been applied. 
By mixing good vegetable mould or peat-earth with 
them, as has been mentioned above, the quantity of the 
manure would not only be greatly increafed, but the of- 
fenfivenefs attending the ufe of luch manures in a great 
meafure correfted, and the effefts of them in promoting 
the growth of vegetables probably rendered more advan^ 
tageous. 
The ref ufe of flaughter-houfes and butchers’-lhops 
may likewife be prepared, and made ufe of in a fnnilar 
manner to that of fiih. For, as the manures that are 
formed from thefe animal materials are capable of afford¬ 
ing much elaftic volatile matters during their decompo¬ 
fltion, they of courfe require to be well mixed and blend¬ 
ed with fuch earthy fubftances as they can combine with, 
and render foluble, and in proportion fuited to their 
powers, in order to produce the moft beneficial effects on 
vegetation. 
Oil-Compojl .—Frelh oil alone, fo far from being a ma¬ 
nure, is a poifon to vegetables. Mixed however with 
lime or alkaline felts, it becomes the richeft of manures, 
being thus made mifcible with water; or, made to putrefy 
with animal or vegetable fubftances, it will become a ma¬ 
nure. 
Oil-cake, or rape-cake, has long been ufed as a manure 
in Norfolk. Being ground, or broken into fmall. pieces, 
it is fown by hand out of a common feed-box, upon the 
laft ploughing but one of a fummer-fallow for wheat. 
Alone it anfwers bell on chalky and limeftone foils; on 
heavy loams and clays, much of it will remain inactive, 
unlefs it be mixed with lime, &c. If it be intended for 
a hand-dreffing, fix parts of rape-duft and one of lime 
will make an excellent compoft for foils of every decrip- 
tion. The lime Ihould be mixed with the rape-duft at 
leaft ten days before it is ufed, and turned every day. It 
may thus be applied to wheat as a top-dreffing in the 
fpring. On calcareous foils it may be uled without lime. 
On 
