THE CULTIVATOR. 
137 
ment of plants. It is generally considered preferable to allow them to 
putrify or ferment; the reason of this is simple. Besides the decomposi¬ 
tion resulting from this operation, which renders the substances more so¬ 
luble in water, the gases produced by it, such as the carbonic acid, the 
carburetted hydrogen, azote, and ammonia, furnish food for plants, or sti¬ 
mulant for their organs of digestion. It is not, however, well to prolong 
this decomposition too far; for if it be completed, there will remain only 
some fixed salts, mixed with those earths and juices which have resisted 
its action. Besides, the effect of manures, which have been entirely de¬ 
composed, is almost momentary, lasting but for a single season; whilst 
those which are employed before arriving at this state, continue to exert 
an influence for several years. In this last case, the decomposition, re¬ 
tarded by the separation of the manures into small portions, continues to 
go on gradually in the earth, and thus furnishes vegetation with its neces¬ 
sary aliments 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 fur¬ 
nished by the stomach, modify these manures to a very considerable ex¬ 
tent. 
The excrements of some animals, as of pigeons, fowls, &c., are employ¬ 
ed without undergoing any new fermentation, because they consist most¬ 
ly of salts, and contain but few juices. Fields are often manured with 
the excrements of sheep, collected in the sheep-folds, or scattered, 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 be¬ 
fore being applied as manure. 
The most general method of producing the fermentation 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 with their urine. 
At the end of fifteen days or a month, it is caried to a place suited for fer¬ 
mentation, and there formed anew, care being taken every day to spread 
upon it litter and the scatterings of the racks. The formation of these 
beds, contributes much to the healthfulness of the stables and to the clean- i 
liness of the animals. When from a scarcity of straw, the beds can not 
be made of sufficient thickness, or renewed often enough, a layer maybe 
formed of lime or gravel, broken fine and covered with straw. These 
earths will imbibe the urine, and when they are penetrated by it may be 
carried 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 ac¬ 
cording 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 argil¬ 
laceous and compact earths, the layers should be formed of gravel and the 
remains of old lime mortars; 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 attended to, the 
floors of the stables are paved and slightly 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 be¬ 
gins 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 complete¬ 
ly decomposed; in another they carry it into the fields as soon as it is ta¬ 
ken 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, fermentation, which can take place only in.masses, will be 
but very imperfectly carrried on in the field, and the rains can convey to 
the plants only that portion of the nourishment afforded by 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 dungheaps. It requires the application of 
certain chemical principles, which it is not necessary for me to explain, 
since it is sufficient to point out to the agriculturist the rules by which he 
should be governed in his proceedings, without requiring of him an ex¬ 
tensive knowledge of the theory upon which they are founded. 
Solid substances, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, 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 action of water of 
their soluble particles, may, in the course of their decomposition, form 
new compounds susceptible 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 pro¬ 
portion as it is useful, is, that some methods 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 immediately 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 heated, carbonic acid gas will be evolved, 
and afterwards carburetted hydrogen, ammonia, azote, &c. A brown li¬ 
quid, 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 black¬ 
ened fibre, and some carbon in powder. 
In those places where'they do not allow fermentation to arrive to this 
degree of decomposition, they still lose, by mismanagement, a considera¬ 
ble part of their manure. 
The most common method is, to deposit 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 
sowing arrives, whether it be in spring or autumn, when it is carried up¬ 
on 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 second place, the heap, being 
exposed to rains, will, by frequent washings, have parted with nearly all 
its salts and soluble juices. In the third place, the extractive portions of 
the lower and central parts of the mass, the mucilage, the albumen, and 
the galatine, will be entirely decomposed; and, lastly, those gases which 
nourish plants, if developed at their roots, will have escaped into the air; 
and Davy has observed, that, by directing these emanations beneath the 
roots of the turf in a garden, the vegetation was rendered very superior to 
that in the vicinity. 
How long should dunghills be allowed to ferment; and what methods 
ought to be pursued in forming them? This question leads us to casta 
[glance upon the nature of dunghills; and it is not till after having ascer¬ 
tained the difference amongst them, that it can be answered. 
The principal parts of vegetables which are employed as manure con¬ 
tain 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, including all their excre¬ 
tions, are gelatine, fibrine, mucus, fat, albumen, urea, uric and phosphoric 
acids, and some salts. 
The greatest part of the substances, constituting animals and vegeta¬ 
bles, are soluble in water; and it is evident 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 
organs of plants —(To be Continued ) 
TENTH ANNUAL FAIR OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 
This exhibition of American productions will be held at Niblo’s Gar¬ 
den, in the city of New-York, October 16, 1837. 
Gold and Silver Medals, Diplomas, and other rewards, will be bestow¬ 
ed on the same liberal principles as on former occasions. Exhibitors are 
requested 'to deliver their articles at the garden on Friday, the 13th of 
October. Such as are intended for competition, must be brought on the 
13th or 14th, that they may be arranged and examined before the opening 
for the admission of visitors, which will be on Monday, the 16th of Octo¬ 
ber, at 12 o’clock. 
The managers are gratified to be able to state, that notwithstanding the 
lamentable contrast between this and last year in the business affairs of 
our country, the applications from those intending to exhibit are as nume¬ 
rous as ever, evincing that the spirit of emulation has not yielded, but re¬ 
mains in full vigor, and promises, from the abundant resources of skill and 
invention, a display as ample and variegated as in seasons the most pros¬ 
perous. The desolating revulsions of commerce have powerfully impres¬ 
sed our fellow-citizens with the necessity of clinging more closely to our 
own domestic resources, and of producing, by the aid of native genius and 
industry, those necessaries and conveniences requisite to competence, 
comfort and independence. 
These considerations seem to have imparted fresh stimulus to ingenuity, 
and opened a brighter prospect of future improvement and display than 
ever. And why should not a reasoning, calculating, self confiding people 
arrive at such conclusions? The elements of wealth remains unharmed 
by the revulsions of trade. Abundant harvests bear testimony that the 
laws of vegetation are beyond the influences of an unsound currency. 
The muscular, as well as the mental energies of a great and increasing 
nation of freemen, are unbroken. Dormant industry, refreshed by a short 
repose, will start again, with accelerated motion and accumulated power. 
There is every where manifestations conclusive that we may safely rely 
on our own ample and independent resources. Our country, though in 
its infancy, presents a population sufficient for an empire more ingenious 
and more industrious than any other that has ever existed. With such a 
