j January 2. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 253 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
D 
m 
D 
W 
Weather near London in 
1S53. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
11. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
JANUARY 2—8, 1855. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. Wind. 
ltain in 
Inches. 
Rises. 
2 
To 
Chelifer Geoffroyi. 
29 . 291 — 29.205 
32—24 
S.W. 
_ 
9 a 8 
IV 
7 49 
14 
4 12 
2 
3 
W 
Acarus domesticus. 
29 . 316 — 29.132 
32—28 
E. 
— 
8 
1 
rises. 
© 
4 40 
3 
4 
Tn 
Cychrus rostratus. 
28.940—28.912 
32—31 
S.E. 
86 
8 
2 
4 a 51 
16 
5 7 
4 
5 
F 
Nothiophilus aquaticus. 
28.920—28.900 
36—31 
N.E. 
03 
8 
3 
6 0 
17 
5 34 
5 
6 
S 
Epiphany. Twelfth Day. 
29.104—28.98Q 
38—28 
W. 
08 
8 
5 
7 10 
18 
6 1 
6 
7 
Sun 
1 Sunday after Epiphany. 
29.158—28.851 
42-37 
s. 
33 
7 
6 
8 22 
19 
6 27 
7 
3 
M 
Agonum vaporariorura. 
29 . 169 — 28.697 
46—31 
S.W. 
7 
7. 
9 33 
20 
6 53 
8 
Metf.oeology of tiie Week.—A t Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-seven years, the average highest and lowest tem- 
peraturcs of these days are 43°, and 30.4°, respectively. The greatest heat, 54°, occurred on the 6th, in 1645; and the lowest cold, 
7th, in 1841. During the period 117 days were fine, and on 72 rain fell. 
6°, on 
The greatest difficulty which the cultivator of a small 
plot of ground has to encounter is the acquirement of a 
sufficient supply of sufficiently cheap' manure. If he 
has conveniences for keeping a cow and pigs, this diffi¬ 
culty is unknown to him ; if he is careful of his house- 
sewage, as we recently shewed, the difficulty may be 
almost entirely avoided ; and if, in addition to his 
allotment, he has a poultry-yard, it may be escaped 
altogether. 
The dung of fowls is one of the most fertilizing of all 
manures. Guano, the richest, perhaps, of the whole, is 
no more than the dung of Sea-fowls; but our attention 
will now be confined exclusively to the dung of the 
feathered tenants of the farm-yard. 
It is no modern discovery that this is a manure so 
valuable, for Varro, who was born more than a century 
before the Christian era, states, “ that the foeces of birds 
are the best (manure), excepting birds which frequent 
water and the fens. Among these, the dung of Pigeons 
has the preference, because it is warmest, and ferments 
the soil. It should bo scattered over the ground like 
seed, and not put in heaps as that of cattle.”—( De re 
rustica, i 38.) 
Columella, about a.d. 50, gives a preference to fowls’ 
dung before that of any other animal. He says, 
“There are three chief kinds of dung :—that produced 
by birds, that by men, and that by cattle. Pigeon-dung 
is reckoned the best of the first kind; next to it the 
dung of hens and other fowls.” (De re rustica ii. 15.) 
The two brothers, the Quintilii, writing about a.d. 
180, give the following almost similar statement:—“The 
dung of all birds is good—that of Geese and aquatic 
birds excepted, on account of its moisture, and even 
this mixed with other kinds is useful. The dung of 
Pigeons possessing much heat is very preferable to all 
others; on which account some scatter it thinly with 
the seed, without any preparation. It is useful to cold, 
sluggish soil, cherishing it, and rendering it more 
genial .”—(Geoponilca ii. 21.) 
These ancient testimonies might be much multiplied;' 
but it will be more useful to refer to more modern 
evidence; but before doing so, we may as well observe, 
that the ancient prejudice against the dung of aquatic 
fowls is totally unfounded. That of Ducks is especially 
fertilizing, and Guano is a wholesale refutation. 
The only crops to which, at present, we can bear 
testimony that the dung of fowls (that of Shanghaes) is 
highly beneficial, are the Cabbage-worts. Wo have 
had some of the finest Savoys and Brocoli from plots 
to which no other manure had been applied. 
Mr.Rust,of Enfield, writing in 1852, says—“I wish to 
call attention to a home-made manure, equal, if not 
better, than any Guano ever imported—I mean Poultry 
Dung. I have used it for a considerable time, and I 
now come to the conclusion that it ought to bo used in 
a liquid state. 1 find it to be an excellent manure for 
almost all sorts of soft-wooded plants, as well as vege¬ 
tables, which it is desirable to grow quickly. Hard- 
wooded plants do not form an exception, but for them 
it requires to be used with greater caution. I put one 
spadeful of dung to fifty gallons of water, stirring it up, 
and it is fit for use. Half that quantity of dung is 
sufficient for plants in pots.”— (Gardener's Chronicle, 
1852, p.357.) 
Other good authorities give their testimony that the 
dung of fowls is a very valuable fertilizer; and as it is 
little less powerful than Guano, if properly preserved, 
the following from Mr. Toilet of Botley Hall, Staf¬ 
fordshire, is valuable, as it shows how rapidly this 
home-made Guano accumulates. Writing to the Royal 
Agricultural Society, in March, 1853, he say,—“Keep¬ 
ing a large number of Cochin-China fowls, I began, 
in tbe autumn of last year, to collect the dung of my 
Poultry-yard, and am now possessed of two or three 
tons of it. The Poultry are fed with a regular propor¬ 
tion of animal food, Hempseed also being a consi¬ 
derable portion of their diet, together with corn of the 
best quality. I thought the dung produced might 
compete with the deposits of the sea-birds in the South- 
sea Islands. It is collected twice in a week, and is 
secured from the wet by being put into sugar hogs¬ 
heads. I am putting myself in communication with 
Professor Way, the consulting chemist of the Society, 
in order to procure an analysis of the Poultry-manure 
thus secured in my management of the Shanghae 
Poultry. The result of tbe analysis will shew how 
far this practice is likely to become a branch of our 
rural economy. The collection of the manure is effected 
at a trilling expense, and the health and cleanliness ^ 
of the Poultry are thereby greatly promoted.” 
Of the result of Professor Way's analysis we are not 
informed; but we have no doubt that, coinciding with 
the previous analyses of Wollaston and Vauquelin, it 
will shew that the chief components are urate of 
ammonia and phosphate of lime. Two of the most j 
valuable components of all oxcrementitious manures. 
No. OCCXXYII. Vol. XIIT. 
