The number of Horses, Asses and Mules, Neat Cattle, Sheep and Swine, as returned by circular of assistant marshals of Census, 1860. FACTS FOR FARMERS. [The following facts for Farmers were compiled from European exchanges, and as they present a vast amount of ascertained results in a small compass, it was deemed not inappropriate to present them in this condensed form. KLIPPART] Covered and Uncovered Dung.-Dr. Anderson thus describes the result of a series of experiments carried out by Lord Kinnaird, to determine the relative values of dung made under cover and in open courts: "A field was manured partly with covered and partly with uncovered dung, and the produce of potatoes determined; the whole then sown with wheat, and dressed in spring with 3 cwt. of Peruvian guano. The results are (omitting small fractions): Potatoes.... " straw. Uncovered Dung. 156 stones. Covered Dung. 11 tons 15 cwt. 54 bushels. 215 stones. In estimating the value of farm-yard manare, it is a general habit to assume that a certain fraction of the cattle food remains in it, and that the cost of part of this food is withdrawn from the expense of feeding the cattle, and taken as representing the cost of reproducing the manure. Dr. Anderson, on this point, gives the following: "I must confess I have always been of opinion that there is no way in which a farmer is more likely to deceive himself, the proportion of the food which is thus to be referred to the manure-heap being mere guess-work, unsubstantiated by experiment, and generally overrated; as, for instance, when we hear of one-third of the price of oil-cake being debited to the manure. It would be much wiser to ascertain the expenses of feeding, irrespective of the manure-heap, and then, of course, if there is a profit upon it, the manure is got without cost, and nothing but the expense of application is to be estimated; if, on the other hand, there is a loss, that loss is the cost of the production of the manure; and it must be the object of the farmer to see that it does not exceed the price at which farm-yard or artificial manures can be purchased.”* Artificial Manures.-A knowledge of the effects obtainable by these manures * Highland Society's Transactions. has given a wonderful impetus, of late years, to their manufacture and use. It is of importance, then, for the farmer to know the exact position they occupy as fertilizing substances, how far they are calculated to supplement farm-yard manure, and how best their value can be estimated. In a lecture delivered by Dr. Voelcker, and printed at length in the 5th volume of the Journal (new series) of the Bath and West of England Society, a large amount of valuable information on the subject is given, as also in a lecture by Dr. Anderson, delivered during the Highland Society's show, at Dumfries, 1860, and fully reported in the Society's "Transactions" for October. And first, noticing the paper read by Dr. Voelcker, we have to point out the fallacy of the opinion pretty generally prevalent-at least, at one time so-that artificial manures are universal manures, applicable to every description of crop, and are equal to the best home-made or farm-yard manure. They are not so; they are merely valuable supplements to farm-yard manure, enabling "the intelligent agriculturist to make one ton go twice as far as it would without the simultaneous use of artificial manures." Farm yard manure, as we have already said in this section, exercises a mechanical effect upon the soil, in addition to a chemical; artificial manures, on the contrary, exercise only a chemical, and should be looked to rather as the direct food supplied to plants, and which is supplied to plants by farm-yard manure to an inconsiderable extent only. Farm-yard manure has entering into its composition substances which are present in the soil in abundance, or by means of the straw or litter applied to it; these, as lime, magnesia, sand or silica, oxide of iron, and alumina, are of little value; but it has other constituents-nitrogen, phosphate of lime-and these, though small in amount, produce wonderful effects. Alkalies, as potash and soda, are also required by all agricultural plants, nay, are absolutely essential for their existence. Now, these fertilizing matters being of comparatively easy concen'tration in artificial manures, hence their value; they contain large quantities of the substances which are present in small quantities in the soil, and of which plants require larger supplies than can be given through the medium of farmyard manure. "The great value," then, "of artificial manures depends upon the circumstance that they present these important constituents in a concentrated state." In the use of artificial manures it is of importance for the farmer to remember that good crops cannot be secured merely by their aid alone: mechanical cultivation of the soil is essential; super-phosphates, for instance, will sometimes fail in cases where the pulverization of the soil was neglected. Again, the efficacy of artificial manures is greatly induenced by the chemical composition of the land to which they are supplied. Thus in the soils resting upon the green sand formation, and which contain ample funds of phosphate of lime to meet all the requirements of the crops; manures containing bone material or phosphate of lime have no effect. Still further, there are other conditions which influence the efficacy of artificial manures. Thus guano, or nitrate of soda, if used as a top dressing for wheat or oats too late in the season, much of their effect is lost. Wheat should not be top-dressed later than February-in clay soils it may be advisable to use it in autumn. Used late in spring, much of the useful effect of such manures is lost. Again, the mode in which they are applied influences their efficacy. Apply guano in hard lumps, its effects will not be so striking as when it is applied in a pulverized condition, or perhaps mixing it with sand or salt. In addition to all these controlling influences, must be mentioned those of the weather, and the diseases of the plants to which the manures have been applied. Classification of artificial Manures according to their Action.-The classification. of artificial manures, to be strictly correct, is a matter of some difficulty. They might, as Dr. Stöckhardt (see Chemical Field Lectures, Trübner & Co., p. 71) remarks, be arranged according to their chemical constituents, but in attempting this, "difficulties of an insurmountable kind" are met with. "The greater number of manures are complicated mixtures of three, four, five, six, and more elements, which is the most important? Notwithstanding the thousands of experimental and practical deductions respecting manure, we still know nothing positive and irrefragable with regard to the action of the separate elements, and far less upon the question of how they comport themselves in combination with each other. One and the same substance may operate, moreover, in two, three, four, or more ways; its action varies according to its form, as also according to the soil to which it is applied, the kind of crop for which it is used, and so forth.", Professor Volckler in the Journal of Agriculture, March, 1852, gives the following list of artificial manures "according to their action and composition, in an order which begins with the most powerful, and ends with the weakest manure. Some of the materials occur under several heads, wich is an indication that they contain more than one chemical compound, and therefore act in more than one way. 1. Nitrogenized Manures (forcing Manures). "a. Substances containing ammonia (very quick-acting manures). A moniacal salts. Peruvian guano, soot. Putrid animal substances; for instance, blood, flesh, wool. Ammoniacal water of gas-works. Putrid urine, putrid liquid manure. Short dung, particularly sheep, and horse dung. "Nitrogenized matters which pass easily into putrefaction (tolerably quick in their action). Horn shavings, glue. Bones, dissolved, steamed, or finely powdered. Oilcakes of all kinds. malt-dust. Fresh urine, fresh liquid manure. "c. Nitrogenized manures, which decompose with difficulty (slowly acting forcing manures). |