White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1857-06-04
far tie farnlrr.
Inherent Manures.

The dung Of horses, sheep and cattle
generally, act as fertilizers only in pro-
portion as they are combined with GER
tain soils. On sandy, calcareons soils,
they are very proftable-such soils being
deprived Of the siliciate of potash, and
of the phosphate; while on a dry soil,
rich in potash, or on soil formed of the
ruins o. granite, or porphyry, or cling
stone, tlese manurss are of little value.
On the contrary, poudrette is an excel
lent fertilizer of such su:is.
The efficacy Of urine as manure is well
known in Flanders. In China, the peo-
pie are prohibited by law from that and
the excrement away. China is the coun-
try of experiment; ages have given to
the people discoveries of all sorts, which
Europe achieved but could not initiate
for the Chinese books give no scientific
accounts, they give mere recipes for THEN
operations. The last half century has,
however given us not only the knowledge
which enables us to equal them in many
arts, but to surpass them; and this adj
vance amongus is due to the judicious ap-
plieation of chemistry. But. how far in
the rear is our agriculture still, when
compared with the Chinese. They are
admirable gardeners they know how to
give each plant its proper education; to
prepare for its appropriate soil. Among
them agriculture has attained the highest
degree of perfection. In that country,
which differs from ours in natural fertili-
ty of soil, they attach very little impor-
lance to tho dung of animals. Among
rs, we have written huge volumes, but
made few experiments. In China, they
never manure their grain crops, except
with human ercrementS--while we scat
ter over our land the dung of animals,
full of all manner of weeds, the seeds Of
which are-undIgested by the animals, and
which spring up with great power among
our useful plants. We need not be as
tonished, then, that in spite of all efforts,
the noxious weeds cannot be extirpated
from our fields. A celebrated botanist
(Igenhouss, J who visited China with the
Dutch embassy, states that it was i'm
possible to find in Chinese field of grain,
one single weed.
In agriculture, the grand maxim is to
give back to the soil in full measure fno
matter in what form all that is taken
from it by the crop; and to regulate that
by the wants of eSSh particular plant
The time will soon come, when we shall
no longer manure our lands with solid
manures, but with solutions, exactly
suited to the, crop desired.
On dry horse dung, upwards of 70
per cent is mere water. The dung of a
horse well fed with chopped straw, oats
and hay, found to contain, when dry,
only ten per cent. of the solid parts Of
the substances. Therefore, in carrying
upon your farms two thousand pounds
of horse dung. you carry on to it fifteen
hundred pounds of water, about four hun
dred pounds ofvegetable matter, and only
about one hundred pounds of the salt
necessary for another crop Of hay, straw
and oats which your horses have eaten.
These salts are essentially composed Of
phosphate of lime and of magnesis,
and siliciate of potash; the latter salt
should predominant in the soil while the
phosphates abound in the grain.