But it is unnecessary to insist on this subject, as all agriculturists are now agreed with regard to the utility of manures. It is of more importance to give direc tions respecting their collection, preparation, and ap plication, as in these matters hushandmen, in many dis tricts, are evidently deficient. Manure has been, and not unaptly, characterized as the magic wand of the farmer; therefore every improvement in the processes connected with its collection and appropriation, must be regarded as eminently conducive to agricultural pros perity.
On the Manag< /mill of Dung.
Manure, taking the word in its broadest sense, be ing the first requisite of good husbandry, it shall b( our business, in this Section, to speak in a particular manner of the best methods of collecting, preparing, and applying that portion of it called farm yard dung, in most instances, may be considered a., the e ilia ma nure used by the great body of British husbandmen. In discussing this subject, our observations shall be re stricted to matters of practice, which arc w ithin the reach of every farmer, in every situation, and under every circumstance. Such practical details are batter calculated to convey useful informat,on, thou abstract disquisitions concerning the food of plants, and the like. if is necessary for promoting the growth of plants, it is of small importance to the farmer how, and in what manner, tbe benefit is communicated. Manure is beneficial, and that is sufficient. All that is farther required, is knowledge concerning the best and most approved way of increasing the quantity, and of using it in the most advantageous manner.
The most superficial observer in rural economics must have often noticed, that a considerable number of practical agriculturists are inattentive, not only to the gathering of the raw materials, but also defective in the several steps of preparatory process, before dung can be thriftily and suitably applied. With such, very little care is used in cutting the corn crops, which, properly speaking, is the only source whence raw materials can be got. They are also too apt to dispose of any hay which may be raised upon their farms, even when prices are not so high as to tempt a breach of good husbandry. They often keep more beasts on the premises than is consistent with the quantity of provender in hand, thus reducing the stock of manure in an extraordinary de gree. Besides, seldom is any care bestowed in laying up the dung, in a regular and careful way, clueing the win ter months, and still less upon its state during the ex hausting spring winds, or the parching heat of the sum mer months. Instead of storing it up with regularity.
and mixing the different kinds in a compact heap, it is suffered to remain as tossed from the and byre ; continues exposed, in its rough state, to the weather : often inundated with water, and rarely touched till the cart arrives to drive it to the field.
As straw is the basis of manure, it might be expected that every good husbandman would bestow the most se dulous attention upon the shearing or cutting of his crop, so that the greatest possible quantity of the raw material may be procured. Very different, however, is the conduct of farmers in general ; as over one half oil Britain, it may be safely estimated, that at least one fourth of the straw is left in the field, where its strength is wasted and dissipated by the rains and storms that commonly prevail at the conclusion of autumn. In some districts a stricter attention is now paid to this important operation, and it is to be hoped that such an improvement will gradually extend. Independent of the additional grain which is gained, the increase of manure will more than compensate the increased ex pense of reaping the crops in an accurate manlier.
While it is recommended, that the crop should be cut low, in order that. materials for making manure may he increased, we by no means contend for that degree of accuracy, which requires that not one stalk of the stub ble shall be of greater height titan its neighbour ; degree of pence lion accomplished, perhaps, at a greater expense than can be repaid by the benefit derived, espe cially when the value of labour is so enormously advan ced. This kind of cutting can only be obtained, from putting a very small quantity into the hook at once, and rarely makes a perceptible increase upon the bulk ; whereas, by running the sickle upon the ground, draw ing a level stroke, and gathering no more into the hand than can be fairly cut, all the advantages of low shearing are obtained at a very trilling increase of expense. By a steady perseverance 10 this practice, front one to two tons of manure (per acre) may be annually gained, more than was procured in former times, especially where the crops are good. This annual increase must operate powerfully upon the improvement of the country, the effects being precisely similar to those of adding com pound interest ; and, of course, furnishes the means or gradually rendering every acre of land in the kingdom fertile and productive.