form. Iron is essential for the formation of chlorophyll in the
leaves, and its presence is believed also to be beneficial for the
development of colour in flowers, and for producing flavour in
fruits and in vines especially. Ferrous sulphate has, partly with
this view, and partly for its fungus-resisting properties, been
suggested as a desirable constituent of manures. The function
performed by ferric oxide in the soil of retaining phosphoric
acid, potash and ammonia has been already alluded to.
7. Sulphur.—This, the last of the “essential” elements, is seldom specially employed in manurial form. There would appear to be no lack of it for the plant’s supply, and it is little required except for the building-up, with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, of the albuminoids. There are few artificial manures which do not contain considerable amounts of sulphur, notably superphosphate. Sulphate of lime (gypsum) is sometimes applied to the land direct as a way of giving lime; this is employed in the case of clover and hops principally.
Having thus dealt with the essential ingredients which plants must have, and which may require to be supplied to them in the form of additional manures, we may briefly pass over the other constituents found in plants, which may, or may not, be given as manures.
8. Sodium.—This is a widely distributed element. The influence of common salt (chloride of sodium) in liberating, when used in large excess, potash from the silicates in which it is combined in the soil has been already referred to, and in this way common salt and also nitrate of soda (the two forms in which soda salts are used as manures) may have some benefit. The principal purpose for which common salt, however, is used, is that of retaining moisture in the land. It is specially useful in a dry season, or for succulent crops such as cabbage, kale, &c., or again for plants of maritime origin (such as mangels), which thrive near the sea shore.
9. Silicon.—All soils contain silica in abundance. Though silica forms so large a part of the ash of plants and is especially abundant in the straw of cereals, there is no evidence that it is required in plant life. Popularly, it is believed to “stiffen” the stems of cereals and grasses, but plants grown without it will do perfectly well. It would, however, appear that soluble silica does play some part in enabling phosphoric acid to be better assimilated by the plant. Silicates, however, have not justified their use as direct fertilizers.
10. Chlorine.—A certain amount of chlorine is brought down in the rain, and chlorides are also used in the form of common salt, with the effect, as aforesaid, of liberating potash from silicates, when given in excess, but there is no evidence as to any particular part which the chlorine itself plays.
11. Manganese, &c.—Manganese occurs in minute quantities in most plants, and it, along with lithium (found largely in the tobacco-plant), caesium, titanium, uranium and other rare elements, may be found in soils. Experiments at the Woburn pot-culture station and elsewhere, point to stimulating effects on vegetation produced by the action of minute doses of salts of these elements, but, so far, their use as manurial ingredients need not be considered in practice.
12. Humus.—Though not an element, or itself essential, this body, which may be described as decayed vegetable matter, is not without importance in plant life. Of it, farm-yard manure is to a large extent composed, and many “organic manures,” as they are termed, contain it in quantity. Dead leaves, decayed vegetation, the stubble of cereal crops and many waste materials add humus to the land, and this humus, by exposure to the air, is always undergoing further changes in the soil, opening it out, distributing carbonic acid through it, and supplying it, in its further decomposition, with nitrogen. The principal effects of humus on the soil are of a physical character, and it exercises particular benefit through its power of retaining moisture. Humus, however, has a distinct chemical action, in that it forms combinations with iron, calcium and ammonia. It thus becomes one of the principal sources of supply of the nitrogenous food of plants, and a soil rich in humus is one rich in nitrogen. The nitrogen in humus is not directly available as a food for plants, but many kinds of fungi and bacteria are capable of converting it into ammonia, from which, by the agency of nitrifying organisms, it is turned into nitrates and made available for the use of plants. Humus is able to retain phosphoric acid, potash, ammonia and other bases. So important were the functions of humus considered at one time that on this Thaer built his “humus theory,” which was, in effect, that, if humus was supplied to the soil, plants required nothing more. This was based, however, on the erroneous belief that the carbon, of which the bulk of the plant consists, was derived from the humus of the soil, and not, as we now know it to be, from the carbonic acid of the atmosphere. This theory was in turn replaced by the “mineral theory” of Liebig, and then both of them by the “nitrogen theory” of Lawes and Gilbert.
We pass next to review, in the light of the foregoing, the manures in common use at the present day.
Manures, as already stated, may be variously classified according to the materials they are made from, the constituents which they chiefly supply, or the uses to which they are put. But, except with certain few manures, such as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia and potash salts, which are used purely for one particular purpose, it is impossible to make any definite classification of manures, owing to the fact that the majority of them serve more than one purpose, and contain more than one fertilizing constituent of value. It is only on broad lines, therefore, that any division can be framed. Between so-called “natural” manures like farm-yard manure, seaweed, wool waste, shoddy, bones, &c., which undergo no particular artificial preparation, and manufactured manures like superphosphate, dissolved bones, and other artificially prepared materials, there may, however, be a distinction drawn, as also between these and such materials as are imported and used without further preparation, e.g. nitrate of soda, kainit, &c. On the whole, the best classification to attempt is that according to the fertilizing constituents which each principally supplies, and this will be adopted here, with the necessary qualifications.
I.—Nitrogenous (wholly or mainly) Manures
These divided themselves into: (a) Natural nitrogenous manures; (b) imported or manufactured manures.
a. Natural Nitrogenous Manures
Under this heading come—farm-yard manure; seaweed; refuse cakes and meals; wool dust and shoddy; hoofs and horns; blood; soot; sewage sludge.
Farm-yard Manure.—This is the most important, as well as the most generally used, of all natural manures. It consists of the solid and liquid excreta of animals that are fed at the homestead, together with the material used as litter. The composition of farm-yard manure will vary greatly according to the conditions under which it is produced. The principal determining factors are (1) the nature and age of the animals producing it, (2) the food that is given them, (3) the kind and quantity of litter used, (4) whether it be made in feeding-boxes, covered yards or open yards, (5) the length of time and the way in which it has been stored. The following analysis represents the general composition of well-made farm-yard manure, in which the litter used is straw:—
| Water | 75.42 |
| *Organic matter | 16.52 |
| Oxide of iron and alumina | .36 |
| Lime | 2.28 |
| Magnesia | .14 |
| Potash | .48 |
| Soda | .08 |
| †Phosphoric acid | .44 |
| Sulphuric acid | .12 |
| Chlorine | .02 |
| Carbonic acid, &c. | 1.38 |
| Silica | 2.76 |
| ——— | |
| 100.00 | |
| ——— | |
| *Containing nitrogen = .59%, which is equal to ammonia | .72% |
| †Equal to phosphate of lime | .96 |
Put broadly, farm-yard manure will contain from 65 to 80% of water, from .45 to .65% of nitrogen, from .4 to .8% of potash, and from .2 to .5% of phosphoric acid.
This analysis shows that farm-yard manure contains all the constituents, without exception, which are required by cultivated crops in order to bring them to perfection, and hence it may be called a “perfect” manure. Dung, it may be observed, contains a great variety of organic and inorganic compounds of various degrees of solubility, and this complexity of composition—difficult, if not impossible, to imitate by art—is one of the circumstances which render farm-yard manure a perfect as well as a universal manure.
The excrements of different kinds of animals vary in composition, and those of the same animal will vary according to the nature and quantity of the food given, the age of the animal, and the way it is generally treated. Thus, a young animal which is growing, needs food to produce bone and muscle, and voids poorer dung than one which is fully grown and only has to keep up its condition. Similarly, a milking-cow will produce poorer dung than a fattening bullock. Again, cake-feeding will produce a richer manure than feeding without cake. Straw is the most general litter used, but peat-moss litter, sawdust, &c., may be used, and they will affect the quality of the manure to some extent. Peat-moss is the best absorbent and has a higher manurial value than straw. Box-fed manure, and that made in covered yards will suffer much less loss than that made in an open yard. Lastly, manure kept in a heap covered with earth will be much richer than that left in an uncovered heap. The solid and liquid excrements differ much in composition,
