The Deacon is not altogether wrong. Our climate is very different from that of England, and it is seldom that farmers need to draw out manure, and pile it in the field, except in winter, and then it is not necessary, I think, either to dig a pit or to cover the heap. Those who draw manure from the city in summer, may probably adopt some of Mr. Lawrence’s suggestions with advantage. The plan of collecting rubbish, brush, old wood, and sods, and converting them into ashes or charcoal, is one which we could often adopt with decided advantage. Our premises would be cleaner, and we should have less fungus to speck and crack our apples and pears, and, in addition, we should have a quantity of ashes or burnt earth, that is not only a manure itself, but is specially useful to mix with moist superphosphate and other artificial manures, to make them dry enough and bulky enough to be easily and evenly distributed by the drill. Artificial manures, so mixed with these ashes, or dry, charred earth, are less likely to injure the seed than when sown with the seed in the drill-rows, unmixed with some such material. Sifted coal ashes are also very useful for this purpose. CHAPTER XVII. SOLUBLE PHOSPHATES IN FARMYARD MANURE. There is one thing in these experiments of Dr. Vœlcker’s which deserves special attention, and that is the comparatively large amount of _soluble phosphate of lime_ in the ash of farm-yard manure. I do not think the fact is generally known. In estimating the value of animal manures, as compared with artificial manures, it is usually assumed that the phosphates in the former are insoluble, and, therefore, of less value than the soluble phosphates in superphosphate of lime and other artificial manures. Dr. Vœlcker found in the ash of _fresh_ farm-yard manure, phosphoric acid equal to 12.23 per cent of phosphate of lime, and of this 5.35 was _soluble_ phosphate of lime. In the ash of well-rotted manure, he found phosphoric acid equal to 12.11 per cent of phosphate of lime, and of this, 4.75 was soluble phosphate of lime. “That is, indeed, an important fact,” said the Doctor, “but I thought Professor Vœlcker claimed that ‘during the fermentation of dung, the phosphate of lime which it contains is rendered more soluble than in fresh manure.’” “He did say so,” I replied, “and it may be true, but the above figures do not seem to prove it. When he wrote the sentence you have quoted, he probably had reference to the fact that he found more soluble phosphate of lime in rotted manure than in fresh manure. Thus, he found in 5 tons of fresh and 5 tons of rotted, manure, the following ingredients: SP: Soluble Phosphate of Lime. IP: Insoluble phosphates. TP: Total Phosphates. TSA: Total Soluble Ash. TIA: Total Insoluble Ash. TA: Total Ash.