SECRETARY'S REPORT. 1'J'J 



that their stock has clean and dry lodging, -will he find perforated 

 •with augurs that the urine may run oiF as fast as it is voided 1 How 

 many cases in which the manure from cattle stalls is thrown outside 

 of the barn to be mingled with the snow and drenched with the rain 

 that falls upon the roof, and left in this position till " after planting," 

 and then carted and spread over the surface of yards, upon the long 

 manure made by "feeding out," to be mixed with it by repeated 

 plowings and the tramping of cattle during summer, these yards 

 generally receiving all the water that falls upon one side of the 

 roofs of the buildings that surround them, and not unfrequently the 

 water from higher ground outside. Manure tieated in this way, 

 thus fy, is often carted to the field in the fall, containing hvo ivaters 

 to one mamu'c, dripping all the way, there to remain uncovered 

 through the winter, for use in the spring. How many dead horses 

 and other animals are hauled into the woods to feast foxes and crows, 

 or thrown into ponds and streams for food for fishes, or, Avorse still, 

 left to rot in the field, to poison the atmosphere with their deadly 

 effluvia ! On how many farms will he find any pains taken to pre- 

 serve bones and apply them to the soil in any form 7 Will he not 

 oftener find them scattered about the yards and OA'er the grass fields, 

 wherever the dogs have left them 1 On what proportion of the 

 fiirms are absorbents collected to receive the water from sink-spouts, 

 wash-rooms and water-closets? 



Some or all these things may be witnessed on a great majority of 

 the farms in this State, with others, in a greater or less degree, 

 improvident; and amongst them may be classed that of carting bog- 

 muck and other material into yards to receive the droppings of 

 cattle, the sun and rains for a while, till a large portion of the 

 volatile properties of the whole are carried ofi" in the air, and the 

 soluble parts washed out by the rain. 



Agricultural writers and speakers have been diligent in exhorting 

 farmers to this course. Perhaps, on the whole, it is better that this 

 should be done than nothing ; but in some cases, not so much is 

 gained by all the labor of extra cartage as is lost by drenching and 

 evaporation; and in all cases, the loss from these causes is very 

 great. Had the breath and ink which have been spent in keeping 

 the importance of such a course "before the people," and the labor 

 which has been spent in following such teaching, been devoted to 

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