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fertility, and consequently its value, increased; and 

 any outlay on his part that will attain this end can 

 only l>e considered in the light of a profitable invest- 

 ment ; while, on the other hand, any system that 

 causes a loss of fertility in the soil lowers the return of 

 produce, and depreciates the value of the occupation. 

 However desirable such alterations may be, it hardly 

 comes within the range of a tenant's duty to make a 

 large outlay in the construction or alteration of farm 

 buildings ; still, if the landlord won't see his own in- 

 terests, or, as others would put it, won't do his duty, 

 and the tenant feels secure in his occupation, it re- 

 mains an open question, in my mind, whether a little 

 outlay in trying to preserve the good qualities of the 

 manure produced at home would not prove quite as 

 economical as the same amount laid out in the pur- 

 chase of artificial manures. 



LIQUID MANURE, ETC. 



The question of the best means of disposing of the 

 overflow of yards, which so commonly runs to waste 

 at most homesteads, is worthy of a moment's con- 

 sideration before quitting this part of the subject. We 

 have seen by the analyses given to what an extent 

 liquid manure varies ; and when produced from the 

 drainings of open yards, the manure of which is of but 

 inferior quality, its composition will not be found to 

 be such as to be very energetic in its character, still it 

 contains all the most valuable elements of the manure, 

 but in very weak solution. If the nature of the ground 

 is suitable and the position of the buildings will admit 

 of it, it cannot be better disposed of, than by a natural 

 system of irrigation ; but when this cannot be done it 

 is not so easy to determine what use to make of it. 

 The process of the pumping is expensive, and the 

 manure being exposed does not require it in the winter, 

 and in the summer it is removed, so that I think about 

 the best thing to be done is to form a water-tight pit, 

 the one side of which may be open, the bottom being 

 a gradual inclined plane, and into which a cart may 

 be backed. This receptacle may receive the drainage 

 of all the folds and the sweeping and accumulations 

 that are always in excess at a farmhouse, and generally 

 form a heap of rubbish (miscalled manure), and by 

 this amalgamation the good properties of the liquid 

 will be absorbed and retained, and a good manure 

 produced. Supposing our manure to be manufactured, 

 we have next to determine what to do with it, and 

 this will all depend upon the way in which it has been 

 produced. If carefully made under cover it will be 

 found in a fit state to cart out for direct application to 

 the land, say every three months, but the produce of the 

 open yard if generally water-soaked to that extent, that 

 fermentation is checked, (for although it is absolutely 

 necessaiy to have a certain amount of moisture and 

 warmth before fermentation can be set up, an excess 

 of water has exactly an opposite effect, and prevents it), 

 this being the case the manure is generally in a raw 

 state and unfit for immediate use. If it is turned up 

 lightly in the yards to promote decomposition, its 



Tlic Country Gcjiilcuians Magazine 



elementary fertilizers, which are rendered more soluble 

 during this process, become more accessible to rain 

 both from their increased solubility, as well as fron\ 

 the looseness of the heap permitting the free admission 

 of penetrating showers, to the continued injury of the 

 manure. If carted to the fields and made into heaps, 

 the expensive item of haulage is at least doubled (for 

 the ^\'ater contained in this sort of manure will be quite 

 half the weight of the manure proper, due allowance 

 having been made for evaporation and overflow), and 

 the heaps will be more or less liable to the same influ- 

 ences as in the folds, with the difference that the more 

 valuable drainings will nni on the land, instead of pro- 

 bably to waste, and this is a doubtful advantage, as a 

 particular spot gets too much of a good thing. Pre- 

 vention therefore in this matter must be better than cure, 

 as the farmer has everything to gain and nothing to lose 

 by making a good article. If carting in mixens on 

 the fields is a necessity (and where manure is going 

 to stand all the summer it is preferable to turn- 

 ing it in yards) attention should be paid to pre- 

 venting loss as much as possible. This will be 

 best accomplished by selecting well-sheltered positions 

 for the heaps, keeping them well sided up ; and 

 carting over the manure while the mixen is in the 

 course of formation, the mass becomes thereby solidi- 

 fied, and is consequently more impervious to the action 

 of rain. This solidification, however, rather retards 

 the process of decomposition from the exclusion of the 

 air, but as time is no object in such a case, putrefac- 

 tion will have advanced sufficiently far before applica- 

 tion. The practice of covering mixens with soil, road 

 scrapings, gypsum, salt, &c., is all very well as far as 

 their action depends upon throwing off an excess of 

 rain, but I don't believe practically it is of much value 

 — certainly not for the purpose of preventing the eva- 

 poration of ammonia, or as we often hear it put, of 

 keeping all the goodness in : for we have already seen 

 that nature has made a provision for fixing this ferti- 

 lizer, which cannot be surpassed by any imitation we 

 can suggest. The action of salt is useful enough 

 occasionally in veiy badly formed manure, where a 

 great excess of litter has been used, and a sort of diy 

 decay has set in, but it has no power at all over 

 ammonia ; it merely attracts moisture. With regard to 

 the concluding part of our inquiry — the application 

 of farm-yard manure to land— no fixed rule can be laid 

 down to suit all cases. The proper application de- 

 pends upon the nature and character of the land, upon 

 its condition, and state of cultivation, as well as being 

 considerably influenced by the climate. Thus we find 

 that different districts vary in their custom of applying 

 manure Avith perfect success in each case. The con- 

 dition of the manure itself must also affect the time of 

 its application ; and here it is that districts where 

 bad manure is made might, in some instances, by im- 

 proving its quality, improve at the same time the mode 

 of application. Well-made farm-yard manure ought 

 to be fit to be at once put on the land, and where this 

 system can be consistently adopted, its application in 



