78 BOARD^OF AGRICULTURE. 



Another correspondent, in the interior of the State, •\rrites 

 as follows : — 



"■ The manure heap is the farmer's bank, and his interest may 

 increase in proportion to tlie amonnt of capital he yearly 

 lays in. 



" Not much attention is paid to composting manures. But 

 few make it, except as wash, loam or muck — of which last 

 article, some farmers have an abundance — are, in the fall, carted 

 into the cowyard or hogpen, to receive the droppings from the 

 cattle or the swine during the coming winter and summer, after 

 ■which it is carted either for top-dressing to grass, or to the 

 field for the corn hill the next season. 



" But few farmers among us have as yet made cellars to their 

 barns. This is a great omission ; a neglect detrimental to the 

 interest of the farmer, and of course to the whole community. 



" Let him who may, speak against the place and the practice, 

 experience has shown to me that the barn cellar is the place to 

 make manure. By proper attention, the farmer may double the 

 quantity of manure, naturally made from his crops, and retain 

 the quality equal to that of green manure which is flung through 

 the window, and suffered to remain exposed to the rain, 

 the sun, and the wind. Li the cellar is saved not only the 

 excrement, but the urine, which is absorbed by the material 

 which has been carted into the cellar ; all which before being 

 used, should be thoroughly mixed. This may be done in dull 

 or stormy weather. The gases may be retained by an occa- 

 sional sprinkling of gypsum over the heap, while the better 

 qualities of the heap, which are exposed to the weather, are 

 generally lost in the atmosphere. 



" Coarse, or green manures, are generally applied to fields 

 designed for corn. And taking our fields as a whole — having 

 clay subsoil — it is considered better to spread the manure on 

 the surface and plough it in, rather than plough first, then 

 spread and harrow in the manure. Gaseous matter tends 

 upward, and when the manure is buried by the plough, what- 

 ever may attempt to escape will be more likely to be received 

 by, and retained in the soil, than if slightly covered by the 

 harrow." 



