146 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



of judgment and experience would not, I apprehend, set this 

 average much, if any tiling, above eight or nine common ox-cart 

 loads ; which would give, probably, one hundred and fifty, or 

 one hundred and sixty loads as tlic aggregate amount that 

 could be made from a stock consisting of ten heads. 



The chief concern with us appears to be with regard to the 

 quantity of manure. Philosophers, on the other hand, affirm 

 that, in a practical point of view, more depends upon the qual- 

 ity than the quantity. Let us not be unmindful of this ; and, 

 however the fact may be, let us always take care to make and 

 apply only such composts as are adapted to cause abundant 

 harvests, and to benefit good soils. 



John E. Howard, Supervisor. 



Statement of Jonathan Howard, Id. 



I have measured and composted, since October, A. D. 1852, 

 685 loads of manure, as follows, viz. : 580 loads in the barn- 

 yard, one-fourth from muck, and the remainder of soil from 

 sides of fences, ditches, and coal-dust, mixed with the drop- 

 pings of eighteen head of cattle wintered, and sixteen head 

 kept through the summer, and one horse. Li the warm season 

 the droppings were collected every morning from the yard, and 

 thrown into the cellar under the barn, which is 38 by 50 feet, 

 and there intermixed with coal dust and muck, and covered to 

 prevent evaporation. 



Seventy-five loads were made in the hog-yard, where four 

 swine were wintered and eight summered; and about three- 

 fourths loam and one-fourth muck, with potato vines and 

 weeds, formed what was thrown in at different times. 



Thirty loads composted as follows: 5 loads muck, 10 loads 

 scrapings by side of road, 10 loads loam that had received the 

 wash from a sink spout, and 5 loads from the bottom of an old 

 hog-yard, and 10 bushels salt. The dimensions of the cart in 

 which it was measured, are 6|- feet long, 3|- feet wide, and 20 

 inches high. 



