224 Letter on Covered Yards. 



of all proportion to the horned stock kept. The few cattle 

 wintered have, therefore, to trample mountains of straw into the 

 semblance of manure, and without the assistance of snow or rain 

 it could not be accomplished, But even in these extreme cases 

 it may be doubted whether wintering- more cattle, and thus im- 

 provinof the quality of the home-made tillage, might not be more 

 profitable in the long run, than carting out hundreds of loads of 

 wetted straw, and laying out large sums in the purchase of bones, 

 guano, et hoc r/emis omne. 



"The third head to be mentioned is the improved ec(momy of 

 management. In covered yards the manure is so much richer in 

 qualitv, and so free from weak outsides, that there is no necessity 

 for carting it into heaps in order to ferment it down to a uniform 

 mass. It is ready for use when wanted in the field ; and being 

 protected from sun, wind, and rain, it is safe until xcanted. All 

 the expense, therefore, of carting to the heap, unloading at the 

 lieap, and turning in the heap is entirely saved. 



" The (pu'stion of cost remains to be considered. This will 

 vary to some extent with tlie kind of roof adopted. 1 have 

 ascertained by trial that a substantial roof, covered with ordinary 

 roofing-tiles, may be erected for 5^. per superficial yard of ground 

 roofed over. Each superficial yard of covered space will, on a 

 well-stocked farm, produce annually a cubic yard of well-made 

 manure, worth, if the animals be well-fed, at least 5s. ; conse- 

 quently, if manure made under cover be one-third better than 

 that made in the open air, the outlay of every 55. in roof will 

 produce Is. Sd. per annum, — in other words, will bear interest 

 at the rate of 33 per cent,, independently of the improved condi- 

 tion of the stock and the saving in the cartage of manure. The 

 accuracv of this result depends on the soundness of the assump- 

 tion that manure made under cover is improved in value one- 

 third, which is, of course, an approximation only ; and though I 

 am convinced of its truth in my own case, it remains to be 

 proved whether it will hold good when applied generally. 

 But whether on more extensive trial the percentage of im- 

 provement be found to be 20 or 30 per cent, there can be no 

 doubt that the improved value is sufficient to make the subject 

 one of great interest to both owners and occupiers of land, 



"The above-mentioned cost of 5*. per square yard of area 

 enclosed will only hold good in those cases where the yard to be 

 covered is entirely surrounded by buildings, and where, conse- 

 quently, no new brickwork is required. On the other hand, when 

 a new set of buildings has to be made, the cost of the covered yard 

 (calculated as above) will not be all additional expense, as there 

 will be a considerable set-ofF in the reduced extent of the other 

 buildings. No open sheds for the yard-stock will now be neces- 

 sary, and by good management the whole ' quadrilateral ' may be 



