44 THE AMERICAN FARMER 



are kept, but for the general farmer we think the use of absorbents, as above stated, far 

 preferable. Horse manure is one of the valuable farm manures, and the easiest to ferment. 

 When packed in heaps this process will sometimes commence in twenty-four hours. Even in 

 the severe weather of winter, fermentation will progress rapidly, if a large quantity is accu 

 mulated. When not arrested, it becomes in a short time of about as little value as ashes, 

 and loses about nine-tenths of its original weight. The fermentation or &quot;burning,&quot; as it is 

 sometimes called, can be arrested or prevented, as we have previously stated, by mixing with 

 other manures, or rendering the mass compact, and saturating with water to prevent the cir 

 culation of air. 



Sheep manure, and that furnished by the pig sty, are also very rich fertilizers, the 

 former being considered by many to be more valuable in producing good crops than even cow 

 manure. It is rendered most available by being composted, as it frequently injures the seed 

 of plants if placed in the hill or near it before the fermentation is completed. By supplying 

 the pig yard with plenty of muck, the material from that source is greatly improved, and 

 proves a valuable fertilizer. 



The illustration represents a manure spreader manufactured by the Kemp and Bur 

 pee Manufacturing Co., Syracuse, New York, a most valuable acquisition to the agricultural 

 implements of the present time, being, in fact, a manure spreader, pulverizer, and cart com 

 bined. It not only is a great labor-saving machine, but does the work better than could be 

 done by hand, spreading the manure more uniformly and at the same time pulverizing it, 

 which increases its value, since the finer the manure is pulverized when applied to the soil 

 the more readily it is assimilated. It will spread all kinds of manure, whether coarse or 

 fine, wet or dry, heavy or light, and is regulated to spread different quantities to the acre, so 

 that the farmer may know just what amount per acre he is using. It can also be attached to the 

 fore wheels of any ordinary farm wagon. 



Poultry Manure. This is a valuable fertilizer, and any farmer who has been 

 accustomed to neglect his flock of hens, caring little or nothing for their products or the care 

 they received, would be surprised at the quantity and quality of the guano they manufacture 

 when properly fed, and which might be utilized by being saved from their roosting place. 

 The droppings of the poultry should be secured from under their roosts every few days and 

 mixed with earth, or with a compost, as they are very soluble. It is a good plan to scatter 

 a little sand over the floor of the hen house every day or two, which has a tendency to keep 

 the place clean. When applied to the soil, it should be harrowed in lightly, since the excre 

 ment of fowls contains both the fceces and urine combined; it is peculiarly rich in the 

 fertilizing elements, and is considered, in this respect, next in value to night-soil. Poultry 

 should always be provided with warm quarters for roosting, and we hope no farmer is so far 

 behind the times in this respect or so inhumane as to adhere to the old and barbarous custom 

 of forcing his hens to roost in trees, and take care of themselves on the scanty pittance they 

 are able to glean from the barn-yard. 



Night-Soil and Poudrette, One of the most powerful fertilizers known is human 

 excrement. In China, Japan, and many portions of Europe, it has long been one of the chief 

 fertilizing substances used in agriculture, where the continued fertility of the soil and abun 

 dant crops fully attest its value. In our own country, this source of supply has for various 

 reasons been in a great measure ignored and neglected, though it is sometimes found in the 

 market among the various commercial fertilizers, mixed with charcoal, dust, charred peat, or 

 other substances under the name of poudrette or tafeu. By being thus mixed and dried, it is 

 disinfected of its effluvia, and becomes a convenient article for transportation. With regard 

 to this substance, Prof. C. A. Goessmann, of the Mass. Agricultural College, and also State 

 Agricultural Chemist, says: 



&quot;There are sometimes four different kinds of poudrette offered for sale: 



&quot; I. Blood or Meat Poudrettes, which are manufactured from the solid portion of the human 



