18H7 



GLEANINGS IN JiEE CULTURE. 



.55 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOINC IT. 



Continued f) 

 CIIAl'TEH 



Thr jmsturcs are flothed witli Itocks; the \!ille>s a 

 they also sintr.— Psai,m 05: lo. 



Wliat a jrlorious piomise. fiieiicls, is the 

 little verse above I and how well it comes in 

 with our talks tlirouiih the previous chap- 

 ters ! I Jut it we would receive these piom- 

 ises we must set about it and do our part, 

 even though it be the middle of .lanuary. 

 and in the deyttli of winter. The question is 

 sometimes ;isked. what we can do in tlie 

 winter time. A young friend is just now 

 visiting me. who is greatly taken up witli 

 the idea of earniug a livelihood for himself, 

 wife, and a l)aby fifteen months old. on his 

 farm of twelve and a half acres. He has 

 Just taken home with him a lot of books and 

 papers to read; but from the talk 1 liave 

 had with him. I am afraid lie is reading too 

 much and working too little. 1 don't be- 

 lieve it is best for a farmer or gaidener to 

 s))end much time in reading during day- 

 light, in tlie winter time. As soon as it is 

 light enough to see outdoors, we ought to 

 be hard at work with brain and muscle at 

 something, and do our reading before day- 

 light in the morning oi' during the long win- 

 ter evenings; and one of tlie things to be 

 done is to look after the manure in the winter 

 time: and this brings me to the subject of 



PUEV-MilNG AND APPLYING .MAXUKK. 



In Chapter XIX. we talked about different 

 methods of procuring or making manure at 

 home on the farm, or on our ten-acre farm, 

 if you choose. Let us now consider the 

 matter of getting oui- manure in shape to 

 apply it to the ground, and of api)lying it. 

 If your manure is i»iled uj) in a heap it will 

 get hot, and burn itself up; and this must. 

 under no circimistances. be allowed. It 

 wants forking over and stirring up : in fact, 

 it wants hri'iikimj up. In all of our books on 

 gardening and farming, we hear this matter 

 recommeiuled over and over again. In the 

 excellent little work entitled, '(iardening 

 for Y'oung and (^Id." by -losepli Harris (au- 

 thor of •■ Walks and Talks on the Farm," 

 etc.), he goes over the matter again and 

 again in his directions for producing almost 

 every croi>. and says that the manure must 

 be pounded up and broken up before it is 

 mixed in with the soil. 1 was especially 

 struck with his directions for raising a nice 

 crop of celeiy. First, we are to roll ;ind 

 plow and harrow, and roll and jdow and 

 harrow again, until the ground is light and 



mn Ike. L'l. 

 .\X\III. 



so are eovoved vvav with com; thoyslioiit lor Joy, 



fine. Then you plow furrows,- using the dou- 

 ble-mold board jilow, or, if you have not one, 

 go down and back with a common plow, and 

 then the manure is spread in these furrows. 

 For celery, it needs to be old, thoroughly 

 rotted manure. Then he says, "Spread it 

 evenly, knock it to pieces with a hoe or po- 

 tato-hook, mixing more or less soil with it. 

 and get it at any rate well broken to pieces.'' 

 We have tried the plan, and it certainly 

 gives good results ; but the labor of break- 

 ing the manure to pieces is rather expensive. 

 As soon as we commenced at it I began to 

 wonder if there was not some better way. 

 I have suggested, in some former chapter, 

 giving it to the pigs, and inducing them to 

 root it over and break it up. 



A few days ago 1 struck upon another plan 

 for fining manure. \Vc brought in quite a 

 (luantity and put it under the benches of the 

 greenhouse, preparatory to tilling our boxes 

 for transplanting celery, cabbage-plants, etc. 

 The manure was good, but it was in lumps 

 and chunks; and as it was rather damp it 

 was quite a task to break it up with rakes 

 and sieves. Our brood of chickens that were 

 raised to catch green dies in the greenhouse 

 got too big for the purpose: and as they 

 show^ed great dexterity in scratching when- 

 ever they were permitted to get on the let- 

 tuce-beds. I took the hint and confined them 

 with wire-cloth poultry-netting under the 

 benches. .V little wheat scattered among it 

 did the business. A hen and chickens can 

 break up dirt or manure, probably better 

 than ;tny machine ever invented. As they 

 oftentimes " work for nothing and board 

 themselves," why not turn their wonderful 

 talents in that direction into some useful 

 channel V Our poultry-journals have had a 

 good deal to say, and keep talking constantly 

 to us, altout providing employment for the 

 fowls in winter, (iather forest-leaves, or 

 provide cut stiaw : then scatter your grain 

 among this and let them scratch it out. 

 Now. it would cost me money to gather for- 

 est-leaves at this time of the year, and it 

 would cost me money, also, to provide cut 

 straw; but our manure-heap under the shed 

 (l)ictured in Chapter XXXI.) is right handy 

 to the poultry. They had Iteen digging it 

 over some, and I took down a rake, jtrovided 

 myself with corn and wheat-screeniiigs. and 



