100 Practical Farming 



to haul on the wet land. How, then, shall we care for 

 the manure that must be kept on hand for a time? Wher- 

 ever it is possible the open barnyard should have a hard 

 bottom. Whefe rocks are plenty it should be paved or 

 macadamized to prevent the clay from working up under 

 the tread of the cattle into mud. Then the barnyard 

 should be well filled with straw or forest leaves several 

 feet deep all over, so that whatever manure is made in the 

 open yard may have some absorbent at hand. Covered 

 barnyards are often advised, but unless there is extra care 

 given to them the manure therein is apt to be damaged 

 more than in the open yard with plenty of absorbents. 

 In the stable the rule should be to have box stalls kept 

 plentifully bedded. The animals tramping on the ma- 

 nure will prevent fermentation and the manure can safely 

 be left in these box stalls till it is convenient to haul it 

 and spread it on the field. But after loosening it up in 

 the stalls, haul it at once to the fields, for it will at once 

 begin to ferment and lose value if piled. The box stall 

 with abundant bedding is the safest place possible for 

 keeping the manure till hauled out, and the rain will make 

 the decay of what falls in the open yard better than if in 

 a covered yard where it will heat and fire-fang. But as 

 little as is practicable should be left in the open yard. 



Years ago, when the writer was carrying on a large 

 stock farm, he had the barnyard macadamized and the 

 manure hauled out daily, so that at all times one could 

 walk in the yard without inconvenience. But the learner 

 may ask, "Does not manure spread upon the surface of 

 land left exposed lose a great deal?" There is little 

 fermentation when thus spread, especially if torn up fine 



