1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Ml 



I cart out about sixty or seventy loads of this 

 tiuick, wliicii is very sour wlicn taken from llie 

 swamp; and I endeavor to manage it in such a 

 way, as will correct its acidity; and make it food 

 for plants. I have yards fijr my stock all around 

 my barn. On the eastern side and southern end 

 are yartls for sheep, and on the western side and 

 northern end are yards ihv neat cattle, surrounded 

 partly by a high wall and sheds, under which 

 there is a well of never-failing water. When the 

 muck is taken from the swamp, about forty loads 

 of it are dropped in the sheep-yards. Here the 

 muck is spread and the sheep lie on it during the 

 ensuing winter. Tlie next spring immediately 

 after planting, this muck, together with the sheep 

 manure as well that in their yards, as that in the 

 sheep-houses, is hauled round to the yards used 

 by the neat stock on the farm. Here it is spread 

 over the yards and intermixed with unslacked 

 lime. The cattle tread over and lie on it during 

 the summer, when in the yards. These yards are 

 ploughed and harrowed, and more hme applied 

 several times during the summer. The manure 

 made in the barn during the winter is thrown into 

 these yards,and the cattle during the whole fodder- 

 ing season, when not in the barn, lie there. As the 

 yard is well supplied with water raised by a pump, 

 no portion of the stock, except the working oxen, 

 go out of the yard li-om fall till the next spring, 

 when they go to pasture. The muck, lime, litter, 

 manure and urine from the stock being well inter- 

 mixed form a valuable compost, which in the 

 spring is all applied to ground newly broken up, 

 except that portion which is applied to root culture, 

 other than potatoes. 



My buildings are situated on the side of a high 

 swell of land inclining to the west. The stable is 

 connected with the house by a large shed, and on 

 the further side of the stable is a hogs' yard, in 

 which the manure from the horse stable is thrown. 

 On the backside of the shed is a drain made of 

 pine plank, free from sap, ten inches wide and four 

 inches deep, covered with plank and dirt in those 

 places where an open drain would be unsightly or 

 inconvenient. This drain has been in use twenty 

 years, has been renewed but once, and is now in 

 good repair. The ground inclining, favors this 

 arrangement. By means of this drain all the 

 soap-suds tl-om the kitchen, water from the sink, 

 &c. must pass through the necessary vault, by 

 which it is kept clean, to the hog-yard. A por- 

 tion ot the hogs on the farm are kept in this yard, 

 and a dry and warm apartment is provided for 

 them under a part of the stable. As soon as the 

 yard is cleared of the manure in the spring, we 

 begin again to fill it with muck taken from the 

 swamp the year before, putting in at first five or 

 six loads, and one or two casks of lime, and so on, 

 muck and lime every kw weeks during the sum- 

 mer. The manure of one horse in the summer 

 and generally of two in the winter is thrown into 

 this yard, and is often spread over the yard. Du- 

 ring the warm season more lime is used in the 

 yard, and scattered in the drain, whence it is 

 washed into the yard, and thereby every unplea- 

 sant smell is prevented. All the leaves and dry 

 litter which can be procured are placed in the 

 apartment under cover for the hogs to lie on; and 

 ail the green weeds and wet litter which can be 

 obtained are thrown into the hog-yard. The 

 muck being formed of vegetable matter which has 



been decomposed without fijrmentation, i.s very 

 bulky in pro|)ortion to its value as a manure — l)ut 

 is of some value in ilselfj and serves as a sponge 

 to take up and preserve the juices and gases of 

 the putrescent manure, which might ollicrwise be 

 lost. Turf flom a good soil, if it could he obtain- 

 ed without injury to the farm, could be used in the 

 same way to equal advantage. By means of the 

 muck, lime, horse-dung, liiler, leaves, weeds, soa|j- 

 suds, wash from the sink, necessary, &c. we make 

 in this yard about fifty loads of the very best ma- 

 nure. Formerly in the spring we were accustom- 

 ed to shovel this compost out of the yard, and suf- 

 fer it to lie in a heap a few weeks till wanted to 

 be spread on the corn ground. While it thus laid 

 in a heap, it would become very much heated by 

 fermentation, so that it one year killed a large elm- 

 tree, about which it was thrown. For several 

 years last past we have not thrown it from the yard 

 till it has been shovelled into the cart to be conveyed 

 to the ground where it is to be used. I have not 

 observed but what the compost is equally efficient, 

 when used without the fermentation produced by 

 throwing it out of t!ie yarO. We generally keep 

 a cask of unslaked lime in the cellar under the 

 house, and another in the cellar under the barn, 

 and scatter unslaked lime on that which is par- 

 tially air-slaked, on the bottom of the cellars and in 

 the pens from which the vegetables are removed. 

 This lime is occasionally swept up, and carried to 

 the manure-yard, and fresh liine again applied. In 

 this connexion permit me to recommend the yearly 

 use of whitewash in dwelling houses and cellars. 

 With great gratitude I can say, that I have one of 

 the largest, and most healthy families in the coun- 

 ty, and 1 have no doubt but the liberal use of lime 

 about my dwelling houses and appurtenances has 

 contributed more than any other cause to preserve 

 their health. I cannot accurately state the value 

 of lime on the farm when used in this way, but 

 am confident that it is much cheaper than to pur- 

 chase manure at the usual price. 



Until within a few years very little lime has 

 been employed by my neighbors as manure, and 

 the method in which they apply it, is that which 

 is best adapted to general use, and is as folloAvs: 



Select a spot of ground near the place where 

 the lime is to be applied to the soil by the side of 

 the highway or in the pasture, where turf or rich 

 vegetable mould can be obtained without injury to 

 the farm. Spread a cask of unslaked lime on such 

 a spot, then cover it with turf or vegetable mould, 

 and so on alternate layers of turf and lime till the 

 heap is raised three or four feet, or until the turf or 

 good vegetable niould within reach has been used 

 up. Then select the next best spot for the same 

 operation, and so on till the lime is used up. This 

 is suffered to lie in a heap till the next spring, 

 when the heap is cut down perpendicularly, sho- 

 velled into a cart, hauled on to the ground where 

 it is to be applied, dropped in very small heaps, 

 and spread suantly (a Yankee word) over the 

 ground which has before been ploughed and har- 

 rowed. The precise quantity which good econo- 

 my would require should be applied to the land 

 has not been ascertained, but I can safely say that 

 li-om ten to fifteen casks per acre, at from one dol- 

 lar to one dollar twenty-five cents per cask, pre- 

 pared and applied as above-stated, would on 

 scarcely any land be an injudicious appropriation 

 of money. The use of lime in this vicinity has 



