131 



abonndiijg with clay is always favorable to the growth of 

 herdsgrass, which seems to delight in it as the most congenial 

 to its nature. 



The practice of many of the farmers in this county is, after 

 planting, or in the autumn, to carry out their manure and leave 

 it in the fields uncovered, to be used in the planting of the next 

 year. No practice is more wasteful or deserves more to be rep- 

 robated. Manure, when carried into the field, if not immedi- 

 ately ploughed in, should be covered completely with a thick 

 coat of mould. The enriching gases of the manure, which 

 would otherwise escape into the air, will thus become ab- 

 sorbed by the mould ; and this mould itself will be convert- 

 ed into an enriching manure. 



5. General Management of Manures. — The subject of ma- 

 nures is among the most important in husbandry. I shall do 

 no injustice to the farmers in Franklin county in saying, that 

 it is not appreciated by them as it should be ; nor as it is in 

 many other parts of the State. I do not recollect an instance 

 of a barn cellar on any farm in the county ; nor any provision 

 for covering the manure and keeping it excluded from the sun, 

 and rain, and air ; nor any attempt at forming a compost heap, 

 and availing themselves of the various materials to be found on 

 almost every farm and by the road-sides, for increasing the 

 stock of manure. The butt stalks of Indian corn, after being 

 browsed by cattle, are usually left to perish in the field. I have 

 already referred to the practice of ploughing in the stalks of 

 the broom-corn in the spring, instead of carrying them into the 

 barn-yard, where they would be broken up by the treading of 

 the cattle, and saturated with the rich liquids of the manure 

 heap, and be thus brought into a condition much more favor- 

 able to be applied to the crops. I am not disposed to deny a 

 considerable advantage to the land from ploughing in what 

 remains of the broom stalks, or from the ashes which come 

 from burning them on the ground, as is the practice of some 

 persons ; but there is reason to think that this advantage is 

 small compared with what would be derived from carrying 



