584 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



con, stent with economy. We will, however., ad- | 1 every kind that is readily convertible into ma- 

 nut that it would be an improvement il reservoirs J rrnre. The manure from the doors of the cattle- 

 for the drainage o yards were so constructed that houses around it is also occasionally thrown into 

 their contents might be pumped up, and sprinkled I the middle of th i all may be duly mix 



over horse-litter, whenever its too great dryness ed. When carted out it is placed on a layer of 

 occasions any danger of its becoming fire-fanged; earth, and banked up in a compact form, to ex- 

 clude, as much as possible, both sun and air, and 

 then covered lightly over with another layer of 

 earth on the top. By this means none of ji s vir- 

 tues are lost, and the top and bottom soil will mix 

 with, and nearly equal in value, the rest of the 

 heap.' This, indeed, is the common practice of 

 all intelligent farmers, and it is evident that, by 

 constantly putting a coat of light soil into the (arm 

 yard when emptied, a considerable addition will 

 be made to the annual stock of manure, as a oreat 

 port of this will have become saturated with the 

 urine, and will be shovelled up with it whenever it 

 is emptied. 



Id there be, no perfect and permanent site 

 formed tor a complete dunghill repository, ac- 

 companied by a well and pump, as above recom- 

 mended, yet the space intended for the reception 

 of any common dung heap should be slightly hol- 

 lowed out, leaving one side rather deeper than the 

 other, and cutting a narrow drain through that 

 side, from which any superfluous moisture may be 

 carried off to a yet lower excavation, where it may 

 be received upon a bed of loose mould, or anions 

 articles of slow decay, as cabbage-stalks, the toimli 

 haulm of over-ripe beans, or any similar sub- 

 stances. It should also be surrounded with a 

 mound dug out from the hollowed place, to prevent 

 water from running into it, and, if that be pre- 

 vented, no danger need be. apprehended from any 

 excess of moisture, except in times of very heavy 

 rain, which., in such seasons, can also be much 

 ■uar t by sloping the sides. Were roois 



ructed over dung-hills, to protect them from 

 the rays of the. s.m, as well as from rain, there 

 can be no doubt that, if roughly put up, at little 

 cost, they would prove advantageous; but the 

 benefit should be always closely estimated, in or- 

 der that it may not exceed the charge: perhaps a 

 contrivance of the kind might.be made with spare 

 branches of trees, and worn out hurdles, supported 

 by posts formed out of any otherwise useless tim- 

 ber. 



for, whether in the yard, or carried out to the 

 dung heap, it should never he allowed to become, 

 so dry as to lose the power of fermentation, and if 

 there should be no portion of it sufficiently moist 

 to allow of the dry part being mixed up with it, 

 so as to prevent that risk, it should lie sprinkled re- 

 gularly when shook up. A watering-pot with a 

 lare-e rose will be found to answer the purpose.* 



There can, indeed, be nothing more appropriate 

 to the subject than the observation ot Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy, 'that v - is to be preserved 

 tor any time, the site of the dimghiU is of great 

 importance. In order to have il defended from the 

 sun, it should be laid under a shed, or on the north 

 side of a wall. To make, a complete dunghill re- 

 pository, the floor should be paved with flat stones, 

 a little inclination being made from each side to- 

 wards the centre: in the centre there, should be 

 drains connected with a small well, furnished with 

 a pump, by which any fluid matter may be collect- 

 ed for the use of the land; for it. too often happens 

 that the drainings of the dunghill are entirely 

 wasted. 'I A sheltered spot of ground ought, al- 

 ways to be chosen lor the she; and although some 

 after trouble may be saved by depositing it, in the 

 first instance, in the field to which it is to be ap- 

 plied, it is yet, in most cases, found more conve- 

 nient to place it in some secluded situation near 

 the homestead. 'There it is always under the 

 farmer's eye, and a greater quantity can be moved 

 in a shorter time than when its position is more 

 distant. Besides, in wet weather the roads are 

 not only cut up by driving to a distance, but the 

 field on which it is made may be poached and con- 

 siderably injured. 'J 



These are conveniences, however, that the greal 

 bulkol fanners cannot always command; and it 

 often happens that it is necessary to employ the 

 men and cattle in carting the manure to distant 

 parts ot' the farm some time before it can bespread 

 upon the land. Besides which, it must be admit- 

 ted to be of much importance, when the turnips 

 are sown, to have the manure ready in the field, as 

 it is then covered in with the least exposure to a 

 burning sun, and the moisture is preserved for the 

 benefit of the crop. In the East Riding of York- 

 shire, under 'Farming at Scoresby,' Mr. Howard 

 observes,§ 'as soon as the farm yard is emptied, a 

 quantity of light soil, or road-scrapings, is brought 

 into it; all irregularities of surface are then levelled, 

 and the yard is formed into the shape of a very 

 shallow saucer, being the deepest in the centre. 

 This is immediately covered with litter, and made 

 the general receptacle for potato-tops and waste 



Preservation of dang. 



* General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 523. 



t Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, lect. vi. 



t Brown, of Markle, on Agriculture, vol. i. p. 

 372. 



§ Report of Select Farms, No. 5, p. 27. See also 

 Middleton's Survey of Middlesex, second edition, p. 

 377. 



Practice differs in the modes adopted respecting 

 the care of farm yard dung. Most farmers allow 

 it to accumulate for a long time in the yard, addino- 

 fresh straw regularly to the heap, from an impres- 

 sion that the bottom, if unremoved, will become 

 the richest part, and that its accumulation imparts 

 a certain degree of warmth to the cattle; while 

 some recommend 'that it should be cleaned out 

 once a month at least, not only to sweeten the 

 yard, and thereby to increase the health and vigor 

 of the animals, but in order that its contents may 

 be properly mixed in some other place, to induce 

 and bring on a regular fermentation.'* Now, on 

 this it may be observed, that the fears which are 

 entertained by some persons of the vapor arising 

 from dung which is contained in the open air of 

 the yards becoming prejudicial to the health of the 

 cattle are proved by experience to be completely 



* Malcolm's Modern Husbandry and Survey of Sur- 

 rey, &,c. vol. ii. p. 8. 



