660 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 11 



5h 



5 



4 



By clover if mowed, second year 



By pulse-crops — as beans — part of the grain 



being fed by live-stock 

 By pulse-crops, when the grain is sold 

 By white, or corn crops, as wheat, barley, 



&c, as an average of the whole 



The manure is understood by him to be the 

 common farm-yard sort, consisting of the dung 

 and litter from the different offices, in a state only 

 so far rotted as to be easily divisible by the dung- 

 fork, and so dry as to have in it of moisture only 

 about two-thirds, or perhaps a little more, of its 

 whole weight, and to be capable of immediate ap- 

 plication to the land.* 



We fear, however, that, looking to the system 

 of cultivation pursued on most farms, the quantity 

 of manure produced falls far short of that amount. 

 Much, indeed, depends upon its judicious man 

 agement — lor a good farmer will accumulate per- 

 haps nearly twice as much dung as his more indo- 

 lent and inattentive neighbor, and apply it in bet- 

 ter condition to the land, though their opportuni- 

 ties are, in this respect, the same. No means 

 should, therefore, be neglected to supply the de- 

 ficiency; in which view, besides the extension of 

 the soilingsystem, we should strongly recommend 

 that corn crops should be cut as low as possible, so 

 as to increase the, bulk of straw. When the stub- 

 ble is left high and ploughed in, it retards the ope- 

 ration, renders the land foul, and is, on some soils, 

 injurious by rendering them too open. It is, in- 

 deed, in many places mown, and converted into 

 walls for the comtbrt. of the cattle. In Derbyshire 

 a paring-plough is used, by which the roots of the 

 corn and weeds are cut, and the stubble and other 

 stuff is then carried home to be trodden into muck; 

 but the produce does not pay the expense, and it 

 has been found a more economical practice, when 

 it can be carried into effect, to burn the stubble on 

 the ground, by which insects and the seeds of 

 weeds are destroyed. Even when raked up, it 

 has been considered advisable to spread and burn 

 it on the land, as it is thought to have a great ef- 

 fect in preventing the ravages of the fly on tur- 

 nips. | 



The following experiments on the quantity of 

 dung voided hj cattle — lately made under our own 

 direction — will throw some further light on the 

 subject. 



The first was on a dragoon-horse, placed, at 

 bur request, by the Commandant, of the Cavalry 

 Depot at Maidstone, in a separate box — on the 

 26th of January, 1833 — and there kept, with one 

 hour's exercise each day, during the following 

 week, in which time the quantity of forage issued 

 to him, and converted into dung, was as follows: — 



* General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 521. We 

 have omitted the Doctor's estimate of the dung pro- 

 duced by pasture, as being irrelevant. 



fSee the Surveys of Essex, vol. i. p. S25; Hunting- 

 donshire, p. 128; Derbyshire, vol. ii. pp. 124, 131, 406. 

 In a work published about a century ago, and ascribed 

 to Lord Belhaven, it is asserted that the goodness of 

 the East Lothian crops was attributable to the length of 

 their stubbles. 'A good crop of corn makes a good 

 stubble; and a good stubble is the equallest mucking 

 that can be given.' — The Countryman's Rudiments, 

 p. 23. 



Oats each day, lOibs. = TOlbs. 

 Hay, " 12 = 84 



.Straw, " 8 =56 



He drank, within the week, 27 gallons of water; 

 and, during his time of exercise, die loss of dung 

 is sii! posed to have been 4 lbs. daily, or 28 lbs.: 

 in which period therefore — 



The total lorage consumed amounted to 210 lbs. 

 And the dung and litter produced was 327| lbs. 



Thus — if the lost, dung be added — yielding, with 

 the addition of the moisture imparted to the litter 

 by urine, an increase of two-thirds beyond the 

 weight of the solid food. 



The second— on the 28th of March, 1833— was 

 on the food actually eaten by a large-sized York- 

 shire milch cow. which was fed during four and 

 twenty hours with the following provender — 



81 lbs. of brewer's grains, 

 30 lbs. of raw potatoes, 

 15 lbs. of meadow hay. 



The food thus amounted to 126 lbs. She drank 

 two pailsful of water, and the urine was allowed to 

 run off; but she had no straw or litter of any kind, 

 and the weight of the solid dung, which was care- 

 full)- swepl up, amounted to 45 lbs. 



The third was on the same cow, a week after- 

 wards, hut with a change of food, which was con- 

 tinued during some days, on the last of which she 

 consumed within the lour and twenty hours the 

 following quantity: — 



170 lbs. of raw potatoes, 

 28 lbs. of hay. 



As in the former trial, no litter was allowed, and 

 the urine was let off; but the solid dung amounted 

 to 73 lbs. 



Although not incidental to the subject in ques- 

 tion, it may however be worthy of remark that, 

 although the cow was in perfect health, yet, on 

 this latter Ibod, her milk actually fell off at the rate 

 of very nearly two quarts per day. 



When cattle are well littered and fully fed with 

 turnips, it has been usually found that about 

 twelve of them will yield a one-horse cart-load of 

 dung within twenty-four hours; but that quantity 

 will scarcely be produced by sixteen, or even 

 eighteen, if kept only on straw, with a small al- 

 lowance of turnips. It has also been calculated 

 that an acre of very good turnips, with an ade- 

 quate proportion of straw, will make upwards of 

 16 cart-loads of dung; but 10 may be considered 

 a sufficiently large average, for the generality of 

 those crops. Thus, it may be presumed that two 

 acres will be required to manure one.* 



An account by Arthur Youn<; states that the 

 winter stock on his own farm in Hertfordshire con- 

 sisted of six horses, four cows, and nine lean hogs, 

 which consumed 16 loads of hay, with 29 loads of 

 straw lor litter, besides, no doubt, the usual quan- 

 tity of oats to the working cattle. The cows and 

 store swine ran loose in the. yard, and had their 

 straw given in cribs; the horse-stables and lat-hog 

 sties were cleansed into the yard: in May, the 

 whole of the dung was turned over and laid into 

 heaps, and in June was carted away. The quan- 



Roxburgh Report, p. 134. 



