312 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



dences of ignorance and sloth, which have often met our eyes. 

 In those new settlements, men do not seem to look forward be- 

 yond the present fertility of the soil — to its slow, indeed, but cer- 

 tain, deterioration ; .and we can regard such practices there, with 

 some pardon. But when we find the same disposition manifested 

 — though not so palpably, perhaps — in the old, and already worn- 

 out sections of the country — the little care that is taken to increase 

 the quantity and improve the quality of manures — in suffering {he 

 whole drainage of the farm-yard to run off into some stream or 

 pond, and such like waste, we cannot suppress the expression of 

 our surprise. It would often seem, indeed, as if the-dung hill were 

 placed intentionally where every thing should be most favorable to 

 secure for it the most thorough washing, from the rains falling 

 upon it, and all atmospheric aid in becoming completely dissi- 

 pated. Let us employ, then, a short space in investigating the re- 

 sources of the farm for its own maintenance. 



1. The farm-yard ought to be the mine of wealth to every one 

 who appreciates the value of manure. Here are collected the 

 excrements of all the domestic animals — the litter of the stalls — 

 the straw and refuse of the farm, and all those substances which 

 have once constituted a plant, and are, of course, the very materi- 

 als necessary to supply food to others. We will consider, here- 

 after, the means of preserving these manures, and bringing them 

 to that condition in which they will most efficaciously promote 

 vegetation. We wish, now, to impress upon the minds of everj 

 tiller of the soil, the great importance of collecting in one spot, 

 every thing which will in the least degree promote the growth ol 

 a plant, or the maturity of a seed. Its construction should bt 

 such, that no particle shall ever escape from it,. and capacity sc 

 great as to hold all that can be accumulated in it. And the mair 

 source of waste is generally found in the passage that is allowec 

 for the liquids to flow off. This should be prevented by the con- 

 struction of tanks which will receive it ; and from these it shoulc 

 often be pumped out and distributed on the solid contents of tht 

 yard. There, also, should be collected the liquid excrements oi 

 animals — a species of manure which is ordinarily little regarded 

 or entirely wasted, but which is, in fact, far more powerful in its ac- 

 tion than the solid. It is in the attention which the farmer bestows 

 upon this subject, that his enterprise and intelligence appears, anc 



