294 Account of a Stercorary, 



the scale on which my stercorary is built, compared 

 with the common '•^ pits and dung-hole s^^"* against which 

 you so justly warn farmers. The area of my stercora- 

 ry is 90 feet by 40, the cellar is in the shallowest part 

 8 feet deep, in its deepest 12, and in the well, if I mis- 

 take not, 15. — It is open, nearly the whole length of 

 one of its short sides, and one half of the long, viz. at 

 the north and west, besides large openings at the east. 

 There is ahvays 4 or 5 feet atmosphere above the top 

 of the manure, and between it and the barn floor ; and 

 a constant current setting one way or another. This 

 gives the advantage of a free circulation of air, which 

 in general, in such cases, is not obtained. 



The great difiiculty I have had to encounter, arises 

 from the necessity of an equal irrigation of the heap ; 

 a difficulty, which must attend all permanently covered 

 stercoraries. For water turned upon the heap through 

 spouts, runs in currents, and is not equally sprinkled 

 over the heap, like rain ; which is nature's process in 

 this business. To obviate this difficulty, I have con- 

 structed a very simple machine, which answers per- 

 fectly. The stone piers, which support the beams of 

 the barn divide the cellar, lengthways, into three equal 

 compartments. I have a box 6 inches deep, 4 feet 

 wide, and about 13 feet long, which runs by means of 

 wheels, upon a sort of wooden railway, made by strips 

 of planks, and fixed about a foot from the floor of the 

 barn, this is perforated with suitable holes. A perma- 

 nent spout extends through the middle of the cellar, 

 and a moveable spout extends from this to the perfo- 

 rated box — regular openings are made in the perma- 

 nent spout, which may be closed at will — It is also 



