PIGGEKIES AND PIG PENS. 149 



a wet mass of manure and filth. They were obliged to 

 wallow through this mud and manure every time they 

 went to or from the pig pen. We have a weakness for 

 hyacinths and roses, but found that the largest beds of 

 them afforded no pleasure so long as there was such a pig 

 pen in one corner of the garden. 



Thanks to the invention of India rubber boots, it was 

 possible to get about on the backside of the pig pen. We 

 endured this two years, being determined not to fall into 

 the common error of new-comers, of tearing down old 

 buildings before we had determined where to erect new 

 ones. At length, however, with axes, crowbars, a span 

 of horses, and a log chain, we made short work with the 

 old pig pen. Not a stick of it was left standing. The 

 ground being cleared, the first thing was to dig an under- 

 drain, 3 feet deep, underneath, and at the point where 

 the surface-water settled ; we covered the tiles with stones 

 to the top of the land, so that the water from a heavy 

 rain could pass off rapidly. We may add, that the soil 

 underneath the old pig pen, for two feet deep, was found 

 to be the blackest and richest of manure. With a plow 

 and a dirt scraper, this was all removed, and ultimately 

 drawn on to the land. This manure was certainly worth 

 three times as much as the old pig pen. 



The barn-yard was on a side-hill, the pig pen, as we 

 have said, being on one of the lower corners. On the 

 north side of the barn-yard there is a barn, with cow sta- 

 bles underneath, and a horse barn at the north-west corner. 

 The pig pen was at the south-west corner. The 

 first thing done, was to build a stone wall on the 

 west side of the yard, 80 feet long, and 6 feet high, 

 laid in mortar. The next thing was, to plow out the cen- 

 ter of the barn-yard, and, with a dirt scraper, and a span 

 of horses, make a basin 5 or 6 feet deep, with sloping 

 sides. The dirt from this basin was emptied along the 

 side of the stone wall, 15 or 16 feet wide, with a 



