404 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



while a useful crop is growing, weeds are kept 

 down."— pp. 12, 13, 14. 



The process here described is the only one, 

 which, allowing for difference of soil and other 

 circumstances, can bring very poor land into a 

 state of profitable cultivation. In the neishbor- 

 hood of Aberdeen, in Scotland, on a very difierentj 

 but; still very poor soil, deep trenching with the 

 spade, and judiciously mixing the different earths 

 which are dispersed through the soil, have been 

 found the most efficacious, and, in the end, the 

 cheapest mode of (ranslbrming large tracis ol 

 peaty moor, full of granite rocks and stones of all 

 sizes, into cultivated fields. The change pro- 

 duced in the aspect ol the country is no less striking 

 here, after a (ew years, than that of the improved 

 heaths of the provinces of Antwerp and Guel- 

 derland. 



The most rapid improver of loose sands is rich 

 liquid manure, affordmg immediate nourishment 

 to plants, which otherwise, for want of moisture, 

 would languish, even with an abundance of solid 

 dung ; for this last remains altogether in>'.rt, until 

 it be moistened and partly dissolved. When the 

 fibres of the root spread, they bind the loose sand, 

 and prevent the too rapid evaporation and perco- 

 lation of the moisture. These roots remain in the 

 Boil when the crop is reaped, and by their decay 

 afford organic matter lor the nourishment of the 

 next crop. Hence it is evident ihul the plants 

 which have long spreading roots, if they can be 

 made to vegetate vigorously by an ample supply 

 of liquid manure, greatly improve very light 

 sands, and, in process of time, by the decay of 

 the vegetable fibres, produce such an increase ol 

 humus as entirely to change the quality of the 

 soil. 



The collection and preparation of liquid manure 

 is an object of primary importance with the Fle- 

 mish farmer : every lijrm has, near or under the 

 stables and cow-houses, one or more capacious 

 tanks, into which the urine of the animals and 

 the washings of the stables flow ; and every 

 exertion is made to increase the quantify and 

 improve the quality of the tank liquor. 



"The tanks are generally sunk below the level of 

 the ground, and have the sides built of brick, and 

 the bottom paved : they are of various dimensionsj 

 according to the number of cows and liorses on 

 the farm. Attached to (he distilleries, where 

 many beasts arc constantly kept to consume the 

 refuse wash, there are very large urine-tanks, ol 

 an oblong shape, divided by partitions into different 

 chambers, so thai the liquor may be of the proper 

 age when it is used, which .some farmers think 

 • ought to be six months.* Each chamber is about 

 8 feet square and G or 8 feet deep ; these are 

 sometimes vaulted over, but frequently only co- 

 vered with loose boards. As urine and the empty- 

 ings of privies are sold wholesale and retail, there 

 are many large tanks near the rivers and canals, 

 were the dealers have pometimes great quantities 

 in store. Some of these consist of many square 

 pits like tan-pits, bricked round, and the inside 

 covered with a cement, which prevents loss by 

 filtration. There is generally in a corner of each 

 pit a graduated scale, by which the number of 

 barrels or tons of li(ioid in the tank may be ascer- 



* But this depends on tlie season of the year and 

 other circumstances, as will be seen below. 



tained, by observing the height of the surface. 

 These tanks are gradually filled by boat-loads 

 brought from the large towns ; and when ti e 

 season arrives tbrsovvintr, in spring and autumn, 

 the fiirmers come with their carts and tubs, and 

 purchase as much as they may want. 'I'he price 

 varies from three to five francs (2s. &d. to 4s,) 

 per hogshead, according to the quality^ In a 

 small (arm of 30 to 40 acres the tank is ijenerally 

 about 20 feet long, 12 wide, and & deep, with ij 

 partition in the middle, and arched over^ leaving 

 a small round opening for the pump, and another 

 suffirient to allow a man to go in to empty out the 

 earihy de|)osi!e Vi^hich accumulates at the bottom. 

 A trap d&or shuts over this hist aperture to prevent 

 accidents. Sometimes the tank is round like a 

 well, with a dome top and so deep in the ground, 

 that it has a foot or two of earth over it. The 

 situation of the tank is either in the farm-yard 

 near the entrance o( the cow-house, or imme- 

 diately behind it : sometimes it is like a cellar under 

 the building ; but this is apt to cause a disagreea- 

 ble smell in the covv-hou:re. We here describe 

 those tanks which we cour^ider the most conveni- 

 ent : the form and capacity of them vary greatly, 

 according to the means and notions of the pro- 

 prietors of the farms ; but a tank of some kind or 

 other is considered as indispensable an appendage 

 to a firm as a btirn or a cow-house. The farmer 

 would as soon think of dispensing with his plough 

 as with his tank: and no expense or trouble is 

 spared to keep it well supplied. 



" The numerous towns and villages in Flanders 

 aff^ord great help in the way of manure. The 

 thrifty housewile and her activ^e substitute the 

 maid know the value of what in our households is 

 thrown away, or wasted and lost. A small tank, 

 or a tub sunk in thp ground, in some corner, con- 

 tains all the liquid which can in ariy way be 

 useful ; soap-suds, washings of dishes, &c., are 

 carefully kept in this reservoir until, once a week, 

 the farmer or contractor calls with his tub on a 

 cart ; and this, mixed with the contents of privies, 

 which are frequently emptied, he keeps in large 

 cisterns (or use or sale. 



" But this supply is not always adequate to the 

 wants of the farmer ; and then he has recourse to 

 rape-cakes dissolved in water, or in the tank bquor, 

 which is expensive, and can only be profitable 

 when (lax bears a good price, this being the crop 

 for which rape-cakes are chieffy used as manure. 

 Every means, therefore, of augmenting the sup- 

 ply of urine is had recourse to, and the most 

 eihcacioiis is the establishment of distilleries. 

 These answer the double purpose of consuming 

 produce and increasing manure by the number 

 of beasts which are fattened on the refuse wash. 

 It is calculated that every beast produces at the 

 rate of 10 or 12 tone of dimg and 26 hogsheads 

 of urine in the year. A moderate distillery has 

 50 or 60 head of cattle constantly stalled. Here 

 then is a supply of manure for several hun- 

 dred acres of land every year. Formerly there 

 were a great many distilleries in Flanders, but 

 the duty on spirits and the interference of the 

 government has much reduced their number ; so 

 that the farmers complain of the loss of this 

 manure, and the consequent deficiency of their 

 crops. 



" Liquid manure is carried to the fields in com- 

 moQ water-carts, which consist of two wheels 



