AND H O R T I C U L T U ri A L REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultoral Warehouse.) 



V01-. Xl.V.l 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1840. 



[NO. 34. 



FARMER, 



From the Journal of the English Agricultural Society. 



AN ESSAY 

 On making Compost heaps from liquids and other 

 subsltiiices ; wrillen on the evidence of many years 

 experience. — To wliich the prize of ton scivcr- 

 eigns was aivardefl. — By Jajies Dixo.v, Es(|., 

 Secretary to tlif; Manchester AjjricuUural Soci- 

 ety. 



The force anJ power of an agriculturist to pro- 

 duce good crops mainly depends on the manures 

 he can command ; and jiow to derive tlio greatest 

 possible benefits Irom his immediate resources is 

 is one of the most useful subjects that can engage 

 his attention. The English Agricultural Society 

 having offered a prcniium for the best mode of mak- 

 ing compost heaps, I venture to forward tlie com- 

 mittee my ideas on this most important branch of 

 rural mnnagemcnt ; and in doing this I shall state 

 the cour.se I have pursued in this particular for 

 many years, and in which every additional e.tperi- 

 ence inclines me not to make any systematic alte- 

 ration. 



My farm is a strong, retentive soil, on a substra- 

 tum of ferruginous clay ; and being many times 

 disappointed in what I considered reasonable anti- 

 cipations of good crops, I determined on a new 

 system of manuring. Tliough quite satisfied of the 

 expense which would necessarily be incurred by 

 my plan, I .«till determined on its adoption. At 

 the onset I effectually drained a considerable part 

 of my farm. My next object was how to improve 

 its texture at the least cost — (perhaps I may be al- 

 lowed to state that my holding has always been at 

 rack-rent); for this purpose we carted great quan- 

 tities of fine sawdust and peat earth or bog ; we 

 had so far to go for the latter, that two horses 

 would fetch little more than three tons in one day 

 — one horse would fetch three cart-loads of saw- 

 dust in the same time. Having brought great 

 quantities of both peat and sawdust into my farm 

 yard, I laid out for the lioltom of a compost heap a 

 space of considerable dimensions, and about three 

 feet in depth: three fourths of this bottom was 

 peat, the rest sawdust ; on this we cimveyed daily 

 the dung from the cattle sheds, the tu'ine also is 

 conducted through channels to wells for its recep- 

 tion, — one on each side of the compost heap; — 

 common water is entirely prevented from mixing 

 with it. Every second day the urine so collected 

 is thrown over the whole mass with a scoop, and 

 at the same time we regulate the accumulated 

 dung. This being continued for a week, another 

 layer, nine inches or a foot thick, of peat and saw- 

 dust (and frequently peat without sawdust) is wheel- 

 ed on the accumulated heap. These matters are 

 continuously added to each other during winter, 

 and in addition once in every week never less tlian 

 25 cwt., move frequently 50 cwt., of night-soil and 

 urine; the latter are always laid next above the 

 peat or bog earth, as we think it accelerates their 



decomposition. It is perhaps proper here to state 

 that the peat is dug and exposed to the alternations 

 of tlie weather for several months before it is 

 brought to the heap for admixture j by this it loses 

 much of its moisture. In some cases, t)eat con- 

 tains acid or astringent matters, which are injuri- 

 ous to useful vegetation. On this I have not tried 

 any decided experiment, but am led to the supposi- 

 tion by frequently seeing stones, some in a partial 

 state of decomposition, otliers wholly decomposed 

 in bogs, and at the depth of several feet from the 

 surf;ice. Some years' experience has convinced 

 me of the impropriety of using recently dug peat; 

 proceeding in the manner I recommend, it is supe- 

 rior and more convenient on every account — very 

 much lighter to cart to to the farm-yard or any 

 other situation where it is wanted ; and so convinc- 

 ed am I of its utility in composts for every descrip- 

 tion of soil, except that of its own character, that 

 wherever it can be laid down on a farm at less 

 than 4s. per ton, I should recommend every agricul- 

 turist and horticulturist that can command it, even 

 at the cost here stated, to give it a fair trial. So 

 retentive and attractive of moisture is peat, that if 

 liberally applied to any arid, sandy soil, that ."soil 

 does not burn in a dry season, and it so much im- 

 proves the texture and increases the produce of an 

 obdurate clay soil, if in other respects rightly cul- 

 tivated, that actual experience alone can fairly de- 

 termine its value. 



For the conveyance of night-soil and urine, we 

 have the largest and strongest casks, stich as oils 

 are imported in; the top of which is provided with 

 a funnel to put the matters through, and tlie casks 

 are fixed on wheels like those of a common dnng- 

 cari. For the convenience of emptying this car- 

 riage, the compost heaps are always lower at one 

 end ; the highest is where we discharge the con- 

 tents, in order that they may in some degree spread 

 themselves over the whole accnmulatiim : the situ- 

 ation on which the wheels of these carriages stand 

 while being discharged is raised considerably ; this 

 we find convenient, as the compost heap may be 

 sloped six or seven feet high: low compost heaps, 

 in my opinion, should be avoided. The plan here 

 recommended I have carried on for some time. I 

 find no difiiculty in manuring my farm over once 

 in two years; by this repetition I keep up the fer- 

 tility of my land, and it never requires tnoro than 

 a moderate application of manure. 



I am fully aware that there are many localities 

 where neither peat nor night-soil can be readily 

 obtained ; but it is worth a farmer's wliile to go 

 even more than twenty mites for the latter sub- 

 stance, provided he can have it without deteriora- 

 tion : the original cost is often trifling. On a farm 

 where turnips or mangold are cultivated to some 

 extent, the system here recommended will be al- 

 most incalculably advantageous ; a single horse is 

 sufficient for one carriage — mine hold upwards of 

 a ton each ; six tons of this manure in compost 

 with peat, or, if that is not convenient, any other 

 matters, such as ditch scourings, or liigh headlands 

 which have been properly prepared and laid dry in 

 a heap for some time, would be amply sutlicieut for 



an acre of turnips or mangold. This manure is by 

 far the most invigorating of any I have ever yet 

 tried ; bones in any state will bear no coinpariaon 

 with it for any crop ; but it must be remembered 

 that I write on the supposition that it has not been 

 reduced in streiigtii before it is fetched. 



Convenience frequently suggests that compost 

 heaps should be raised on different parts of a farm ; 

 but, unless in particular instances, it is well to 

 have them in the yard: in the farm-yard, all the 

 urine from the cattle stalls may bo employed with 

 the greatest economy; and be it remarked that the 

 urine from animal.?, in given weights, is more pow- 

 erful than their solid excrements.* How impor- 

 tant tlien must it bo to the farmer to make the 

 most extensive and the most careful use of this 

 liquid. It is sometimes carted on the land, but 

 that practice will not bear a comparison with mak- 

 ing it into composts in the manner here recommend- 

 ed. Great waste is often made in putrescent ma- 

 iinres after they are carted on the land ; instead of 

 being immediately covered or incorporated with 

 the soil, we not nnfrequently see them exposed for 

 days together in the hot rays of a scorching sun, 

 or to the injurious influences of a dry wind. I 

 have before stated that compost heaps should en 

 many considerations be raised in the farm-yard ; 

 still circumstances are frequently such that it is 

 more proper to make them at some distance in the 

 fields. If a headland becomes too high by frequent 

 ploughings or working of the land, in that case it 

 should be ploughed at the time when clover or 

 mixed grass seeds are sown with a wliite crop, for 

 instance, barley or oats, and clover for the year 

 following : a headland might then be ploughed, 

 and a number of cart-loads of some manure heaped 

 from ono end to the other. Immediately after this 

 it should be trenched with the spade (or \\hat is 

 sometimes- called digging,) and ridged high, in or- 

 der that an action should take place between the 

 soil and manure; by this means the mass would 

 soon be in a condition for turning over, and any 

 ditch scourings, or other matters which had not in 

 the first instance been used, might nov/ be added 

 to the mixture. The heap should then bo allowed 

 to remain closed for a few weeks, then turned over 

 again; at this turning, in all probability, the mass 

 would be much reduced; if sufficiently reduced, 

 raise the ridge of compost well on both sides, but, 

 instead of its top being pointed, make a trench or 

 cavity on the top from one end of the heap to the 

 other. This cavity should be made tolerably re- 

 tentive of moisture, which may be effected by tread- 

 ing with the feet; carriages of night soil or urine 

 from the cattle stalls may then be emptied into the 

 trench, and the bulk of the heap would determine 

 how many were required ; this being done, a little 

 earth should be thrown into the trench, and the 

 heap allowed to remain in that state until the mid- 

 dle or latter end of autumn ; it will then be ready 

 lor another turning ; but at this time care must be 



"This must be taken with some limitations, lor urine 

 contains 90 to 1>0 per cent, of water ; and r]hnii.\ed dung 

 coniains all the salts of urine, besides much rnucus antl 

 other sulistanees. — W. L. Bham. 



