FARM-YARD MANURE. 



FARM-YARD MANURE. 



stated that compost heaps should, on 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 

 v when clover or mixed grass-seeds are sown 

 with a white 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 one end to 

 the other. Immediately after this it should be 

 trenched with the spade (or what is sometimes 

 called digging), and ridged high, in order that 

 an action may take place between the soil and 

 the 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 

 now be added to the mixture. The heap should 

 then be allowed to remain closed for a few 

 weeks, then turned over again ; at this turning, 

 in all probability, the mass would be much re- 

 duced; and if so, raise the ridge of compost 

 well on both sides ; but, instead of its top be- 

 ing pointed, make a trench or cavity on the top 

 from one end of the heap to the other. This 

 cavity should be made tolerably retentive of 

 moisture, which may be effected by treading 

 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 de- 

 termine 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 middle or latter end of autumn ; 

 it will then be ready for another turning; but 

 at this time care must be taken to have the 

 heap well made up at the sides, and pointed at 

 the top ; in this situation rain will be thrown 

 off, and the compost preserved dry until winter 

 presents some favourable opportunity for lay- 

 ing it on the young clover, wheat, or any other 

 crop which may require it. 



" In the year 1826," adds Mr. Dixon, " my 

 attention was first directed to raising compost 

 heaps from urine. This I now do frequently, 

 without the help of any dung from the cattle- 

 stalls. The same occasion called my mind to 

 another matter, well worthy every farmer's at- 

 tention. I allude to the great superiority of the 

 manure raised in summer soiling, to that pro- 

 duced in the stalls during winter." 



"The strength and consequent value of all 

 cattle-dung," says Mr. Burke, in a note upon 

 this paper, "will of course depend upon the 

 nature of their food ; if soiled, during the sum- 

 mer, upon clovers, tares, sainfoin, &c., there 

 can be no doubt that the manure will have a 

 proportionately greater effect upon the land, 

 than if the beasts be kept in the straw-yard ; 

 and if stall-fed, either in winter or in summer, 

 for the purpose of fatting, it will be still better. 

 Thus, it was found, on comparing the effects 

 of dung voided by animals fed chiefly on oil- 

 cake with that of store-stock, 12 loads of the 

 former exceeded in superiority of product 24 

 of the latter." (See The Complete Grazier, 6th 

 edit. p. 103.) 



I verily believe the difference is 50 per cent., 

 462 



unless stock are fed, in a great measure, during 

 winter, with artificial food. In an arrange- 

 ment for making compost heaps from urine, I 

 would recommend a receptacle to be made at 

 the back of the cattle-stalls, just outside the 

 building : this should hold about 20 cart-loads 

 of mould, or any other matters to be employed ; 

 if its situation were a little lower than the cat- 

 tle-sheds, all the urine would pass into it, and 

 remain there until the mass is completely sa- 

 turated, which will be sufficient ; when the 

 earthy matters are covered over, the compost 

 may then be thrown out, and the proceeding 

 again renewed. In order to show part of the 

 benefits of this practice, I beg here to observe, 

 that the most foul or weedy mould may be 

 used ; the action of the urine, if not reduced by 

 water, is so powerful, that wire-worms, the 

 black slug, many other destroying insects, and 

 all vegetables, weeds, &c., when in contact 

 with the urine for a time, are killed. The 

 situation for raising this compost should be 

 protected from the weather by a covering, 

 similar to a cart-shed ; indeed, the deteriorating 

 influences of rain, sun, and arid winds, on all 

 putrescent manures or compost, are so serious, 

 that, in my humble judgment, it would be 

 worth while to have places under cover where 

 these are usually laid down. The ordinary 

 method of conveying manures on land, admits 

 of much improvement. 



On the black hungry gravels of Spring Park, 

 near Croydon in Surrey, peat has been long 

 and skilfully applied, Avith the best success, by 

 Mr. Hewitt Davis. The peat on his farm is 

 found resting in considerable masses on a sili- 

 cious stratum ; he uses it both mixed with his 

 farm-yard compost, and also with lime; in the 

 first case, he has the peat previously dried; in 

 the latter, the operation of the lime, absorbing 

 the moisture of the peat as it slakes, renders 

 drying unnecessary ; he finds the lime and peat 

 an admirable top-dressing for young clover. 

 To the compost of the farm-yard he adds about 

 an equal bulk of peat : he also burns a consi- 

 derable quantity of peat, and with the ashes 

 top-dresses his turnips with decided advantage; 

 it not only promotes the growth of the crop, but 

 he thinks that the smell of the ashes is very 

 noxious to the turnip fly. There is no doubt 

 but that peat, when saturated with urine, and 

 in a state of gradual decomposition, is nourish- 

 ing to plants. Mr. Davis has noticed that when 

 the land is manured with the peat and farm- 

 yard compost, the roots of the turnips and tares 

 will encircle the lumps of peat, just as is the 

 case when crushed bones are employed. I am 

 not aware of any farm of similar extent (500 

 acres), where peat has been more skilfully and 

 successfully applied than at Spring Park, under 

 the management of this able agriculturist. 

 Peat, which has thus been so successfully em- 

 ployed as a manure in compost, is composed 

 principally of the inert, long accumulating ve- 

 getable remains of either wood, moss, or heath; 

 it abounds also with earthy and saline matters ; 

 those of Berkshire and Wiltshire contain from 

 one-fourth to one-third of their weight of gyp- 

 sum ; their earthy matters are always analog- 

 ous to the stratum of earth on which it reposes ; 

 where that is chalk, the peat abounds with 



