46 



Importance of Manure. 



Vol. X. 



Importance of Maunre. 



In agricultural establishments, in which 

 the importance of manure is duly appreci- 

 ated, every precaution is taken both tor its 

 production and preservation. Any expense 

 incurred in improving this vital department 

 of the farm, is soon repaid beyond all pro- 

 portion to the outlay. The industry and the 

 intelligence possessed by the farmer, may 

 indeed almost be judged of at a glance by 

 the care he bestows on his dunghill. It is 

 truly a deplorable thing to witness the ne- 

 glect which causes the vast loss and de 

 struction of manure over a great part of 

 these countries. The dunghill is often ar- 

 ranged as if it were a matter of moment that 

 it should be exposed to the water collected 

 from every roof in the vicinity — as if the 

 business were to take advantage of every 

 shower of rain to wash and cleanse it from 

 all it contains that is really valuable. The 

 main secret of the admirable and successful 

 husbandry of French Flanders?, may perhaps 

 lie in the extreme care that is taken in that 

 country to collect everything that can con- 

 tribute to the fertility of the soil. Our ag- 

 ricultural societies, which are now so uni- 

 versally established, would confer one of the 

 greatest services on the community, if they 

 would encourage by every means at their 

 command, economy of manure; premiums 

 awarded to those farmers who should pre- 

 serve their dunghills in the most rational 

 and advantageous manner, would prove of 

 more real service than premiums in many 

 other and more popular directions. 



The place where the dung of a farm is 

 laid, ought to be rather near to the stables 

 and cow-houses. The arrangements may 

 be varied to infinity, but they ought all to 

 combine the following conditions: 1st. That 

 the drippings from the heap should not run 

 away, but should be collected in a tank or 

 cistern under ground; 2nd. That no wa- 

 ter, except the rain which falls on the dung- 

 heap, or any water that may be thrown upon 

 it on purpose, should be allowed to drain 

 into this reservoir; 3rd. That the place for 

 the dunghill be of size enough to avoid the 

 necessity of heaping the manure to too great 

 a height. The ground upon which the dung 

 is piled ought to slope gently one way or 

 another — from each side towards the centre 

 is best — so that the drippings may be col- 

 lected in the tank or cistern. It is also de- 

 sirable, that the soil underneath should be 

 clayey and impermeable; where it is not so, 

 it becomes necessary to puddle, to cement, 

 or to p■^ve the bottom of the dunghill stance 

 OS well as the bottom and sides of the tank 

 or cistern. The water which runs from the 



heap should be thrown back upon it occa- 

 sionally, by means of a pump and hose, so 

 as to preserve it in a state of constant moist- 

 ness. The opening into the tank, which is 

 best placed immediately under the centre of 

 the dung-heap, is closed by means of a 

 strong grating in wood or iron, the bars 

 being sufficiently close to prevent the solid 

 matters from pas.sing through. One very 

 important arrangement, one which, in fact, 

 must on no account be overlooked, is that 

 the drains from the stables and cow-houses 

 be so contrived, that they all run to the 

 dunghill. The litter, however abundant, 

 never absorbs the whole of the urine, espe- 

 cially at the time when the cattle are upon 

 green food; and it would be quite unpardon- 

 able in the husbandman did he not take mea- 

 sures to secure this, the most valuable por- 

 tion of the manure at his disposal. 



The litter mixed with the droppings of 

 the animals, and soaked with their urine, 

 ought to be carried from the stables to the 

 dunghill upon a light barrow. The practice 

 of dragging out the manure v/ith dung-hooks, 

 which is often permitted when the field upon 

 which it is to be spread is at no great dis- 

 tance, ought on no account to be allowed ; 

 the loss from the practice is always consid- 

 erable. 



Materials ought not to be thrown on the 

 dunghill at random or hap-hazard ; they 

 should be evenly spread and divided ; an 

 uneven heap gives rise to vacancies, which 

 by and by become mouldy, to the great det- 

 riment of the manure. It is of much im- 

 portance that the heap be pretty solid, in 

 order to prevent too great a rise of temper- 

 ature, and too rapid a fermentation, which 

 are always injurious. Particular care must 

 also be taken that the heap preserves a suffi- 

 cient degree of moistness, not only of its 

 surfnce but of its entire mass, which is ef- 

 fected by watering it frequently. At Bech- 

 elbronn, our dung-heap is so firmly trodden 

 down, in the course of its accumulation, by 

 the feet of the workmen, that a loaded 

 wagon drawn by four horses, can be taken 

 across it without very great difficulty. The 

 thickness of the heap is not a matter of in- 

 difference : besides the convenience of load- 

 ing, which must not be forgotten, any great 

 thickness may become injurious by causing 

 the temperature to rise too high ; circum- 

 stances occurring which should compel us 

 to keep a mass in this state for any length 

 of time, the decomposition would make such 

 progress as to occasion very great loss. Ex- 

 perience has shown, that the thickness of a 

 dung-heap ought not to exceed from about 

 four feet and a half to six feet and a half; 

 it ought certainly never to exceed the latter. 



