NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



and the piles heat and sweat excessively, from 

 the very nature of the raaterial of which they are 

 composed. Much of its goodness is actually 

 burned, and dissipated by the smoke so often 

 seen rising from such heaps, and when they are 

 opened to remove, the eflccts of the recent heat 

 are unmistakably visible, so that, at the time of 

 removal, it is a mistaken calculation that suppo- 

 ses, all particulars included, it is worth as much, 

 load for load, as the simpler formed manure of the 

 farmer's yard and stables. The eifect may, like 

 that of all heating and rapidly decomposing ma- 

 nures, be more marked ; it is certainly soonest 

 over. 



The usual pi'ice, in this region, for such ma- 

 nures, is $1 a load, to which the cost of hauling 

 is to be added. This will bring it to from $1,25, 

 to $1,50 a load, delivered Now the most moder- 

 ate quantity to be put on an acre, would be ten 

 loads, which in first cost is ten dollars, and to 

 add the lowest price of hauling, would be $12,50. 

 Then the question comes, does it increase the val- 

 ue of the crop to that amount? Tliis, as before 

 stated, depends upon circumstances. In our ob- 

 servation, the effect of these quick working ma- 

 nures is mostly shovrn the first year. 



Now let us take the muck hole. To every far- 

 mer who is blessed with one on his premises, the 

 first cost is the mere cost of the land, which ta- 

 ken by the load, is a mere nothing. Cartage of 

 this, as well as of other things, depends on the 

 price of labor, and will vary in different localities, 

 so we let those interested fix it to suit them- 

 selves. But in this muck, the farmer has a vast 

 amount of vegetable matter, the accumulation 

 of years, and in every stage of decomposi- 

 tion. It is just the thing he needs ; one of the 

 principal ingredients of soil which frequent crop- 

 ])ings have taken from his land. The only objec- 

 tion to its present use, is, that in accumulating 

 in a cold, wet swamp hole, it has become itself so 

 cold and sour, that its power of successful action 

 is diminished. It needs bringing on to the dryer 

 lands where the action of tlie atmosphere, frost, 

 and sunshine will in due time dissipate this un- 

 wholesome quality, and prepare it to become the 

 healthy food of plants. If lime or even ashes are 

 applied, a moderate quantity to each load, they 

 will hasten the neutralization of the acid, and in- 

 crease the value of the raw material. If occasion- 

 ally turned so as to expose new surfaces to the 

 atmosphere, its preparation may be hastened, but 

 when business will not admit of this, it will, in 

 due time, prepare itself; for instance, if a bed of 

 it is formed in spring, it will do for top dressing 

 in autumn, or if hauled out in early autumn, it 

 may be made fit for spring use. 



Muck may be prepared for use by throwing it 

 into hog or barn yards, where, by its absorbent 

 powers, it will take up the juices which would 

 otherwise evaporate, and retain them for the soil. 

 When mixed half and half with barn-yard ma- 

 nure, the qualities of each for most purposes are 

 much improved, so that a farmer who has fifty 

 loads of barn manure, may make a hundred of it 

 by mixing muck in a like quantity. If a bushel 

 of gypsum to each ten of manure, or even a less 

 quantity, is mixed, so much the better. 



For top dressing grass lands, these composts 

 are better than clear manure, for the combina- 

 tion with the muck prevents evaporation, and 



the slow decomposing qualities of the muck ena- 

 ble it to give out the strength, as the plant re- 

 cpiires it for food. For grain crops, wc have 

 found it excellent. If the first effect is not so 

 great, it lasts much longer than animal manure, 

 and makes the land clear of all weeds. For fruit 

 li'ces and gardens, it is just the thing. For po- 

 tatoes, it is far preferable to more heating ma- 

 nures, which greatly facilitate the progress of the 

 rot. 



Since writing the foregoing, I have learned 

 from an intelligent farmer, who makes much use 

 of muck, that his estimated cost of manufactur- 

 ing it into a valuable compost is not to exceed 

 fifty cents a load. Farmers can decide which is 

 cheapest then, this or stable manure, always to 

 be hauled some distance, for a dollar a load. But 

 in order to come at the whole truth in the mai- 

 ler, let them apply a load of each side by side, 

 and mark the result by taking first cost and last 

 profit into the account. w. B. 



liichmond, Mass., Xov. 26, 1857. 



V/INTEBINQ MILCH COWa. 



A word on feeding cows for milk and butter. 

 I have experimented for the last five years upon 

 different kinds of dry feed — corn, barley, oat and 

 buckwheat meal, fine and coarse middlings, 

 shorts and bran, wet — with cut straw, hay and 

 sialks. My cows give more milk and make more 

 butter, from com meal, wet, with cut straw, than 

 any other food, by from one-third to one-half. It 

 will not do to feed hay or stalks at the same time 

 — it fattens the cows too much. Try four quarts 

 of meal and one bushel of straw per day — ^that is, 

 two quarts morning and night — the straw at noon; 

 they will gain in flesh at tliat. It is true, as you 

 have remarked, that "corn meal is bad for milk," 

 if it is fed with hay or stalks. Two quarts fed 

 with hay or stalks is first-rate for other cattle, or 

 the same amount on straw is cheaper and better 

 than hay and stalks without the meal. Stabling 

 is indispensable in the above feeding. — S. B. 

 Banvakd, Liconia, N. Y., in Jtural Neic-Torl-er. 



Remarks. — AVe give the above, not to endorse 

 it entirely, but for the suggestions it contains in 

 regard to some points. Four quarts of pure meal 

 per day would be very high feed, and more than 

 would probably be returned, at present prices of 

 milk. Will Mr. Barnard's views about the straw 

 be sustained by others? If they can be, they 

 are very important. 



For ilie New England Fanner. 



AGRICULTUBAL ADDRESSES, 



I have noticed some cavils of late, at the ap- 

 pointment of persons to make these, who were 

 not what is c^WeA practical far )iicrs, but who are 

 employed much of the time in some other pur- 

 suit. I am one of that number, who think it no 

 valid objection to an orator, because he knows 

 something else besides the particular subject on 

 which he is called to speak — on the contrary, it 

 would be a serious objection if he did not under- 

 stand other subjects. Who will say that Picker- 

 ing, Abbott and Eaton, who nearly forty years 



