1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



227 



Fui- tlie New England Farmer. 

 MAKING AND PRESERVING MANURES. 



Agriculture is the philosophy of the earth — 

 manure, the touchstone of that philosophj'. There 

 are many false philosophers as well as false teach- 

 ers at the present time. jNIany of the leading 

 writers in the agricultural journals of the day 

 speak of ammonia, as if it were the "breath and 

 life*' of aiiriculture, and when it shall have been 

 arrested in it- escape, the whole principle of the 

 manufacture of manure had been accomplished. 

 The monotonous strain of these writers still lum- 

 bers along in the moulded ruts of false theory, 

 because it is easy to follow in the wake of others. 

 Some men h-^xc a rare faculty of deducing de- 

 ductions from ?i'wdeducibles. This is the basis 

 of false philosophy. The lines of such reason- 

 ing lead men to false conclusions, for the reason- 

 ing seems plausible, and it keeps the company of 

 science. But few men will dispute that manure 

 is the basis of all successful farming in New Eng- 

 land. Levi Bartlett, in the Boston Cidiivator of 

 the 2;3d ult., gives his method of securing the 

 liquid manures. "Of the several materials used, 

 I prefer leaves and leaf mould, next muck, and 

 lastly sawdust ; not that there is any manurial 

 value in sawdust in its crude state, but it is an 

 excellent absorbent." I think there will be birth 

 given to a new idea, when it can be found that 

 manure is increased in quantity or value by be- 

 ing mixed with materials having no "manurial 

 value" of themselves. The American Agricidtn- 

 rist of Jan. last, page 11th, speaking of sawdust 

 as an absorbent says : — "If ammonia is one of the 

 most powerful fertilizers, why should not the 

 greatest pains be taken to save it? For this 

 purpose, sawdust is just the thing." The Coun- 

 try Gentleman, of Dec. 18th, 18-36, says : 



"sawdust as litter for stables. 

 "Some Aveeks ago an article appeared in the 

 columns of this paper, in which sawdust was 

 mentioned and recommended as a litter for sta- 

 bles, which possessed a superioi'ity over straw 

 in several particulars. We have just noticed a 

 communication in the Farmer and Visitor, (Man- 

 chester, N. H.,) in which the writer mentions 

 several other advantages in addition to those 

 ■which were named in the article referred to in 

 our columns. Among the points in which saw- 

 dust was found superior to straw by the person 

 who had tried it in N. H., the first mentioned is, 

 that it occupied less room in the barn, which is 

 not unfrequently, as in the case in this paper, a 

 matter of some importance. Next, sawdust is 

 claimed as superior to straw, because it absorbs 

 more of the fertilizing matters about the stable, 

 the person using it being very swe that the amino- 

 nial emanations icere less strong on opening the 

 doors in the morning than when straw litter was 

 tised. Next, it is said to be much less of a chore 

 to clean the stable, and also, that so little com- 

 paratively had to be thrown out that one load 

 lasted a long time. The next thing named as an 

 advantage of sawdust as litter is, that the manure 

 heap occupied so much less space than when straw 

 ■was used, and thus admitted more easily of be- 

 ing protected by a covering from the wasting ef- 

 fects of exposure to sun, wind and rains. Then 

 again it is an obvious advantage to have in one's 

 yard manure in as small bulk as possible, and 



this is effected to a great extent by the use of 

 sawdust. The same amount of fertilizing matter 

 is, probably, contained in one load of manure 

 made from sawdust, as there would be in two or 

 three loads of that ichich had been made from straw 

 liiler. Then, too, in the field it would be free 

 from all the trouble which long manure frequently 

 gives. _ 



"With so many points of superiority, we think 

 it probable that sawdust will, hereafter, be more 

 generally used, at least in the neighborhood of 

 saw-mills." 



The italics are mine. For your son's sake, 

 once more read the lines italicised. The recom- 

 mendation of the use of sawdust, or any other 

 powerful absorbent for the mere purpose of ar- 

 resting the escape of ammonia is fallacious. 



The exhausted lands of New England can only 

 be redeemed by the application of large quan- 

 tities of manure. To vucceed in this great en- 

 terprise, the farmers should all be in possession 

 of barn cellars and manure tanks of sufficient 

 capacity to meet the exigencies of the case. All 

 highly concentrated manures should be diluted 

 in several times their bulk in water, and turned 

 or pumped upon compost heaps prepared for the 

 purpose. Leaves and leaf mould, muck and na- 

 tive soil, are decidedly the best materials for this 

 purpose. (By native soil, I mean the subsoil, or 

 that which has never been subjected to cultiva- 

 tion.) Night soil, hog's dung, sheep dung and. 

 even cattle's manure, when highly fed, should al- 

 ways be diluted in several times their bulk in 

 water, and turned upon less fertilizing substances. 



Every family of five persons, by carefully sav- 

 ing all the chamber lye and dropping of the privy 

 and diluting it in ten times its bulk of Avater, and 

 turning it upon a heap of muck and native soil, 

 can make enough in a year to plant an acre of 

 corn and manure it well. Doct. Dana says a 

 cow, kept up, and all of her urine and hard ex- 

 crements carefully saved, will do the same. The 

 economical saving of the soap suds of the laun- 

 dry is a valuable addition to the manure heap ; 

 put it in the tank with concentrated manures. 

 The dilution of hog dung when highly fed, and 

 night soil, in many times its bulk of water, and 

 turned upon leaves and leaf mould, muck and 

 native soil, cannot be too strongly impressed up- 

 on the attention of farmers. 



Immense quantities of manure 'may be made 

 by farmers in close proximity to large villages, 

 by securing night soil, diluting and applying it 

 in this manner. Here in New England, we can 

 only measure the amount of crops in acres by 

 the manure on hand. The farmers of the rich 

 prairies and bottom lands of the West can com- 

 pute their acres of Avheat or corn by the amount 

 of team and labor on hand. 



I know farmers in this vicinity, who have Avith- 

 in two hundred rods of their barns a forest that 

 yields a hundred loads of leaves and leaf mould 

 a year, that never used a thimble full in their 

 lives to my knowledge, that mow acres and acres 

 that produce eight or nine hundred pounds of 

 hay per acre, and farms running out, and yet they 

 are "good farmers." 



When will farmers make use of the redundant 

 materials of the earth in the cultivation of their 

 farms ? This is the basis upon which the farming 

 of New England is to-day carried on. I believe 



