1869. 



NEW ENGLAND F.IRMER. 



431 



believed to yield ten pounds per week. Dolly 

 a two-year old heifer, now in milk, bids fair 

 to surpass the othcers as a dairy cow, as her 

 m'lk is yellow and rich in cream. Another 

 cow, Lily, is from one of R. L. Maitland's 

 importt d cows. 



I speak of the yield of these various cows 

 with much pleasure, believing the statements 

 to be very accurate, as the trials were made 

 to sa'isfy the owner ai to the real value of the 

 cows, and not to assist in the sale of young 

 Jersey stock at higli prices. 



Mr. Rogers has raised some very fine young 

 cows, and he has two yearling heifers, one 

 full blood one half blood, that are large for 

 their age, and the indications are that the 

 Jerseys raised with the best of care here, aie 

 much larger than the imported aiiaials and 

 better every way. I saw a heifer calf, half 

 Jersey half Guernsey, in the yard of Burton 

 Lawlon, seven weeks old, very large, beauti- 

 ful st\le, with a remarkable udder for a calf. 



In the pasture of Thomas R. Hazard, 1 saw 

 some polled cows which were fine animals. 



Mr. Walker, a market gardener. Las those 

 thousands of cabbage plants that he wintered in 

 cold frames, now rapidly approaching matu- 

 rity, — a large field of thrifty plants, covering 

 the ground well. 



Haying has not yet commenced on the 

 Island. 



Among so many model farms and beautiful 

 residences there must be many things worthy 

 of notice and study, as weabh is here com- 

 bined with natural beauty. Z E. Jameson. 



Irasburg, Vt., June 27, 1869. 



For the Xeic England Farmer. 



MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF 

 BARN MANURE, 



Importance of Manure — Farmiag on the Hudson River 

 — Impoverished 8t ils — Buying City Manure — Mauure 

 from Fattenirg Sheep — Beudi'ja: for the Sheep — Ma- 

 nure under Cover — Form of Yards — Liquid Manure 

 Cistern— Wateri g to avoid Fire-fjng — Applicaiion of 

 Manure — Gang Piough for Covering— Old Method of 

 Applying — Effects and Profit of Xanure — Increased 

 product of a hundred-acre Farm, 



Messrs. Editors : — I certainly owe mv 

 friend at your office who so kindly entertained 

 me when there last spring, an apology for not 

 fulfilling sooner my promise to furnish an arti- 

 cle for your columns ; still as I have been 

 very busy, and as 1 was not limited as to time, 

 I hope that the present communication will be 

 acceptable. As I understand it, the proposed 

 subject was Barnyard Manure. 



To begin, I will say that if any one branch 

 of farming, more than another, has had my 

 solicitude, it has been how shall I make more 

 and better manure, and how shall I apply it to 

 the best advantage? 1 recollect the first 

 speech I ever heard at an Agricultural Fair, 

 and what was said on this subject. The 

 speaker told us there were three things requi- 



site in good farming. He said the first thing 

 was manure ; the second was manure ; and the 

 third was manure. Although it caused a great 

 laugh amongst his audience, I can assure you 

 it made an impression on me which I have 

 never forgotten. 



I will say then, in the first place, that the 

 staple crop of our section of country bordering 

 on the North or Hudson River is hay, and as 

 prices generally have been remunerative, it has 

 been the practice with our farmers to sell not 

 only all the hay they possibly could, but also 

 all the straw, as straw sometimes — as this year 

 — bnngs as much or more than hay, and keep 

 but very little stock. I, too, started on the 

 same track, but soon found that my land, 

 although naturally poor then, was becoming 

 poorer still, under such treatment, so I at 

 once resolved to try in some way to improve 

 it. 



I commenced buying manure in the city of 

 Albany, which is eight miles from my farm, 

 hauling it home in winter and mixing it with 

 muck from the swamp. I Ut it lay in piles 

 through the summer, occasionally thovelling 

 it over, and then applied it in the fall to the 

 land for winter grain. As this was attended 

 with considerable labor and expense, I con- 

 cluded to buy and feed some sheep in winter. 

 I found in the sprin,» that I ha ! a nice pile of 

 manure, and concluded at once to follow it 

 out on that line. Since that time I have not 

 missed a year that I have not fed from two to 

 nine hundred sheep. Ahhough I have found 

 more than one year, when cost of sheep, feed, 

 and expenses were figured up, that I had only 

 the manure pile left as profits, still I con- 

 cluded that even that was betier than to sell 

 about all my hay and straw, and have nothing 

 to relurn to the land save a little heap of ma- 

 nure from the horse sstable door, and another 

 from the cow stable, and then sit down and 

 complain — as I have often heaid people do — 

 of having bad luck in not getting g od crops. 



I will now proceed to fell you how I nrnke 

 my manure, and a good pile of it too, as I am 

 satisfied I had five hundred loads this year. 

 In tlfj first place, before harve-t, if possible, 

 we haul from the saw-mill sawdust enough to 

 cover all the floors above, and tlie sheds below, 

 about four incUes thick, ihat is lett to dry 

 until after the leaves drop in the fall. Then 

 the sawdust is covered with a coating of leaves 

 about three iiicbes thick. The out?ide yards 

 also get a bed of leaves. When winter sets in 

 the sheep are put upon this bedding, which 

 lasts from two or three weeks, by stirring it a 

 few times, when bedding of straw or hay must 

 be added twice a weeji, all winter. 



In the spring, or as soon as the sheep are 

 sold, we first remove all the manure from the 

 floors, and generally use that for corn or pota- 

 toes. Then we pile the balance, or as much 

 of it as we conveniently can, under the sheds, 

 and the remainder is piled outside. I prefer 

 always to have all the manure under cover, as 



