364 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the New England Fanner. 

 "STUDY TO HAVE A LARGE DUNGHILL." 



Mu. Cur.E : The value of form-j-ard manure seems 

 to be geiiorall}- admitted. Its application to the soil 

 lios at the very root of success in husbandry. With 

 it, the farmer can accomplish every thint^ that others 

 have done before him ; without it, he is as thouu;h 

 his hands were tied ; he can do nothing. It is his 

 caiiital, which, ■when safely invested and prudently 

 manaf^ed, will ere many days return to him with in- 

 terest. In all ages of the world has its worth been 

 recognized ; and those ancient works on agriculture 

 that have come down to us abound in allusions to 

 its imi)ortance, and give curiously minute instruc- 

 tions for its preservation and use. The ancients 

 justly thought that the character of a farmer can best 

 be ascertained by comparing the size of his dung- 

 hill with the number of acres he has in cultivation. 

 They all agree in calling it the basis of his prosperity, 

 and the source of domestic comfort and happiness. 



But how forgetful of all this are thousands of the 

 farmers who make it a boast that they live in the 

 enlightened nineteenth century — many of them 

 claiming to be men of intelligence and sagacity ! 

 They appear to think their land does not require a 

 good supply of nutriment, in order to produce an 

 abundant crop. They actually starve their land, 

 while they would not be willing to starve their 

 cattle. They very -well know that a poorly-fed ox 

 is not able to labor, and cannot be converted into 

 prime beef, as well as that milk cannot be expected 

 froTn a cow which is kept on a scanty pasture ; and 

 furthermore, that both the qualitj- and the quantity 

 of beef and milk are in proportion to the excellence 

 of the food given. The profit is large or small ac- 

 cording to the manner in which the animals may be 

 kept ; and surely no profit can be realized where 

 the owner's care is simply to sustain the breath of 

 life. Precisely so is it with cultivated land : it re- 

 quires nutriment the same as a cow or an ox ; and 

 when not kindly treated, it can no more yield a lib- 

 eral return, than either of those animals can, Avith- 

 out being well fed, furnish good milk and beef. 



A new soil, that is, one which has long lain idle, 

 may jiroducc several good crops without the assist- 

 ance of manure ; but so soon as the elements of fer- 

 tility arc consumed, unless some fertilizer lie applied, 

 it becomes barren, and must be allowed to lie fallow 

 until it can abstract from the atmosphere that of 

 which it has been robbed by the shiftless husband- 

 man. It can be exhausted, just as a source is in the 

 course of time emptied, when it is subject to a con- 

 stant drain, and never replenished ; it can be " worn 

 out," like a man in the prime of life becoming faint 

 and feeble from the want of food. A good soil, in 

 the hands of a good farmer, is more generous than 

 the purse, which restores that only with which it 

 has been intrusted. It acts the part of the faithful 

 servant, who, in returning the five talents to his lord, 

 adds thereto the other five talents which the first 

 have gained while in his care. It is the honest 

 banker, who is, at the appointed day, ready with both 

 principal and interest for the depositor. If it be 

 [iropeily managed, it is sure to be found liberal ; but 

 where nothing is given it, nothing can be expected in 

 return. Cato, one of the teachers of Roman agricul- 

 ture, said the first point in good tillage is to plough, 

 the second is to plough, and the third is to manure. 

 Dig your land well, manure it according to its wants, 

 and you may trust to Providence for a rich reward. 

 The soil will not then lose its fertility ; and you 

 should continue improving its character until further 

 improvement becomes impracticable. This is the 

 pleasure, this the profit, of husbandry. 



From the foregoing, it appears that farm-yard 



manure is of some value ; that it is necessary to the 

 supj)ort of vegetation, as well as to the maintenaaco 

 of fertility in the soil. Without it or a substitute, 

 the land cannot produce grass, grain, or roots, either 

 in abundance or of good quality ; and as without 

 these there can be no beef, mutton, milk, &c., both 

 the farmer's family and his stock must perish. Tlie 

 conclusion is obvious : if manure be so essential to 

 the support of life and worldly prosperity, how val- 

 uable is it, how highly ought it to be prized ! — 

 Noticing can be plainer. We estimate the value of 

 some things very properly ; we do not throw away, 

 or expose to the access of thieves, our dollars and 

 eagles, because we know that, when once lost, they 

 come not to our possession again. As money has a 

 fixed, ascertained value, farmers are apt to look after 

 it carefully. No class of people can be more prudent 

 and economical in its disposition, not spending a cent 

 unnecessarily, nor suffering the opportunity of gain- 

 ing a sixpence to escape. Even as money has a fixed 

 value, so has manure ; it can be sold for cash, or can 

 be brought to market after having been converted 

 into wheat, flour, potatoes, or pork. It is the nat- 

 ural food of the soil, without which it is sterile and 

 unprofitable. And yet these same farmers, who are 

 so provident as regards cents and si.xpenccs, seem to 

 care little or nothing about the proper management 

 of their barn-yards. While each one is careful to 

 keep a strict watch upon his breeches pocket, he is 

 perhaps annually suff'ering dollars' worth of manure 

 to be wasted on his premises. Having a cash value, 

 either in its natural state or in the shape of " prod- 

 uce," it deserves as much attention as the silver and 

 gold ; and to waste the one is quite as foolish, aj', as 

 culpable, as to waste the other. 



Though the value of manure is generally under- 

 stood, and will be universally admitted, yet many of 

 our farmers manifest almost a perfect indifference as 

 to its preservation. Such men can always be iden- 

 tified by their unproductive fields, and by granaries 

 that do not overflow at harvest time. They do jiot 

 realize the importance of saving all the manure made 

 by their stock, and suffer portions of it to be dropped 

 ill lanes and public highways, while the remainder is 

 spread over large barn-yards, as though it were de- 

 sirable to expose it as much as possible to the atmos- 

 phere. That which falls in the road is of course 

 altogether lost, while the most valuable parts of that 

 in the yard are abstracted by the sun and rain. In 

 a hot day, the ammonia rises in such quantities as to 

 annoy the passing traveller; and after a shower, a 

 little stream of rich, highly-colored water may be 

 seen running off to fertilize the fields of a neighbor. 

 This is a serious loss ; for those gases that escape in 

 the air, and the "liquid extract" that drains off 

 upon another's land, would, if retained, greatly aug- 

 ment the future crojj. It may be easily discovered 

 that this is a total loss, by observing the diminished 

 pile of dung. Farmers might with the same pro- 

 priety leave the doors of their corn-cribs opened 

 wide, so as to invite the entrance, and tempt the 

 honesty, of every vagabond. No banker would con- 

 sider the contents of his vaults safe, unless they 

 were under the guardianship of lock and key. No 

 prudent person would trust in his pocket the hand 

 of a stranger, unless, indeed, the pookct happened to be. 

 empty. Now, why should not the hard-working 

 husbandman be just as particular to protcjt the treas- 

 ure of his barn-yard against those notorious thieves 

 called the elements ? 



We say to you all, brother farmers, look to your 

 manure heaps. Make it your endeavor to save every 

 ounce of the dung and urine that come from your 

 cattle. It perhaps cannot be expected that you will 

 succeed in preserving the whole, but you will have 

 cause for self-congratulation if you avoid only one 

 half of the loss that your neighbors sustain. This is 



