COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the Nem England Far. 

 MANURE. 



The manure-heap is the farmer's gold nine, 

 which lie should constantly strive to increasejuid 

 enrich, inasmuch as his avocatiou cannot belfol- 

 lowed up with any degree of success withoujthe 

 possession, and intelligent ajiplication of its bre. 

 Although the collection and making of manui; is 

 of primary importance, and has been rightly ter 

 the first step in good husbandry, yet our fan 

 are noted for their inattention to the subject ; 

 lections in treuches by the roadside and in ^iic 

 barnyard are made, it is true — but the sink wjsh- 

 ings, the accumulated riches of ponds and ditck!s, 

 the inexhaustible supply of leaves in our wotls, 

 and innumerable other sources from which ;iey 

 might obtain a sufficiency are overlooked ; r if 

 remembered, rcjnembered oidy to be negleted. 

 When this state of things shall have passed a 'ay, 

 and not till then, shall we have reason to e»ect 

 prospei-ous farmers and well-tilled farms; — intur- 

 therance of this event, permit me to offer afew 

 remarks on the collection and application of Ma- 

 nures, which (although they may have alreadybe- 

 come familiar to the agriculturist,) will still save 

 in a humble measure to encourage their introd c- 

 tion into his practical operations. 



The barn yard is the first spot to which he 

 farmer looks for a supply of manure, and it er- 

 tainly is the principal reservoir upon which \je 

 should depend — and on that very account, in hs 

 selection or construction he should raauifi;st his 

 foresight and intelligence. Some select a spot per- 

 fectly level, and others one with a considerable 

 outward slope, and in either case their judgment 

 is thoughtless and incorrect. A place should be 

 chosen which has a natural slope towards the cen- 

 tre, inasmuch as it prevents all rich liquid matters 

 from finding their way out, and wasting themselves 

 upon ground annually which does not require their 

 fertilizing properties ; if the husbandman' cannot 

 find a place of this description in a situation con- 

 venient, and well sheltered for the cattle which are 

 to inhabit it ; he should not grudge the small ex- 

 pense attendant upon constructing one elsewhere. 

 Let him rectify the natural deficiencies of the spot, 

 and aimually, either in Spring or Autumn, cart in 

 a substantial layer of loam, or meadow mud that 

 he may obtain in ditching ; this in the course of 

 the season becomes amazingly enriched by the 

 rains, washings, and droppings of the cattle — and 

 constitutes a strong and excellent manure when 

 mixed with ashes and horse dung, for corn, the 

 top-dressing of grass lands, &c. 



Another mine which should be diligently ex- 

 plored and worked, is the hogstye ; from this |)lace, 

 the farmer has an excellent opportunity of supply- 

 ing his fields with a valuable and feilile dressing. 

 In its situation or construction it should be similar 

 to the barn yard, and should also be well filled 

 ■with loam, potato vines and other refuse portions 

 of the crops — which being rooted over and mingled 

 together by the swine soon become a manure ex- 

 ceedingly precious and acceptable. Their house 

 should also be continually supplied with leaves or 

 vines, which not only tends to make tliem com- 



fortable and expedites their fattening — but being 

 wet through in a few days and thrown into the 

 outer stye contributes vastly to the increase and 

 betterment of the manure there made. 



The washings of the sink are generally permit- 

 ted to rim without guidance where they list, or are 

 thrown out of the kitchen door into the very path, 

 to the no small annoyance and objection of every 

 visiter; if instead of this unprofitable and slovenly 

 custom our farmers would consent to spend a little 

 time and money, they might boast of tidy door- 

 yards and a small addition of exceedingly rich 

 manure. Let them dig a small square pit of foiu' 

 or five feet in depth under their sinkspout ; stone 

 it well as they would a cellar, and throw into it 

 two or three loads of loam, which would absorb 

 the washings, become fertilized by them, and at 

 the close of the first year would yield him a return, 

 equivalent at least to the labor he spent in prepara- 

 tion of this receptacle. The same course might be 

 advantageously pursued in regard to our vaults; it 

 would in a slight degree lessen their unpleasant 

 ertluyia, increase the quantity taken therefrom, and 

 render it more fit for immediate service — inasmuch 

 as the strength of this kind of manure forbids its 

 iVee usage, till it has undergone a partial decojn- 

 |)osition — the rapidity of which, this method would 

 in a small measure assist. 



The sweepings of ditches and ponds, which are 

 drained off, or become dry in the course of the 

 season, form an excellent acquisition to the farmer's 

 stock of manure. These sweepings very few who 

 have the opportunity avail themselves of — eitlier 

 Wcause they imagine that they have matters ol 

 Veightier importance to attend to, or because they 

 aJect to doubt their superior value ; — the first ob- 

 jation a farmer should never urge, for he certainly 

 h* time to collect all the manure his lands can 

 afi>rd in any shape, and it is of vital importance 

 th t he should do it, — in regard to the second, I 

 hafe merely to state, that these sweepings contain 

 aolimmense quantity of the putrid matter of de- 

 cafed vegetables, which have been gradually gath- 

 erjig and imbedding themselves there, and which 

 neeessarily form in their separate state, or when 

 inked with other substances a strong and profita- 

 btt manure. 



The last method of making manure which I 

 sllall here recommend, is the collection and use of 

 l^ves. With little difficulty the husbandman can 

 sipply himself with these from our woods and 

 firests, and I therefore lament to see them so sel- 

 (bm used. Twenty substantial loads would be 

 atfficient for the daily and thorough litter of u 

 aock of eight or ten cattle, from the time they 

 Vere housed in the fall tUl they were pastured in 

 be spring, and a few days spent in collecting them 

 vould be nobly repaid by the extra quantity and 

 >stra quality of manure. Let them he put under 

 .■ome sheltered shed where they will be protected 

 from the winds, and dealt out in the necessary 

 ijiantify ; when the cattle floor is cleaned, they 

 siould be chopped up finely with the dung, and 

 tirown out upon the heap — there after awhile they 

 (.^compose and become fit to carry out to the fields. 

 The fertilizing properties existing in this kind of 

 nanure are truly astonishing, and I do not hesitate 

 io affirm, tliat a field in which it is used will pio- 



duce a crop of potatoes one fourth greater than the 

 crop harvested from another spot of the same size 

 which was planted with any other manure. In 

 another respect, leaves maybe made to augment and 

 improve the farmer's stock of manure ; before filling 

 his yard, stye, or any other place of deposit, he 

 would be vastly benefitted by throwing in a heavy 

 layer of leaves, which being completely covered 

 by loam or whatever else he may cast in, soon 

 begin to decompose, and add not a little to the 

 value of the stuff when removed. 



The a|>plication of difil-rent manures to the va- 

 rious soils, which lias been so ably treated of by 

 Kirwan n his admirable essay upon Manures — is 

 a subjecttoo extensive, and requiring too thorough 

 a knowledge, to be entered upon here. The effect 

 we look for in the application of manure is not 

 only an abundant production of crops at the time, 

 but a lasting fertility; and therefore it is better to 

 manure moderately lor a succession of seasons, 

 than to crcwd an over quantity at once upon the 

 land which may not again receive assistance for 

 years; this should be attended to, especially if the 

 subsoil is ofa spongy nature — for in this case, the 

 manure though it produce a heavy crop tlie first 

 year it is api|lie(T, will be gradually drawn in till it 

 entirely disa|ipf-ars ; thus the only reward you 

 reap for youii liberality, is one or two copious har- 

 vests which feave the soil more barren and unpro- 

 ductive than before. Your arrangements should 

 be such as to allow a thorough annual dressing to 

 all lands under cultivation, and a gradual reclaim- 

 ing of waste lands by ditching and draining — for 

 these operations (in addition to oiliers «ljlct. I>o»o 

 fit land,) are in<luded in the general tertfl manure, 

 as well as substances which have the same ten- 

 dency. In this way, you enter upon a system of 

 improvement and an application of means, the 

 good eflccts of which bedome yearly more observ- 

 able, and undoubtedly hive a salutary influence 

 upon community. L. L. 



By the Editor^ 

 PEAT FOR, MANURE. 



[Conlinued fron page 250.] 

 In mild weather seven cart-loads of common 

 farm-yard dung, tolerably fresh made is sufficient 

 for twenty-one cart loads of peat moss ; but in 

 cold weatlier, a larger proportion of dung is de- 

 sirable ; at least it is prtdent to omit putting any 

 peat between the two upper layers of dung, and 

 rather thicken the outer coating with peat. It is 

 also proper in winter, if ground with a dry bottom 

 can he converiently employed for the purpose, to 

 increase greatiy the breadth of the dunghill, which 

 in that case may be done without any limit, by 

 adding, all round the dunghill, circles consisting of 

 layers of pea dung and peat of seven feet in 

 breadth. And if the mass of the dunghill is thus 

 enlarged, thcr« is little occasion to exceed the pro- 

 portion of dung recommended for making up to 

 pn pare in the milder season ; especially if a cov- 

 ering of cotrse vegetables of any sort, siiih as 

 waste hay or straw, rushes, broom or furze, or 

 brush wood of ever-greeus, is thrown over the 

 dunghill. Iq fact, a covering of this sort is scarce- 

 ly less useful in summer, to prevent the escape of 

 moisture, than in winter to exclude cold. 



