NO. 7. 



THE FARMERS' CABINET. 



101 



' The putrefactive process may bo carried 

 on in tlie presence of pure earth only, or 

 of earth intermingled vvitli fibrous roots, or 

 lastly in the presence of peat, which is an 

 assemblage of inert vegetable matter, and 

 compost dung hills may be formed according 

 to this threetbld method. 



' The simplest of all composts is a mixture 

 of barn-yard dung and surl'ace mwuld taken 

 from a tield imder regular culture. The pro- 

 portions between the ingredients are fixed by 

 no determinate laws, and consequently great 

 liberty is allowable to the operator. I have 

 known some instances where two cart-loads 

 of dung were used for one of earth ; others 

 where they were blended in equal (piantities; 

 and it is not unfrequent to compound two of 

 earth with one of dung. In fact such is the 

 uncertainty in the composition, that almost 

 every farmer adopts one peculiar to himself, 

 and with equal success. No man need 

 therefore follow implicitly the rules whicii 

 have been laid down in this department of ru- 

 ral economy, but may vary and multiply his 

 experiments, according to the suggestions of 

 fancy or the dictates of convenience. If we 

 slightly glance at the principle, we shall see 

 the cause of this seemingly endless variety 

 in the combinations of the ingredients. The 

 only use of intermixing the soil with the 

 dung is to imbibe the gaseous elements of 

 vegetible life, and hinder their dissipation. 

 If their be much soil, these elements will be 

 diffused through it with less density and 

 compression; if little, it will be more abun- 

 dantly saturated and enriched with the nutri- 

 tive vapors. The only error into which the 

 farmer can run is to supply such an incon- 

 eiderable quantity of -soil as will be incapable 

 of imbibing the elastic and volatile particles, 

 and thus by hisown mismanagement, occasion 

 a waste of the vegetable aliment. One cart 

 load of soil to two of stable-diing is the least 

 proportion which he should ever attempt to 

 combine, and perhaps if the two were mixed 

 equally, he would be compensated for the 

 additional labor and expense. 



» Simple earth, although excellent for bot- 

 toming and strewing over the pit dug near the 

 barn, is of all materials, the most unprofitable 

 in compost dunghills. A matted sward, 

 thickly entangled with roots, or mud dragged 

 from the bottom of bogs or ditches, and re- 

 plete with aquatic plants, are clearly prefera- 

 ble on this account, that, besides bringing 

 earth to the composition, they supply a large 

 proportion of vegetable matter. Whenever 

 the soil must be carted to the heap it is bet- 

 ter to lay out the expense in transporting 

 these enriching materials; because they will 

 not only equally absorb and retain the evapo- 

 rating gases,but greatly augment the quantity 

 of-manure '* 



* Letters of Agricola, by John Vouiig, Bifj. 



The path proper for a farmer to pursue in 

 order to make the moi^t of his manure, and 

 preserve his own health and that of his fami- 

 ly, is as plain as a turnpike. Whenever 

 putrid fermentation is going on in any part 

 of his premises, and consuming his substance 

 by a slow but wasteful combustion, let iiini 

 apply earth, peat, or some other earthy sub- 

 stance in quantities sufficient to attract, im- 

 bibe, and retain all the alHuvia. Health, 

 profit, and cleanliries^s equally ruqnire such a 

 proceeding. If a man were to swallow daily 

 a quantity of filthy matter, or to eat hie food' 

 impregnated with vapors from a manure heap, 

 or troni some other putrefying and offensive 

 substance, when he might by a little exertion 

 avoid such nauseous viands, and substitute 

 something nourishing, palateable, pure, and 

 wholesome, we should esteem him no better 

 than a Hottentot. But a man may almost as 

 well take filth into his stomach, as lilthy 

 effluvia into his lungs ; he may about as well 

 dine with a crow or a buzzard as sup with a 

 toad 'on the vapor of a duiit^iill.' 



The tanner who arrests the rank vapors 

 which emanate from decaying animal and 

 vegetable matter, and instead of permitting 

 them to pass into ami contaminate the air he 

 breathes, treasures up the invisible particles 

 with which they are laden, and applies them 

 to feed useful vegetables, causes the atmos- 

 piiere to be healthy, and his plants to be 

 thrifty by the same means. 



From tho Geiiosee Farmer. 



Raiisi&ag Pork. 



The business of fattening pork for sale is 

 practiced to some extent by most of our farm- 

 ers, and when performed economical I v, or 

 when the most is made of the materials given 

 them, it is undoubtedly a source of hand- 

 some profit. Yet all will admit that when 

 carried on in the manner it sometimes is, the 

 process of pork making drains, instead of re- 

 plenishing the farmer's pocket. 



To make fattening hogs profitable, it is 

 necessary, first of all, that the breed selected 

 for feeding should be a good one. There is 

 a vast difference in hcgs in the respect of 

 easy fattening, proper proportion of hone, 

 weight, &c. and the farmer who thinks to 

 make money by feeding the long snouted, 

 hump-backed, slab-sided animals, that are 

 too frequently found among farmers, and die- 

 grace the very name of swine, will find in 

 the end that he has reckoned v.itiiout his 

 host, and thrown away both time and money. 

 There are several good breeds of pigs now in 

 the country, mostly produced by crossings of 

 other kinds with the Chinese, and of course 

 having different degrees of aptitude tofixtten; 

 and these breeds have been so disseminated 

 over thccountry, that any farmer who is will- 



