yo. 15. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



229 



A slight incipient fermentation is undoubt- 

 3clly of use in tlie dunirliill; for by means of 

 t, a dii^position is brought on in the woody 

 ibre to decay and dissolve, when it is carried 

 ;o the land, or ploughed into tlie soil ; and 

 ivoody fibre is always in great excess in the 

 •efuse of the farm. Too great a degree of 

 ermentation is, however, very prejudicial to 

 he composite manure in the dungiiill; it is 

 letter tliat there should be no fermentation at 

 ill before the manure is used, than it siiould 

 je carried too far. Independent of the gene- 

 ■al theoretical views unfavorable to this prac- 

 ;ice, founded upon the nature and composi- 

 :ion of vegetable substances, there are many 

 irgijinents and facts vviiich shew that it is 

 Jrejudicial to the interests of the farmer. 

 During the violent fermentation which is ne- 

 ;e.-;sarv for reducing farm yard manure to the 

 state in which it is called short rviick, not 

 inly a large quantity of fluid, but likewise of 

 jaseous matter is lot<t ; so much so, that the 

 iung is reduced one half, or two-thirds in 

 weight; and the principal elastic matter dis- 

 ;ngaged, is carbonic acid with some ammo- 

 lia ; and both tliese, if retained by the mois- 

 .ure in the soil, as has been stated before, are 

 :apable of becoming an useful nourishment 

 plants. A great objection against slightly 

 ermented dung is, that weeds spring up more 

 uxuriantly where it is applied. If there are 

 eeds carried out in the dung, they certainly 

 vill germinate ; but it is seldom that this can 

 le the case to any extent ; and if the land is 

 lot cleansed of weeds, any kind of manure, 

 ermented or unfermented, will occasion their 

 apid growth. If slightly fermented farm 

 ard dung is used as a top dressing for pas- 

 ures, the long straws and unfermented vege- 

 ible matter remaining on the surface, should 

 e removed as soon as the grass begins to rise 

 igorously, by raking, and carried back to 

 le dung-hill; in this case no manure will be 

 jst, and the husbandry will be at once clean 

 nd economical. 

 In cases when farm yard dung cannot bo 

 nmediately applied to crops, the destructive 

 jrmentation of it should be prevented as 

 luch as possible. The surface should be de- 

 ;nded from the oxygen of the atmosphere; a 

 impact marl, or a tenacious clay, ofiers the 

 sst protection against the air; and before 

 le dung is covered over, or, as it were, 

 jaled up, it should bo dried as much as pos- 

 "ble. If the dung is found at any time to 

 eat strongly, it should be turned over, and 

 Doled by exposure to the air. When dung 

 ; to be preserved for any time, the situation 

 1 which it is kept is of importance. Tt should, 

 possible, be defended from the sun. To 

 eserve it under sheds would be of great use ; 

 to make the site of a dunghill on the north 

 |de of a wall. The floor on which the dung 



is heaped, should, if possible, be paved with 

 flat stones; and there should be a little incli- 

 nation from each side towards the centre, in 

 which tliere should be drains connected with 

 a small well,furnislied with a pump, by wiiich 

 any fluid matter may be collected for the use 

 of iiic land. It too ottcn iiappens that a dense 

 mucilaginous and extractive fluid is sullered 

 to drain away from the dunghill, so as to be 

 eniirely lost to the farm. 



iStreet and road dung, and the sweepings 

 of houses may be all rf>garded as composite 

 manures; the constitution of them is neces- 

 sarily various, as they are derived from a 

 number of diflerent substances. These ma- 

 nures are usually applied in a proper manner, 

 without being fermented. Soot, is a very 

 powerful manure, and is well fitted to be used 

 in tiie dry state, tiirown into the ground with 

 the seed, and requires no preparation. 



The doctrine of the proper applica- 

 tion of manures from organized sub- 

 stances, offers an illustration of an im- 

 portant part of the economy of nature, 

 and of the happy order in which it is 

 arranged. The death and decay of 

 animal substances tend to resolve or- 

 ganized forms into chemical con- 

 siituents ; and the pernicious efiluvia 

 disengaged in the process, seems to 

 point out the propriety of burying them 

 in the soil, where they are fitted to be- 

 come the food of vegetables. The fer- 

 mentation and putrifaction of organ- 

 ized substances in the free atmosphere 

 are noxious processes; beneath the 

 surface of the ground they are salutary- 

 operations. In this case the food of 

 plants is prepared where it can be 

 used ; and that which would offend the 

 senses and injure the health, if expos- 

 ed, is converted by gradual processes 

 into forms of beauty and of usefulness; 

 the fcctid gas is rendered a constituent 

 of the aroma of the flower, and what 

 might be poison, becomes nourish- 

 ment to animals and to man. 



^Vinter Food for §]icep. 



Every farmer is aware, that one of (he 

 chief difficulties in the raising and manage- 

 ment of sheep consists in preserving them 

 through winter, without diseases or loss. 

 Hence every fact or hint in relation to their 

 winter management becomes of the first im- 

 portance. It is indispensably necessary that 

 sheep should be kept in good condition in or- 

 der to prevent disease: and it is a secondary 

 point, yet one to which much attention should 



