THE FARMERS' CABINET, 



DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY, 



Vol. III.— No. 3.J 



Octottor 19, 1838. 



[Wbole No. 49. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Manure. 



Feed your plants and they will feed you. 

 It is a subject of much regret that more vigi- 

 lance and care is not taken by many farmers to 

 increase thequantity of their manure. It is the 

 very base of their prosperity ; without it little 

 can be achieved that is important or valuable ; 

 with it, every thing can be accomplished that 

 is within their reach. By the use of lime ap- 

 plied to gra.ss lands, and great care in bring- 

 ing all decomposable articles into the dung 

 heap, the quantity on some farms has been 

 doubled in seven years. After it has been 

 obtained it requires a little skill and judgment 

 to preserve its most valuable parts from being 

 drenched and washed away by frequent rains ; 

 for although it is not best to keep it too dry, 

 yet it is much more frequently suffered to be- 

 con^e so frequently wetted with drenching 

 rains as to wash away the most nutritious por- 

 tions of it Dung that has remained under 

 open sheds where it was but partially exposed 

 to the elements, has been found to be much 

 richer in quality than that which was entirely 

 exposed to rain. In some situations, much is 

 lost by water running through barn yards 

 during heavy showers, and in some cases 

 they are perfect quagmires for half the year, 

 rendering it disagreeable, if not dangerous to 

 approach a stable door. This state of things 

 constitutes an absolute nuisance, and ought to 

 be provided against by every farmer who has 

 a proper sense of propriety, and a due regard 

 for the female members of his famil};, whoare 

 obliged twice a day to trudge through wet 

 and Hlth to milk the cow.s. The autumn 

 is the proper season for making suitable foot- 

 ways to stable doors, and other arrangements 

 for preserving the manure to be made during 

 the approaching winter from loss by washing J 

 Cab.— Vol. IIL— No. 3. 73 



and to protect it from being filtered by rains 

 till it loses its most valuable component parts. 

 A shrewd old gentleman of Montgomery 

 county estimates the importance of a farmer 

 by the number of loads of manure he makes 

 annually. A fifty load farmer is rather a 

 small article ; one of a hundred loads stands 

 a little stiffer ; one of 150 loads holds up his 

 head pretty well and bogins to be quite re- 

 spectable ; and the 200, 250, and 300 load far- 

 mers are entitled to have the word Mr. as a 

 prefix to their names, and the letters Esq., 

 placed after it. These are the solid yeomanry, 

 in his estimation ; the men of substance and 

 stamina, out of which, in his opinion, any use- 

 ful article can be manufactured, even up to a 

 congressman or governor. Whether he is 

 altogether right in his way of estimating 

 farmers I must leave others to judge ; but one 

 thing is pretty certain, that it is a good thing 

 for every farmer to have an abundance of ma- 

 nure to furnish nutriment to his crop.s, and 

 this he won't be likely to obtain unless he is 

 very indu.strious and manages well. 



GWVNNEDD. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Observer Wo. XVI. 



ON LIGHTNING RODS. 

 " Led by the phosphor light, with daring tread, 

 Immortal Franklin sought the fiery bed, 

 When, nursed in night, incumbent tempest shrouds 

 His embryo thunders in circumfluent clouds, 

 Besieged with iron points their airy cell, 

 And pierced the monsters slumbering in their shell. 



Darwin 



The destructive thunder storm which visit- 

 ed us on the evening of the 11th inst, has 

 led to many inquiries respecting the construc- 

 tion and use of lightning rods. In order more 

 fully to answer these inquiries, I shall ofl^er 

 a few remarks on the subject for the pages 

 of the Cabinet Hoping, thereby, to correct 



