No. 5. 



Leached ,^skes for Manure. 



167 



be according to the number that you wish to 

 keep. As a general rule in building or en- 

 closing, acirde will take the least slulT, and 

 a S(|uare the next less quantity, and a paral- 

 leloirrani more than eillier. For instance, a 

 circle twenty feet in diameter, will require 

 nearly sixty-three feet of fence or boards to 

 enclose it. A square twenty feet each way, 

 will require eighty feet; this will contain a 

 little more area than tlie circle; but a paral- 

 lelogram which shall contain as much area 

 as the S(]uare, (400 feet,) say forty feet long 

 and ten feet wide, will require one hundred 

 feet to enclose it. 



A circle is somewhat difficult to construct, 

 but a square is very easy. Suppose you 

 erect a building twenty feet square, and have 

 your pens on the outside — three of the sides 

 will give you space enough to accommodate 

 and feed thirty swine. You can have your 

 wood, steamers, boilers, and vats, in the 

 twenty feet room, and feed them all without 

 going out of the room, by having a lid or 

 trap door to lift up and give you a chance to 

 the troughs. If you can have it placed on 

 the side of a hill where water can be obtain- 

 ed easily, and have a cellar dug into the hill, 

 the lloor of which shall be on a level with 

 the floor of your boiling room, it will be very 

 convenient, but if not, a cellar below may be 

 made in the usual manner, and a granary in 

 the chamber above. 



Some years ago there was a communica- 

 tion published in the American Farmer, from 

 Mr. Ingersol, of Roxbury, and subsequently 

 in the Farmer and Gardener, respecting the 

 management of a piggery, which gives the 

 most systematic and methodical manner of 

 managing swine that we have any where 

 seen, and we shall publish it soon for the 

 benefit of some of our readers, who we know 

 are seeking information on this subject. — 

 Maine Farmer. 



liCached Ashes for Manure. 



In passing through many towns in the 

 eastern section of this state, we recollect 

 having repeatedly seen potash manufactories 

 placed immediately over streams ; and on 

 inquiring the reason for there being thus 

 situated, were told that it was for the con- 

 venience of getting rid of the leached ashes 

 by throwing them into the stream and let 

 ting them float away. In the immediate 

 vicinity of these establishments, you will 

 frequently find that kind of soil which would 

 be most essentially benefited by an applica- 

 tion of leached ashes, and if farmers would 

 haul them on to their land they might in- 

 crease their crops fifty per cent. In some 

 instances we have known farmers who did 



not live two miles from an establishment, 

 where thousands of bushels of leached ashes 

 were float'^d"dov\n stream" every spring, 

 to buy plaster for manure, and pay six dol- 

 lars per ton for it, and haul it nearly forty 

 miles, when they might had the ashes for 

 hauling. 



It is said that ashes lose but a small por- 

 tion of that property vviiich aflTords nourish- 

 ment to plants, by leaching; hence they are 

 nearly as good for farmers after their alkali 

 has been extracted as before, and for some 

 kinds of soils they are as good, ton for ton, 

 as plaster. 



We do hope that farmers in the vicinity 

 of these establishments, will wake up to a 

 sense of their interest, and not sufller this 

 wasteful, slovenly practice any longer to go 

 on. It is no wonder that times are hard and 

 that provisions are scarce, so long as a 

 course of economy of this kind is pursued. 

 It is directly calculated to produce scarcity 

 and hard times. Three-fourths, if not seven- 

 eighths, of the farmers in our state, might 

 raise double the amount of crops they do, 

 upon the same ground they cultivate, by col- 

 lecting every thing within their reach that 

 will make manure, and applying it to their 

 land. The only way that times can be made 

 easy, is by producing more and consuming 

 less, and these may he done by one-half, if 

 farmers will only come to the work with 

 spirit and energy. If there is a muck-hole 

 on your premises, take its contents to your 

 compost heap — if there is a tanner in your 

 vicinity, collect all the scrapings of hides 

 and every thing he makes that will increase 

 your compost heap ; if a shoemaker, collect 

 all the scrids of leather that he sweeps out 

 at his door — and see that not a gill of liquid 

 or an ounce of any substance is thrown from 

 your house, that will enrich your compost 

 heap, that does not go to it. In short, a 

 farmer should guard his manure heap with 

 as much care and solicitude as he does his 

 flour or meat barrel, for on this his success 

 mainly depends. — lb. 



Hints to Farmers. 



Never feed potatoes to stock without boil- 

 ing or steaming them, as this increases their 

 nutritive qualities. 



Never burn all dry wood in your fire- 

 places, nor even use a fire-place when you 

 can get a stove. 



Cat your trees for rails in February, as 

 they are most durable. 



Never dew-rot your flax, unless you wish 

 to render it worthless. 



Never select your seed from the crib, but 

 from the stalk. 



