No. 11. 



Hints for making a Manure. 



535 



Hints for making a Manure. 



BY AN AMATEUR FARMER. 



We find the following practical matter-of-fact article 

 an the Farmer's Register, which credits it to the Lon- 

 don Farmer's Magazine. 



" The following essay, or rather, we should 

 say, description of a manure, obtained the 

 prize at the last meeting of the Holywood 

 Agricultural Society. As it may be of ad- 

 vantage to farmers and agriculturists gene- 

 rally, we give it the benefit of our circu- 

 lation." 



" To the President, cfc, of the Holywood 

 Agricultural Society. 



"Gentlemen, — Having observed in your 

 published list of premiums for this year, 

 which, by some means fell into my hands, 

 one offered by Mr. Harlin, for the best essay 

 on, or description of, a manure, or manures, 

 which will make the best substitute for that 

 usually prepared in the farm-yard, procured 

 from towns, I thought I would take a chance 

 for it, and resolved, as I have many oppor- 

 tunities of seeing the crops growing, and of 

 conversing with those who grow them, to 

 cast my eyes about, and seek for information 

 on the different manures by which they are 

 produced. I at last fixed upon a farmer's 

 field, where a number of persons had their 

 potato crops planted beside each other. A 

 great difference in the several lots was very 

 perceptible, and my first impression natu- 

 rally was, as the farmer, the owner of the 

 field, had the largest manure-heap, the pro- 

 duce of many cattle, he should have the 

 best crop. On inquiry, however, I found I 

 was mistaken, for one lot, of a person who 

 kept only one pig, and another belonging to 

 a cottager, who kept no pig, were both bet- 

 ter than the general crop. Now, said I to 

 myself, 1 have the secret to make good ma- 

 nure (and, I must confess, my mind turned 

 more strongly on the premium,) if I can 

 only prevail on this cottager, who keeps no 

 pig, to tell me how he makes his manure — 

 what he carries on, on a small scale, I will 

 conduct on a large one. He appeared quite 

 astonished on my making inquiry on so sim- 

 ple a matter, as he called it, as a cottager's 

 manure-heap, and thought me very ignorant 

 indeed. However, in a very few words, he 

 told me, that he collected all the green 

 weeds he could, scraped the roads, pared off 

 all the green edges, and cleaned out the 

 water-tables opposite his own house, and as 

 much further as he could; and, if his land- 

 lord would allow him, scoured, out a ditch, 

 and even picked up quantities of the red till, 

 by times. All these he collected into a heap, 



and he never allowed a drop of suds, dirty 

 water, house-buckets, or any other liquid 

 that could be collected, to be lost; but 

 poured all on the heap of rubbish he had 

 gathered, and, after some time, turned it 

 carefully, and mixed it properly. On in- 

 quiry, I found that he did not apply a greater 

 quantity of this manure to produce his crops, 

 than is usually done from the farm-yard ; and 

 he assured me, that its good effects remained 

 in the soil and appeared on the future crops. 

 Now I can fancy the learned essayists, who 

 m°y compete for this premium, in classic 

 order and in modern style, dividing their 

 subject into different heads, and explaining 

 the meaning of terms, in which I will most 

 certainly fall short ! O for the pen, or pen- 

 cil, of a Franklin, a Cobbett, a Doyle, or a 

 Blacker, to paint my subject in its proper 

 colours, which, though not so beautifully 

 blended as those of the rainbow, yet present 

 to the eye of the amateur agriculturist, a 

 pleasing variety of black and green, diversi- 

 fied with oranjje and yellow! But you must 

 all have heard, that wishing, of all occupa- 

 tions, is the worst. I must, therefore, as 

 this is only intended for a plain, humble, 

 prosy description, trust to my awn style to 

 describe the process, and how followed, for 

 two seasons. You must, therefore, for the 

 present, place yourselves, in imagination, 

 beside a large heap of 80 to 100 loads of 

 road scrapings, water-table scourings, weeds, 

 and every kind of refuse that could be scraped 

 together, with several puncheons of suds, and 

 all other sorts of liquid manure which are 

 produced about a farm-house (with some 

 more solid,) discharged into numerous com- 

 municating cuts, made over and through the 

 surface of the above described heap, the 

 liquid being always immediately covered 

 over, to prevent evaporation. The cuts 

 must be made in different parts of the sur- 

 face of the heap, for each successive punch- 

 eon of liquid, till all is completely saturated ; 

 then an additional layer of earth and other 

 material, and so on, till it is ready for a com- 

 plete turning. Or, suppose a pit dug in a 

 convenient part of a field, or a tank made 

 near your house, both of which I have tried, 

 with a layer of finely broken earth in the 

 bottom, on which a puncheon of the material 

 before described, has been discharged, the 

 whole properly mixed together with a sho- 

 vel, the operator standing on the brink of 

 the pit or tank ; and afterwards, a thin layer 

 of earth added, to prevent evaporation. In 

 another week, or as often as possible, add 

 another layer of finely broken earth, and 

 another puncheon, mixed and covered over 

 as before directed, till your pit or tank is 

 full, and ready to be cleared out, to give 



