130 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



OCT. 97. 1441 



ed itic whole with a mercurial pneumatic appara- 

 tus, CO as to collect the condeiisible and elastic 

 fluids which might arise from the dung. The re- 

 ceiver sonn becNine lined wjih <lcw, and drojis 

 began, in a few hoiirg, to trickle down the sides of 

 It. Elastic fluid likewise was generated; in 

 three days thirtyfive cubical inches had been form- 

 ed, which, when analyzed, were found to contain 

 twentyone cubical inches of carbonic acid; the re- 

 mainder was hydrocarbonate, mixed with snnie 

 azote, probably no more than existed in the com- 

 mon air in the receiver. The f]uid muter collect- 

 ed in the receiver at the same time, amounted to 

 nearly half an ounce. It had a saline taste, and a 

 disagreeable smell, and contained some acetate 

 and carbonate of ammonia. Kjnding such products 

 given off ftoii fermenting litter, I introduced the 

 beak of another retort, (illed with similar d'ln^ 

 very hot at the time, in the soil, amonpst the roots 

 of some grass in the border of a garden: in loss 

 than a week a very distinct effect was produced 

 on the grass : upon the spot exposed to the influ- 

 ence of the matter disengaged in fermentation, it 

 grew witli much more lu.\uriance than tlie grass in 

 any other part of the garden." 



Nothing, indeed, appears at first siglitso simple, 

 as the manufacture and collection of farm-yard 

 dung; and yet there are endless sources of error 

 into which the cultivator is sure to fall, if he is not 

 ever vigilant in their management The late Mr 

 Francis Blakie, in his valuable little tract upon the 

 management of farm-yard manure, dwells upon 

 several of these: he particularly condemns the 

 practice "of keeping the dung, arising from diffe- 

 rent description ; flf animals, in separate hoape or 

 departments, an J.applying them to the land with- 

 out intermixture. It is customary," he adds, "to 

 keep the fattening neat cattle in yards by them- 

 selves ; and the manure thus produced is of good 

 quality, because the excrement of such cattle is 

 richer than that of lean ones. Fattening cattle are 

 fed with oil-cake, corn, Swedish turnips, or some 

 other rich food, and the refuse and waste of such 

 food, thrown about the yard, increases the value of 

 the manure; it also attracts the pigs to the yard. 

 These rout the straw and dung about, in search of 

 grains of corn, bits of Swedish tnrnips, and other 

 food, by which means the manure in the yard be- 

 comes more intimately ini.\ed, and is proportionate- 

 ly increased in value. The feeding trnuglis arKl 

 cribs in the yard should, for obvious reasons, be 

 shifted frequently." 



" The horse dung," continues IJlakie, " is usually 

 thrown out at the stable doors, and there accumu- 

 lates in large heaps. It is sometimes spread a lit- 

 tle about, but more generally not at all, unless 

 where necessary for the convenience of ingress 

 and egress, or perhaps to allow the water to drain 

 away from the stable door. Horse dung lying in 

 such heaps, very soon ferments, and heats to an 

 excess ; the centre of the heap is charred or burn- 

 ed to a dry while substance, provincially termed 

 fn-fanged. Dung in this state, loses from .50 to 

 7.'> per cent, of its value. The diligent and atten- 

 tive former will guard against such profligate waste 

 of property, by never allowing the dung to accumu- 

 late in any considerable quantity at the stable doors. 

 The dung from the feeding hog styes should also 

 be carted and spread about the store cattle yard, in 

 the same manner as the horse dung." — Johnson on 

 Manures. 



FORM OF THK BARN-YARD. 



With regard to the form of dung-yards, there is 

 some little difference of opinion. " Some theo- 

 rists," says lilakie, " recommend the yards to be 

 made so concave, as almost to amount to a well- 

 shape, giving as a reason in support of their opin- 

 ion, that the virtues of dung can only be preserved 

 by being saturated in urine, or some other mois- 

 ture. Others, again, assert, that diing-yards should 

 be formed convex, and assign as their reason that 

 farm-yard dung should be kept dry. Practical ex- 

 perience points out that a medium between these 

 two extremes is the best; and a yard a little hol- 

 lowed is the most common shape." — Johnson on 

 Manures. 



propose in two weeks, tind surely the labor and 

 time could not be better appropriated. So make 

 your arrangements forthwith and go to work witb% 

 out further delay. — jJmerican Farmer. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 Exhibition of Fruils, Satnrdny, Oct. l&h, 1841. 



From W'm. Kenrick ; Elsinburgh and Norton's 

 Virginia Seedling Grapes. 



From George Walsh ; St. Michael Pears: Red 

 Qhasselas, Sweetwater, and Miller's Burgundy 

 Grapes. Also, Pigeon and Native Grapes — the 

 latter improved by cultivation. 



From Hovcy &. Co. ; Catawba and Pimd's Seed- 

 ling Grapes. 



From Mr Lovctt, Beverly ; fine specimens of 

 the Winter Nellis, Prince's St. Germain, Bezy d' 

 Lamotte, Passe Colmar, Pound, Easter Beurre, and 

 Duchess d' Angouleme Pears — the latter very 

 large, one weighing IG 1-2 ounces. Also, a very 

 handsome Pear brought by Mr Lovett from Italy — 

 the name unknown ; and specimens of a beautiful 

 looking apple, also without name. 

 For the Committee, 



P. B. HOVEY, Jr. 



SEA SAND. 

 In Europe, the happiest results have been expe 

 rienced by the applicatiim of sea sand to cold tena- 

 cious clays. Independently of the mechanical ef- 

 fect, produced by the disintegration of the parti' 

 clcs of clay, all sands from sea and salt-rive" 

 shores, are churgeil with large quantities of salini 

 and oily matters, which exert a highly bencficia j 

 influence in the improvement and melioration o 

 the soil. We mention this fact, because we art 

 awart' that on the margin of our seaboard and sail 

 river .Slates, there are thousands and tens of thoi 

 sands of acres of cold livery clay lands greatly a 

 hausted from improper cultivation, and we a 

 firmly o( the opinion, that by draining these lanj 

 wherever they may require it, and admixing witj 

 them from .00 to 100 loads of this sand to the acrw 

 that a very solid improvement both in the teztur* 

 and productive capacity of the soil will be thereb.^ 

 produced — Ibiil. 



oil 



COW YARDS. 



Finish al once, if possible, whatever you begin, 



As there is nothing like taking time by the fore- 

 lock, we will again remind our readers of the pro- 

 priety of having as much mould and leaves hauled 

 from their woods into their cow yards, as will form 

 a bed at least a foot deep. These materials, as 

 reason will suggest, should be so spread, as that 

 the edges should be higher than the centre, in or- 

 der that, by giving to the yards a basin-like form, 

 none of the liquid manure may be washed away 

 and lost. The stale which is made by twenty 

 head of cattle, from the period of commencing 

 foddering in the fall, until the time of carting out 

 manure in the spring, would be sufficient to con- 

 vert a hundred loads of the materials spoken of in- 

 to ofl'ective food of plants, which would be a good 

 dressing for at least twei,ly acres of corn land. If 

 then we arc correct in our opinion, and we believe 

 wo are, surely the labor of gathering and transpor- 

 tation should not be considered in the light of an 

 insuperable objection to its performance, as every 

 twenty loads of manure thus produced, would add 

 at least ')0 per cent, to the productive power of the 

 soil, and consequently so much more to the income 

 of the farni'-r. Without manuring, the most fer- 

 tile lands, by conlinuou;? cropping, will lose their 

 fruitful ncss, and defy the labor of the husbandman ; 

 it should, therefore, be the study of all to increase 

 their iiiuiiure (liles by all practicable means, and 

 we need not add, that this is one of the cheapest 

 plans by which the end can be attained, as well as 

 being accessible to every one. An enterprising 

 farmer could with a yoke of oxen, a cart, and one 

 hand, have his cowyard bedded in the way we 



SAGACITY OF HORSES. 



A writer in the Knickerbocker tells the follom 

 ing anecdotes, in illustration of the sagacity of tin 

 horse : 



"Of a two-horse team, belonging to the Earl c 



, near Oxford, one was very vicious, the othc 



quite the reverse. In the stall next to the gonti ' 

 horse stood one that was blind. In the murnini I 

 when the hor-scs, about twenty of them, were turc 

 ed out to pasture, this good tempered creature cod 

 stnntly took his blind friend under his protectioi- 

 Wlien he strayed from his companions, his kin 

 protector would run neighing after, and sme 

 round him, and when recognized, would walk sic 

 by side, until the blind friend was led to the grai 

 in the field. This horse was so exceedingly gei 

 tie that he had incurred the character of being 

 coward, when only himself was concerned ; but 

 any of them made an attack upon his blind I'rieni' 

 he would fly to the rescue with such fury that ni 

 a horse in the field could stand against him. Thi 

 singular instance of sagacity, I had almost said ( 

 disinterested humanity, may well put the whol 

 fraternity of horse-jockeys to the blush. They, I 

 be sure, will fight for a brother jockey, whether h 

 is right or wrong ; yet they e.xpect him to figt 

 for them on the first similar occasion: but tbi 

 kind-hearted animal could anticipate no such K 

 ciprocity. 



" Some years ago, the servant of Thomas Wall 

 er, of Manchester, Eng., going to water the cm 

 riage horses at a stone trough which stood at o> 

 end of the Exchange, a dog that was accustome 

 to lie in the stall with one of llieni, followed tk 

 horses as usual. On the way, he was attacked b 

 a large mastiff, and was in danger of being kill* 

 The dog's favorite horse, seeing the critical sitn 

 tion of his friend, suddenly broke loose from Ik 

 servant, ran to the spot where the dogs were fighl 

 ing, and wiih a violent kick, throw tlie mastilT froi 

 the other dog into a cooper's cellar <'])positc ; ani 

 having thus rescued his friendly companion, return 

 ed with hiin to drink at the fountain. 



"God, speaking to Job, asks him, "Hast tho 

 given the horse strength ? llast thou clothed hi 



