Vol. 1.— No. 28. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



223 



ed ; and scatter it oil grass land as a top dres- 

 sing, or on fields before sowing. No ma- 

 nure exceeds this in richness, consisting of 

 urine and the soluble parts of vegetables, 

 more or less diluted ; which from their sa- 

 line impregnation, greatly promote the ab- 

 sorption of moisture in the soil. 



In the winter, straw, buls of corn, litter, 

 S;c. will collect in the yard, somewhat in 

 proportion as the farmer has been diligent 

 in making manure for preceding crops of 

 grain and hay. No industrious farmer will 

 neglect to cart into his yard, in the fall and 

 spring, mould, mud, sods, kc. taUen from 

 the sides of the road, cavities, and low 

 grounds, on his farm. A quantity of these 

 will be required after the yard is cleared in 

 the fall, as a sort of ground work of accu- 

 mulating materials ; and, in the spring, a 

 similar quantity shall be wanted for the same 

 purpose, if it be thought expedient to use 

 the manure collected in the preceding fall 

 and winter ; otherwise for a covering to de- 

 fend the manure from evaporation, and the 

 scorching of the sun. Late in the summer 

 these materials should be well mixed by the 

 plough, which would equalize the fermenta- 

 tion, and much improve the whole. But 

 this should not be done unless another cov- 

 ering can soon be afforded, as the loss from 

 the escape of elastic fluids, would be great- 

 er<than the benefits resulting from the oper- 

 ation. When the manure is thinly spread 

 at the outer edges of the yard, it may be 

 well, during summer months, to scrape it 

 towards the center or thicker parts. 



As the quantity and richness of the ma- 

 nure, depend much on its mixture with the 

 excrements of the cattle ; no farmer, atten- 

 tive to his interest, will suffer them while fed 

 from the barn to go at large, or out of the 

 vard for water. By confining the cattle to 

 the yard at such seasons, he would save e- 

 nough in two years, in ordinary circumstan- 

 -es.to procure water for them by acqueducts, 

 or well and pump. 



Few farmers correctly estimate the value 

 of urine as a manure. To preserve the cat- 

 tle dry, they make holes through the floor of 

 the leantos, to drain off the liquid excre- 

 ments. No one will question the impor- 

 tance of keeping cattle dry ; — but this may 

 be effected without so great a sacrifice. Per- 

 haps the best constructed leantos are those 

 v hich have cellars under them, into which 

 are thrown dung, litte- , kc. He e nothing 

 is lost, but with a moderate degree of heat, 

 indue fermentation is prevented ; and the 

 manure is not bleached by rains, nor carried 

 away by evaporation. Where the situation 

 will not admit of this plan, some provident 

 farmers raise the floors, and throw beneath 

 them loam and some absorbent materials, 

 which will receive and retain the liquid mat- 

 ter, that may escape through the cracks and 

 fissures. But. as the situation in one case, 

 Hid negligence or waut of time in the other, 

 may prevent either from being adopted, it 

 would be a good improvement to construct 

 the floors impervious to the urine, and suffi- 

 ciently descending to carry it from the cat- 

 'le. By these means they would be kept 

 dry and warm, and the dung thrown from 

 the leantos would be of a superior quality. 

 Hut such manure contains so much soluble 

 matter that it is peculiarly exposed to loss, if 

 suffered to remain uncovered at the barn 

 windows. This might be prevented by buil- 

 ling cheap sheds over the heap. Owing to 

 •he great care, that horses be kept clean and 



warm, less error prevails in constructing 

 their stables. More litter is incorporated 

 with their dung, which gives to it an addi- 

 tional absorbing quality. 



But a great error prevails in the manage- 

 ment of this dung, in permitting it to remain 

 too long in heaps beside the stalls. In this 

 situation.excessive fermentation takes place, 

 and it becomes scorched, or what is called 

 in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia,/ire/<wtg-erf, 

 the greatest obstacle to the rotting of dung, 

 that can be experienced. But the greatest 

 loss is not from this charred state, but from 

 the gaseous escape of the fertilizing parti- 

 cles. 



It thus loses perhaps one half its value. — 

 The farmer has it in his power, to prevent 

 this loss, but with little trouble ; by spread- 

 ing it on the yard with the more moist and j 

 less fermentable dung of the cattle. He will 

 thus improve the quality of both. At large 

 stables, where horses only are kept, the dung 

 should be often removed, or the heaps en- 

 closed in a yard for swine. The hog-styc 

 with a yard, is a prolific source of manure. 

 It is the observing and industrious farmer's 

 manure factory, in which his busy lobourers 

 will earn their bread, if supplied with the 

 raic materials. In estimating his profits from 

 the swine, he will add to their amount of 

 pork the labour they perform in furnishing 

 manure from the farm. Much that is put 

 into the yard, will require more moisture 

 than the natural soil, in some situations will 

 afford. The sink by proper duct, when 

 situations permit, would supply the requisite 

 quantity of water, and much richness to the 

 manure. If the sink water is not wanted, 

 or cannot be used for this purpose, it should 

 be conveyed to the kitchen garden. It 

 would sufficiently enrich ground enough, to 

 produce the garden vegetables for the fami- 

 ly. When the subsoil of the hog yard is 

 not hard clay or gravel, some provident far- 

 mers lay a flooring of timber or stone. Into 

 this yard he will first haul a quantity of loam, 

 sods, &.c. After these straw, cobs, brakes, 

 briars, garden weeds, Canada thistles, and 

 field vines, particularly those of the po- 

 tato, will be thrown in, at their proper sea- 

 son. The potato vines should be thrown in- 

 to heaps, when they are pulled, to be carted 

 to the manure yard, when they are prepared 

 for them. Thistles and other weeds should 

 be gathered before they become seeded, as 

 their seeds are not destroyed by slight fer- 

 mentation. As green succulent seeds read- 

 ily ferment, occasional additions of absorb 

 ing materials should be added to retain their 

 volatile and soluble parts. 



These may in part be furnished from scra- 

 pings around the house and yards, of dirt, 

 old shoes, " hair, rags and feathers." Thus 

 two objects will be gained, cleanliness and 

 substantial profit. It is an almost universal 

 practice with our farmers, to cart their pom- 

 ace to some spot by the side of the road, 

 there to remain for years where its supposed 

 deleterious qualities may do no harm to the 

 soil. The pomace contains a considerable 

 quantity of saccharine matter, notwithstand- 

 ing the operations of the mill on it. This 

 is a rich food of plants, and a constituent of 

 most vegetables. By fermentation, it pro- 

 duces acetous acid ; so do other vegetable 

 substances in greater or less proportion. 



The straw necessarily mixed with it 

 increases its value. It is said as an evidence 

 against its use, that it destroys vegetation 

 where it lies. So do less quantities of ash- 



es, dung, urine. &c. But the apple seeds 

 germinate on the heap, and would grow 

 thrifty if earthy matter were mixed with the 

 pomace. It might be made into valuable 

 manure by incorporating it with compost 

 materials, or, which perhaps would be bet- 

 ter, it might be thrown into the hog-yard. — 

 As putrefactive fermentation takes place 

 slowly in pomace, lime or ashes should al- 

 ways be added to it, when put into a com 

 post heap. 



The dung of fowls is a rich manure. For 

 its fermentable qualities, it is used by tan- 

 ners in the preparation of hides in the pro- 

 cess of tanning. It is therefore a valuable 

 addition to coarse and unfermentable ma- 

 nure. While the farmer pays proper re- 

 gard to cleanliness in his barns, he should 

 not be unmindful of economy. 



This principle would apply to the neces- 

 sary. Night-soil, both for convenience and 

 preparation for manure, should be mixed 

 with other substances. The Chinese, whose 

 economy is said to extend to the saving of 

 the hair shorn from the head, and the pa- 

 ring of their nails, mix marl with it, and 

 when properly dried, it is a merchantable 

 article with them. Frequent applications 

 of a small quantity of lime, will prevent the 

 unpleasant effluvia. 



It should be carried out at least in the 

 spring and fall, and mixed with other ma- 

 nure or earth. 



[Concluded next week.] 



Fine Apricots — A friend of ours has a 

 fine apricot tree now in full fruit, which de- 

 serves a special notice. It is called For- 

 syth's orange apricot, and is a most beauti- 

 ful, as well as excellent variety. The fruit 

 is as large as a moderate sized peach, meas- 

 uring from six to seven inches in circumfer- 

 ence, and of a rich orange color. The ap- 

 pearance of the tree at this time is rich be- 

 yond description. The proprietor has po- 

 litely tendered to us buds or grafts at the 

 proper seasons for any of our friends. The 

 tree was obtained from the nursery of Mr. 

 James Wilkes of this city, who always keeps 

 a good supply of these and other fruit trees. 



Since the above was written, we have been 

 presented with an apricot from another tree, 

 growing in this city, of the same kind and 

 fully equal to the above. The tree was ob- 

 tained from the nursery of Mr. John Willis, 

 of Oxford, Eastern Shore of Maryland. — 

 While such fine fruit can be so easily raised, 

 it is astonishing that the contemptible things 

 called apricots and hawked about the city at 

 this time.are not made to give place to them. 

 — American Farmer. 



<ETTke Barometrical and Thermometrical obtura- 

 tions are reg^steredat 10 o'clock AH!, and P. M.,ibhi(tl 

 by a long series of experiments made for the purpose, 

 show I hat time to give a nearer mean average t>f tht 

 relaXivt heat of a day than any oth%r time* 



