1856 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



897 



manure ; but as a penny saved is a penny 

 earned, lie should by all means economize 

 every scrap and every product on his own 

 place. I used to think I never wanted a 

 pig on the premises; in fact, my taste did 

 not run that way. When 1 was a boy it used 

 to be my business to care for the pig. and 

 perhaps I naturally became prejudiced, be- 

 cause it was a kind of work I never enjoyed. 

 A great many times I forgot to feed the pig. 

 How differently we look at things when we 

 become an interested party ! For a good 

 many years, one after another of my men 

 would tell me, '' Mr. Hoot, you should keep 

 a pig ;■" or, " Mr. Root, you throw away trash 

 enough all the while to keep a couple of pigs," 

 etc. Finally, some of the older men whom I 

 employ, and who have probably had more or 

 less experience in farming, would remark to 

 me, that there was nothing like hog-manure 

 to make certain vegetables grow, etc. Very 

 often I would reply, that I would not have 

 them grow if they could not be managed 

 with something a little more pleasant to 

 have around ; but since I have got the gar- 

 dening-fever, we are pressing into service 

 almost all kinds of domestic animals— the 

 horses, cow, poultry, and, finally, the pigs. 

 During the past three months I do not think 

 our pigs have had a scrap of any thing except 

 the refuse that would have gone into the 

 compost heap direct. When the pen gets to 

 smelling badly in hot weather, we throw in 

 some dry straw or litter, or the coarse ma- 

 nure from the stables ; and in a twinkling the 

 pigs roll it over and over, and mix it up 

 more thoroughly than any gardener could do 

 it with spade and fork, if he tried ever so 

 hard. When the accumulation is suflicient, 

 it goes into the manure-spreader, and the 

 Acme harrow^ quickly mixes it up with the 

 fresh dirt. 



May be, my friend, you are a poor man, 

 and have litile or no live stock about you ; 

 but I can hardly imagine how you can be too 

 poor to afford to keep a pig : yes, a pig and 

 some chickens. Perhaps the chickens might 

 come first, because they pay back your mon- 

 ey almost the first day you get them. Piggy 

 does not do as well as that, but it does not 

 cost very much cash out to keep him, and he 

 is always worth a certain amount of clean 

 cash, even if he is not a very clean fellow 

 himself. A pig may, however, be managed 

 so as to be a tolerably clean animal. You do 

 not want any ring in the nose of your pig. 

 Onr first pair of pigs came with rings in 

 their noses. For our ranch we want the 

 best rooter that can be procured ; then give 



him a good pen. and dump in the rubbish. 

 If you are so unfortunate or so thoughtless 

 as to let weeds grow on your premises, gath- 

 er up the weeds and give them to piggy. 

 Have a i)ail specially for piggy's use ; and I 

 think it will be a very good thing to have 

 the word "Piggy" on this pail; or you can 

 put it ''Piggy's Pail," if you choose; then 

 get all the family interested in seeing how 

 much of a contribution can be made for his 

 pigsliip. Give him all weeds, grass from the 

 roadside, leaves from the forest and fruit- 

 trees. Save every rotten potato, every apple 

 and apple-core, shells of nuts that the chil- 

 dren have cracked, potato-peelings, potato- 

 tops, cabbage-leaves, cabbage-stumps, mel- 

 on-rinds, pumpkin-parings, and every thing 

 you can tldnk of that is fit to eat, or that 

 will decay when composted. Piggy's yard 

 will be wet enough without the addition of 

 water to the compost, especially if the yard 

 is not covered over ; and whenever it gets 

 too wet, put in some absorbent such as peat, 

 sawdust, straw, forest-leaves, or any thing 

 of that sort. You and he are going into the 

 manure-business, and both of you are to see 

 how much can be manufactured, and of the 

 very best quality. If you keep a horse, you 

 can give the pig the bedding, together with 

 the manure that comes from the horse- 

 stables. If your poultry-house is near by, I 

 think it an excellent plan to let piggy stir it 

 up with the horse-manure also. 



A question comes in just now that has 

 been largely discussed at farmers' institutes, 

 and through agricidtural papers. 



AVriAT IS THE BEST PLAN FOK SAVINO 

 MANURE? 



I believe that the general decision has 

 been, that it pays to have manure under 

 cover. One thing is very certain, however, 

 and that is, that it does not pay to let ma- 

 nure of any kind get hot and burn up. Ma- 

 nure that is well worth a dollar a load may 

 be, by a little carelessness, soon made worth 

 no more than 25 cts. a load ; and if you 

 leave your manure exposed to the weather, 

 its value largely depends upon the amount 

 of rain. If the manure is spread out so the 

 heap is level on top, and not too deep, it may 

 catch rain enough to cause it to decompose 

 nicely; but I think this is too hap-hazard a 

 way. Our best authorities, in fact, seem to 

 agree pretty well that a much safer way than 

 tliis would be to spread the manure on the 

 land just as fast as it is taken out of the 

 stables, and may be this is the proper way to 

 do it in any event. It is, however, a pretty 

 hard matter to carry the nianure to the very 



