InquincH anti ^nstucrs. 



(G. Sharpless, Strickcrsville, Pa.) Pine saw- 

 dust is decomposed with great difficulty, and is 

 worth very little as manure after it is decom- 

 posed. We have known it kept for five years 

 constantly moist with liquid from the barn-yard 

 without decomposition, and it was of no value as 

 manure except as the means of conveying the 



liquid to the soil. 



• 



Dp.AiN'raG Tn.ES. — Several correspondents have 

 requested information in regard to the manufac- 

 ture of draining tiles, the best clay, best shape, 

 proper length, depth at which they should be laid, 

 &c. On these points there is much difference of 

 opinion, and we would like to have the views of 

 our practical correspondents an the subject. 



It is particularly desirable that the clay be free 

 from stone. Some prefer clay that makes a very 

 porous tile. This is, in our opinion, no advan- 

 tage, the joints of the pipe affording ample space 

 for the water to get into the drain. Clay that 

 will make good brick, will make good tiles. 'On 

 ". tlie relative mei-its of pipe and horse-shoe tile, 

 much depends on the nature of the soil, length 

 of drain — whether it is merely surface water or 

 spring water that is to be carried off. The best 

 underdraining we have ever seen was with horse- 

 shoe tiles laid three feet deep across the fall, dis- 

 charging into covered drains laid down the fall. 

 The small pipe, however, work well, and are 

 much the cheapest. With the inch and a half or 

 two inch pipe, drains three feet deep need not be 

 cut at the surface more than one foot wide, 

 gradually narrowing to the width of a man's 

 foot We would lay the pipe down the natural 

 fall of the land, and have them discliarge into 

 covered main drains laid across the fall, and let 

 the main drains only discharge into open ditclies. 

 This is consistent with sound theory, and enligh- 

 tened practice. 



Draining Tile. — Tou wiU see that I live in the IMaumee 

 Valley, a country needing draining .as much, pt^rhaps more 

 than most others. Farmers content thcmselvi's in makinir 

 sliallow, open ditches. This will not do; we lose one-Iliird 

 of our crops by surface water. In order to farm it success- 

 fully, we must have thorough under-draining. Many think 

 it wont pay, but 1 wish to try the experiment on a small 

 scale. 



In the April number of the G-Mxenee Farmer, 1S52, page 

 109, you give the internal dimensions, but not the whole 

 diameter of the pipe. How thick should the metal be to be 

 HK^Ht durable? What length should they beY Are tliey 

 niailr (if Uie s.ame materialas brick V Will two-inch jiipe 

 answer for lea<liiig drains? You will nnich olilige a sub- 

 scriber Ijy answering the above questions in the next muu- 

 ber of the Fiiriiwr, as I wish to contract for pijie to drain 

 with next fall or spring. Jakvis Gii.uv.Ki'.—S2jnn{ifiHd, O. 



The thickness required depends somewhat on 



the clay used and on the size of the tile. The 



inch and a half or two-inch pipe are about lialf 



an inch thick. The horse-shoe tile are from half 

 an inch to an inch thick, according to size ; 12 to 

 14 inches is the usual length. They are made of 

 the same kind of clay as brick. It is very essen- 

 tial that it be free from stone. A good tile will 

 ring like cast iron. As a general thing two-inch 

 pipe will not be large enough for main drains, or 

 drains into which a great many sub-drains dis- 

 charge their water. The four-inch horse-shoe tile 

 are best for this purpose, and in some cases it is 

 necessary to have even larger, or what is some- 

 times done, invert the lower tile and place another 

 tile on the top so as to make a pipe. Such a main 

 drain will carry off an immense quantity of wa- 

 ter, and is seldom needed. 



At a low estimate, no doubt your crops would 

 be increased one-third by judicious and thorough 

 under-draining. On land worth $60 an acre un- 

 drained, an expenditure of $30 per acre in drain- 

 ing cannot but be profitable. Much less labor is 

 required to cultivate a well-drained than an un- 

 drained farm, while the annual yield would be 

 at least one-third more; and this one-third in- 

 crease is nett profit. 



♦ 



Straw Manure. — I wish to know how I can convert 

 straw into manure in the best and quickest manner. I have 

 heard that if composted with lime, it would soon come oat 

 manure. But I do not know in what manner to apply it, 

 nor in what state the lime should be, nor the quantity to be 

 applied to a given quantity of straw. Any information ir 

 the matter will be most thankfully received. Dwi&irr 

 Bassett. — Oakland, Wis. 



Straw alone will not make good manure. R 

 does not contain the necessary ingredients in 

 sufficient qtiantity, and therefore no process of 

 fermentation can convert it into good manure. 

 Its chief manurial value consists in its absorp- 

 tive quality. It will hold a large quantity of 

 liquid. Wiien judiciously fermented with the 

 liquid and solid excrements of animals, the whole 

 mass is converted into first rate manure. The 

 urine of itself is a most powerful fertilizer, but it 

 lujeds fermentation before it is fit food for plants. 

 When straw, solid and liquid excrements, are 

 fermented together, the gases eliminated by the 

 decomposing urine act upon the mineral matter 

 of the dung and straw, rendering it more soluble, 

 so that the mass thus fermented is far better than 

 it would have been had each substance been 

 added to the soil separately. 



It is easy to rot straw by mixing with it lime 

 or unleaehed ashes, but it is a species of combus- 

 tion that no sano man will practice. A much 

 cheaper process wotild be to set fire to the straw, 

 and afterwards, if lime is needed, mix lime vith 

 the ashes and spread them on the land. 



We affirm that a mass o-f straw thoroughly fer- 

 mented, in conjunction with lime, is of little, if 

 any, more value tiian would be ita ashes mixed 



"■^a: 



