FAR 



FAR 



Other. Any error is immediately de- 

 tected, and the knowledge of this 

 prevents mistakes. An entry should 

 be made of every particular operation 

 in each field, that the farmer may 

 know which is his most profitable 

 land. The number of ploughings, the 

 quantity of manure, the state of the 

 weather, and all other circumstances 

 which may influence the return should 

 be carefully noted, in order that it 

 may he clearly seen whether any ex- 

 periment or deviation from the usual 

 routine is advantageous or otherwise. 

 Thus all real improvements may be 

 encouraged, and uncertain theories 

 detected by the result. 



'• The most important circumstance 

 which influences the profits of a farm- 

 er is the cost of his team and the 

 wages of his men. These vary in 

 different situations so much that they 

 greatly influence the price which he 

 can afford to give for the land. In 

 some parts of the country the horses 

 are pampered and kept so fat that 

 they can scarcely do a day's work as 

 they ought ; in others they are over- 

 worked and badly fed. Either ex- 

 treme must be a loss to the farmer. 

 In the first case, the horses cannot 

 do their work, and they consume ao 

 unnecessary quantity of provender ; 

 in the other, they are soon worn out, 

 and the loss in horses that become 

 useless or die is greater than the sa- 

 ving in their food or the extra work 

 done by them. A horse properly fed 

 will work eight or ten hours every 

 day in the week, resting only on 

 Sundays ; by a judicious division of 

 the labour of the horses, they are 

 never over-worked, and an average 

 value of a day's work is easily ascer- 

 tained. This, in a well regulated 

 farm, will be found much less than 

 the common valuations give it. There 

 have been printed forms invented, in 

 order to render the accounts more 

 simple, as well as more comprehen- 

 sive. Forms may be of use to enter 

 minute details ; and eacli superin- 

 tendent may have a form of entry for 

 the work which he performs or su- 

 perintends ; but the ledger should be 

 kept exactly as that of a mercantile \ 



man, and he frequently balanced to 

 ensure correctness. This is a thino- 

 which cannot be too strongly recom- 

 mended to young farmers." 



FARM- YARD MANURE. The 

 excrements of cattle mixed with ve- 

 getable litter accumulated in the farm- 

 yard. Stran', peat, sea-weed, the 

 haulms of crops, leaves, and any or- 

 ganic matter may be added to swell 

 the bulk. It is usual to make the 

 yard somewhat inclined, so that the 

 fluid portions may run into a tank at 

 the bottom. The reservoir should 

 be tight, either of cement or temper- 

 ed clay ; it may be furnished with 

 pumps, to return the fluid over the 

 I solid matters several times during its 

 preparation. The dung should be 

 piled in ridges of five feet high and 

 as many wide, and kept trodden to- 

 gether ; it should not be permitted to 

 heat too much or be kept too wet. It 

 is very much improved by an addi- 

 tion of charcoal, gypsum, and lime, 

 applied occasionally to the layers as 

 they are brought out from the houses. 

 In well-tilled soils twenty to thirty 

 cart-loads the acre are applied for a 

 rotation of three or four years. Corn, 

 wheat, potatoes, or tobacco usually 

 receive the manure. Sandy soils re- 

 quire less manure, but more frequent- 

 ly repeated. 



Farm-yard manure wastes rapidly 

 by exposure and the action of rain, 

 its soluble salts being removed, and 

 the volatile ammoniacal portions ri- 

 sing into the air. Great benefit would 

 be found from the erection of slab or 

 thatched sheds for the protection of 

 the heaps. 



It is of service to all crops, be- 

 cause, being made up of the offal of 

 vegetables and food, it contains all 

 the neces'sary salts and organic mat- 

 ters ; but, in the usual way of prep- 

 aration, it is also the depository of 

 the seeds of weeds and insects, and 

 tends to render the husbandry foul. 

 By preparing with lime, and man- 

 aging it in the dry way, eremacausis 

 is produced, which destroys the seeds 

 and eggs, at the same time that it di- 

 minishes the waste by volatilization. 



The value of the manure is depend- 



£71 



