64 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



1. I dilrgcntly collect litter of every kind, sea- 

 weed, furze, fern, leaves of trees, &c., for bedding 

 my yards, in addition to the straw grown on t lie- 

 land. In the last twelve months I have brought in 

 about 50 wagon-loads of these materials : each wzs- 

 on load gives employment to about three men for 

 a day ; the total, therefore, being 150 days. 



2. This increase of litter would avail little or no- 

 thing if I did not keep an extra number of live-stock ; 

 for I observe that many farmers do not even make 

 their straw into good muck. I therefore fat about 

 40 hogs and four or five head of horned cattle every 

 winter ; enough, in short, to consume half my Swed- 

 ish turnips, which are carried into the yards for this 

 purpose. The drawing, topping, and carting, togeth- 

 er with the time occupied in looking after the stock, 

 may be estimated at one man's employment during 

 the winter months, equal to 150 days. 



3. The removal of one half the turnips would in- 

 jure the succeeding barley crop if I did not lay on, 

 at the time of sowing the turnips, an extra quantity 

 of manure, say 25 single horse cart-loads per acre, 

 about 10 loads more than the usual allowance! This 

 I am enabled to do, partly by the great quantity of lit- 

 ter in my yards, partly by placing a bottom of earth 

 or chalk under every dung-heap, and a thin covering 

 of the same materials over the top. The practice 

 of carting all my dung twice, first from the yards to 

 bottoms prepared in the fields, and then on the land 

 when wanted for use, of course employs many hands, 

 as well as the turning the composts, and mixing the 

 materials together. I believe I do not overrate the 

 number of cart-loads transported annually on my 

 farm at 2400 ; whereas on the same number of acres, 

 a farmer who moved his dung only once, carrying it 

 immediately from the yard, at the rate of 10 loads 

 per acre for turnips, and the same for wheat, would 

 transport only 600 cart-loads annually: The extra 

 1800 loads may give about 112 days employment, and 



