MY OWN PLAN OF MANAGING MANURE. 83 



CHAPTER XX. 



MY OWN PLAN OF MANAGING MANURE. 



One of the charms and the advantages of agriculture is that a 

 farmer must think for himself. He should study principles, and 

 apply them in practice, as best suits his circumstances. 



My own method of managing manure gives me many of the 

 advantages claimed for the Deacon's method, and John Johnston's, 

 also. 



" I do not understand what you mean," said the Deacon ; " my 

 method differs essentially from that of John Johnston." 



" True," I replied, " you use your winter-made manure in the 

 spring; while Mr. Johnston piles his, and gets it thoroughly fer- 

 mented ; but to do this, he has to keep it until the autumn, and it 

 does not benefit his corn-crop before the next summer. He loses 

 the use of his manure for a year." 



I think my method secures both these advantages. I get my 

 winter-made manure fermented and in good condition, and yet 

 ha ve it ready for spring crops. 



In the first place, I should remark t!iat my usual plan is to cut 

 up all the fodder for horses, cows, and sheep. For horses, I some- 

 times use long straw for bedding, but, as a rule, I prefer to run 

 everything through a feed-cutter. We do not steam the food, and 

 we let the cows and sheep have a liberal supply of cut corn-stalks 

 and straw, and what they do not eat is thrown out of the mangers 

 and racks, and used for bedding. 



I should state, too, that I keep a good many pigs, seldom having 

 less than 50 breeding sows. My pigs are mostly sold at from two 

 to four months old, but we probably average 150 head the year 

 round. A good deal of my manure, therefore, comes from the 

 pig-pens, and from two basement cellars, where my store hogs 

 sleep in winter. 



In addition to the pigs, we have on the farm from 150 to 200 

 Cotswold and grade sheep ; 10 cows, and 8 horses. These are our 

 manure makers. 



The raw material from which the manure is manufactured con- 

 sists of wheat, barley, rye, and oat-straw, corn-stalks, corn-fodder, 

 clover and timothy-hay, clover seed-hay, bean-straw, pea-straw, 

 potato-tops, mangel-wurzel, turnips, rape, and mustard. These 

 are all raised on the farm ; and, in addition to the home-grown 

 oats, peas, and corn, we buy and feed out considerable quantities 



