370 PLYMOUTH SOCIETY. 



ill the cow yard, one fourth of which was muck, and the re- 

 mainder, soil and scrapings from the sides of fences, from 

 ditches, &c. On this I have thrown brine from meat barrels, 

 and yarded through the season from twelve to fifteen head of 

 cattle, the droppings from which are thrown in a heap and 

 covered every morning with soil and coal dust, and from two 

 to three times a week I sprinkle on the heap two quarts of 

 salt. Fifty loads of it were made in the hog yard, where 

 has been kept on an average five hogs. Into this yard have 

 been thrown muck and soil, in about equal quantities and at 

 different times, as it was needed, together with weeds and 

 potato tops. Fifteen loads of the 375 were turf and peat 

 ashes. The cart in which the said manure was measured, was 

 of the following dimensions, viz., 6^ feet long, 20 inches high 

 and 3 feet 7 inches wide, and was well filled each time. 

 W. Bridgewater, Sept. 7, 1851. 



4 



Austin J. Roherts^s Statement. 



I hav^e made 202 loads valuable compost manure since March 

 last. The amount is not so great as I have made in former 

 years, not having so many cattle as usual. 



The basis of my composts is vegetable matter from the 

 woods near by. Decayed leaves I have collected and used 

 with good effect, mixing them with animal manure, which I 

 find very beneficial when applied to my fruit trees. I am led 

 to believe, from a few experiments, that manure made in the 

 summer and winter, is much improved in quality, by hauling 

 it out of the pens or yards, (four to six weeks before using,) 

 and throwing it into compost heaps, in any convenient place, 

 or in the fields where it is to be applied, and between layers of 

 dung one foot thick ; and I put two inches of unleached ashes, 

 and so on, proceeding until the heap is about four feet high. 

 I have found manure thus made, almost to increase the value 

 of the compost one half; and by thus doing, it enables the 

 farmer to add materially to the size of the heap by mingling 

 between the layers of " reeking dung," muck, or any other 

 absorbent which would receive and hold any ammoniacal liquor 



