202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



compost. In this way one and one-half bushels of valuable 

 compost may be obtained annually for each fowl kept, and of 

 greater value than the same quantity of most commercial 

 fertilizers. 



The privy, too, may be made to add materially to the«g;ock 

 of fertilizers. Let it be made secure against the admission of 

 surface-water, and be supplied, as occasion requires, with quick- 

 lime or other deodorizing material, and the whole be subse- 

 quently removed and composted. The night-wash from the 

 chambers should be thrown upon the manure pile, or be poured 

 upon partly filled casks of muck, or other absorbent, and the 

 absorbent added occasionally, until the casks are filled, and the 

 mass thoroughly saturated, and a valuable compost is formed. 



I have omitted particular mention of the swine as auxiliaries 

 in the way of furnishing a liberal supply of manure, not because 

 they are less valuable, but only that I think they may be made 

 most serviceable by having access to the manure of the horses 

 or cattle, and to incorporate their own with that of the other 

 stock. 



The sheep-yards should be supplied, in autumn, with a liberal 

 coating of earth, which in spring should be mixed with the 

 manure and litter above it, and the whole be used for spring 

 crops, and before it has undergone too much fermentation. 



I have thus glanced at some of the most common and abun- 

 dant sources of manurial supply, while I pass in silence others, 

 «uch as bones, wood-ashes, sink-slops, decaying animals, and 

 other refuse, none of which should be lost or neglected. 



With regard to special fertilizers, or commercial manures, I 

 have only to say, they doubtless possess real value, and often 

 return in additional crop more than their cost. Yet, when we 

 take into account the losses sustained from the purchase of 

 impure and adulterated articles, together with the injury to the 

 crop by injudicious application, it may well be doubted whether 

 these have yet been to the farmer a source of profit. 



We now pass to consider the application of manure. Here 

 several distinct points demand attention, neither of which can 

 be overlooked in practice without the liability of suffering loss. 

 These are : 



1st. Its condition. Shall it be applied fresh from the stall, or 

 shall it be fermented ? 



