MANURES. 195 



quantity of manure has dropped from the cattle to receive 

 another layer of loam, I apply it and continue in this manner 

 until I turn my cattle to pasture. I then have it shoveled over 

 and mixed together as much as possible, and let it remain until 

 I want to apply it to the different fields as I have a year's stock 

 on hand. The part of the cellar where I keep my hogs, I manage 

 in the same way, except they work it over free of charge and 

 make a large amount of the best kind of manure. I have cut 

 double the amount of hay this season that I did seven years ago 

 when I came on to the farm. I make yearly from three to four 

 hundred loads of first rate manure. My barn is constructed so 

 that I can drive directly through the whole length of the stable 

 on the north side and drop the loam through the scuttles down 

 in the cellar when I want to use it. I have scuttles in the centre 

 floor where I drop the loam or muck for my hogs. In this 

 manner it is very easy to make all the manure I want to use. 



New Braintree, September 14, 1857. 



Statement of Henry Holbrook. 



My manner of making compost manure is as follows : The 

 dimensions of my barn are 100 feet long by 42 feet wide, with 

 a cellar under the entire length and breadth. My cellar wall 

 on the north-west side is very heavy and strong, being laid with 

 stone and mortar. The south-east side and each end is very 

 similar to a common house cellar. Consequently it is impossi- 

 ble for the manure to freeze in the coldest weather we have, 

 which I consider very beneficial, as manure must naturally lose 

 in value by freezing. After completing my spring work, I 

 draw from 80 to 100 loads of loam into my barn cellar, putting 

 about half of it under the stable where the cattle stand and the 

 balance under the centre floor, and shovel it into the manure 

 from time to time, through the winter months, as occasion may 

 require, for the purpose of absorbing the liquid which drops 

 from the stable above. A short time before drawing the ma- 

 nure on to the planting ground, I shovel it all over for the purpose 

 of mixing it well together ; going through that process serves to 

 make the manure much better for whatever use it may be applied 



