41 



to procure fertilizing agents in their pure chemical form, and apply a little to 

 the soil for each crop of the exact kind that the crop requires. In this way a 

 few barrels of potash and phosphates will answer the purpose of a big manure 

 heap. But whatever be the truth in regard to medicine, practical farmers have 

 found that homeopathic agriculture has fatal defects. Manures need some bulk 

 to keep the land light and porous, and induce the air to pour in its fertility. 

 Hence the utility of composts — of mixing the barnyard and other fertilizing 

 materials with such substances as will act on tiie soil in the manner desired even 

 if they add little directly to its richness. 



When Mr. Hyde took possession of his present farm, it was completely 

 worn out, and unproductive. By treatment with composts, he iias brought it 

 into such condition that it now yields him three crops a year regularly, two of 

 hay and one of fruit. This success he attributes in large measure to the use of 

 muck, which he has drawn regularly from his swamps for many years and 

 composted with barnyard manure, kitchen slops, and any other refuse that the 

 farm affords. Elizur Smith's farm, which is confessedly one of the best, if 

 not the very best in Berkshire, is a fine example of the success of the same 

 treatment. He has brought it up from a worn out state by a liberal use of com- 

 posts composed of muck, marl, refuse sizing from the paper mills and barnyard 

 manure. 



Muck is of little immediate worth when used alone. It will indeed in time 

 loosen the soil and aid it in absorbing moisture from the air, but its best effects 

 are secured only as it ferments and decays. To hasten the fermentation is the 

 great point to secure, and there is no other way of doing this so effectually and 

 so rapid as by composting in alternate layers with manure. 



It will not do to use muck too freely on damp, clayey soils. It will make 

 the land too wet and cold. But when ihe soil is naturally dry and sandy, or 

 gravelly, nothing will bring it into such excellent condition as an abundant use of 

 muck or some equivalent of decaying vegetable matter. Vegetable mold and 

 leaves from the woods are an admirable substitute for muck when the latter is 

 not to be had readily. Farmers can well afford to spend several days every fall 

 in gathering a very large heap of leaves to be used as bedding for horses and 

 cows during the winter and then put in the compost heap. 



For cold, wet land where muck will not answer, the best basis for the 

 compost is alluvial soil taken from the river banks. It can be taken out in any 

 quantity desired without making a permanent unsightly appearance, for the 

 spring freshets will always fill the pits with fresh deposits. Such soil contains 

 a great deal of fertilizing matter that is exceedingly valuable. 



Among other substances that should be carefully husbanded for the com- 

 post heap, are wood ashes, salt and brine. Very few substances produced on 

 the farm are worth so much in proportion to their weight and bulk as wood 

 ashes. Salt and brine, if used in too large quantities will kill vegetation, but in 

 moderate amounts they are very useful. Lime should not be used very freely 

 hi this section. Limestone abounds in the hills, the water of the streams is, 

 much of it, hard, and accordingly, most of our soils contain as much lime as is 

 liesirable. The most valuable of the common animal manures is hen manure. 



