ON MANURES. 21 



should be drains connected with a small well, furnished with 

 a pump, by which any fluid matter may be collected for the 

 use of the land ; for it too often happens that the draining-s of 

 the dung--hill are entirely wasted.' A sheltered spot of ground 

 ought always to be chosen for the site; and although some 

 after-trouble may be saved by depositing it, in the first in- 

 stance, in the field to which it is to be applied, it is yet, in 

 most cases, found more convenient to place it m some secluded 

 situation near the homestead. ' There it is always under the 

 farmer's eye, and a greater quantity can be moved in a shorter 

 time than when its position is more distant. Besides, in wet 

 weather the roads are not only cut up by driving to a distance, 

 but the field on which it is made may be poached and con- 

 siderably injured.' 



Should there be no perfect and permanent site formed for a 

 complete dung-hill repository, accompanied by a well and 

 pump, as above recommended, yet the space intended for the 

 reception of any common dung-heap should be slightly hollowed 

 out, leaving one side rather deeper than the other, and cutting 

 a narrow drain through that side, from which any superfluous 

 moisture may be carried off to a yet lower excavation, where 

 it may be received upon a bed of loose mould, or among 

 articles of slow decay, as cabbage-stalks, the tough haulm of 

 over-ripe beans, or any similar substances. It should also be 

 surrounded with a mound dug out from the hollowed place, to 

 prevent water from running into it, and, if that be prevented, 

 no dangei- need be apprehended from any excess of moisture, 

 except in times of very heavy rain, which, in such seasons, 

 can also be much guarded against by sloping the sides. Were 

 roofs constructed over dung-hills, to protect them from the rays 

 of the sun, as well as from the rain, there can be no doubt that, 

 if roughly put up, at little cost, they would prove advantageous; 

 but the benefit should be always closely estimated, in order that 

 it may not exceed the charge : perhaps a contrivance of the 

 kind might be made with spare branches of trees, and worn- 

 out hurdles, supported by posts formed out of any otherwise 

 useless timber. 



Preservation of dung. — Practice differs in the modes 

 adopted respecting the care of farm-yard dung. Most farm- 

 ers allow it to accumulate for a long time in the yard, add- 

 ing fresh straw regularly to the heap, from an impression that 

 the bottom, if unremoved, will become the richest part, and 

 that its accumulation imparts a certain degree of warmth to 



