106 THE dairyman's MANUAL. 



The pit should not be covered, as it will need all the rain 

 which will fall upon it to keep it moist enough to pre- 

 vent fire fanging or dry rot, which utterly destroys the 

 value of manure. No water from the buildings should 

 flow into this pit, but the yard should be graded so as to 

 give easy drainage of the surface water into the manure 

 pit, where it will be absorbed, and a few holes should be 

 left in the wall to allow this water to dram m. 



The yard will then be kept dry and free from mud. 

 To add to the sujDply of manure, and to cover the drop- 

 pings, the whole yard should be kept deeply littered. 

 Green weeds from bottom lands and swamps, leaves, and 

 any other coarse matter which can be procured m any 

 way should be thus used. If this can not be done, the 

 droppings should be gathered up with a shovel and a 

 wheelbarrow and thrown into the manure pit, but in 

 whatever way it is done, the 5"ard mnst be kept clean. 

 It will be a saving of labor in keeping the cows clean, 

 and very much lighten the use of the card and tlie brush 

 for this purpose. If the yard cannot be located on*high 

 and dry ground, and there is any danger of mud in wet 

 weather, it should be drained, and the drains made to 

 discharge in some convenient way into a field, where the 

 water can be spread over grass or some other crop, or be 

 usefully employed in other ways. 



The water troughs should be made tight so as to pre- 

 vent leakage, which will make the ground muddy, and 

 should be provided Av^ith some means to carry off the 

 overflow. They should be provided with covers where- 

 ever snow will fall and choke them or chill the water, 

 and these covers should always be let down when the 

 cows are not in the yard. By providing cisterns to (^atch 

 all the roof water, an ample supply will be procured, and 

 rain water is the purest and best for the use of dairy 

 cows. To keep the roof water pure, it is well to have 

 the roofs painted, especially when oak or chestnul/ shin- 



