December, 1931] Dairy Farming ix Grafton County 33 



The disposal of manure is a problem that involves considerable space 

 and equipment on these farms. If stored under cover, 200 tons of man- 

 ure occupy a large amount of room. The daily spreading of manure in 

 the field is a good practice, but may involve considerable inconvenience 

 by interfering with other work or on account of inclement weather. 

 On nearly half of these farms, the basement was used to store the win- 

 ter's accumulation, while more than a third placed the manure in large 

 outdoor piles to be spread later (Table 26). Many of these outdoor 

 piles were near the barn and built by means of a carrier from the sta- 

 ble. Others were built in the field by hauling with a team from the 

 barn. These outdoor i)iles, especially those in the field, may involve an 

 excessive amount of hand labor. 



Table 26 — Methods used in varing for the manure on -'tl'f farms. 



Number Per cent 



Method used. of of 



farms. totals 



All stored in basement 



All in outdoor pile 



All stored in manure pit 



All spread daily 



Part spread daily with remainder in outdoor pile.. 



Part spread daily with remainder stored in base- 

 ment 



Part spread daily with remainder stored in pit 



Part in outdoor pile with remainder stored in base- 

 ment 



Part in outdoor pile with remainder in pit 



Total 414 100.0 



Manure pits, which keep the product at a distance from the co\vs 

 and conform to certain high-grade milk requirements, were used for 

 storage by seven per cent of the farms. A specially constructed pit is 

 likely to be better insurance against waste in storing than most base- 

 ments. About five per cent of the operators attempted to spread man- 

 ure every day and to avoid handling it over by placing the cleanings 

 from the stables directly in the spreader and hauling it at once to the 

 fields. In winter, Avlien snow prevented the use of wheels, a cart body 

 mounted on a sled made it possible to spread by hand directly in the 

 field, barring days when the road could not be kept open. This method 

 would seem to be most economical of hand labor. 



Some three or four per cent more of the farmers attempted a combi- 

 nation that approached daily spreading in the field, but provided some 

 temporary storage for certain periods in large piles, in the basement, 

 or in a pit. About two per cent stored in large piles outdoors when the 

 basement or pit was full. 



The numbers of hav forks and milking machines are shown in Tables 

 20 and 21. 



