84 TALKS ON MAM KKS. 



of bnin, shorts, finc-miiUUings, iniilt-coinbs, corn-nu:il, ami a little 

 oil-cake. 1 sell wlirat, rye, barley, and (■luver-s«'e(i, apples, and 

 potatoes, ami soinetinies cal)b.iges ami turnips. Probatily, on tbc 

 avera:;*', for each !|U)0 I reeeive from the sale of these croj*, 1 

 purchase $2.3 worlii of bran, inail-<<)nib.s, t-orn-nual, ami otiier 

 feed for animals. My farm is now rapidly iuereusing in fertility 

 aiid productiveness. The crops, on tlie avcraqre, are certainly at 

 least double what they were when I l»ou:;ht the farm thirUen 

 years ai^o; and much uf this increase has l.-iken place durini; tlic 

 last Jive or six years, and I exiM-ct to see still gn-ater improvement 

 year l^y year. 



"Never mind all lliat," said tlie Deacon; "wo all know that 

 manure will enricli land, ami I will ronctnle tliat your farm li.ia 

 j^reatly improved, ami can not Iielp but impnne if you continue 

 to make and use as muili manure." 



" I expect to make n»orc and more manure every year," j^aid I. 

 "The larjjjer tlie crops, tlie more manure we caii make; and the 

 more manure we make, the larger the cro|>s." 



Tlie real jmint of difference In'tween my plan of managing ma- 

 nure, and (lie jtian adopinlby tlie Deacon, Ls es.s«*ntially this : I 

 aim to keep all my manun- in a compa«-t pile, when* it w ill slowly 

 ferment all winter. The Deacon throws hLs horse-manun- into a 

 heap, just outside the stable door, and l!ic cow-maiiure into an- 

 other heap, and the pig-manure into another heap. These heaps 

 are more or less scattered, and arc exposed to the niin, and snow, 

 and frost, Tiie horse-manure Ls quite likely to fenn'-nt Unt nip- 

 iJly, and if in a large heap, and the weather lA warm, it not 

 unlikely ''fire-fangs" in t!ic center of t!ie hcrip. 0:i the other 

 hand, the cow-manure lies cold and dead, an 1 during the winter 

 freezes into soli 1 lumps. 



I wheel or cart all my maniire into one central heap The main 

 object is to ke -p it as compact as possible. There are two a<lva:i- 

 tages in this: 1st, tiie manure is less exposed t) tlie rain, and 

 (3d), when freezing weather sets in, only a few inches of the ex- 

 ternal portion of the heap is frozen. I have pr ictiscd this plan 

 for several years, and can keep my he;ij) of manure slowly fer- 

 menting during t'lc whole winter. 



But in order to ensure this result, it is n cess-irv to begin iiiak« 

 ing the heap before winter sets in. The plan is this : 



Having selected the spot in tlie yard most convenient for m.ak 

 ing the lic.ip, collect all the manure that can be f jund in the sheep- 



