86 TALKS ON MANURES. 



It is far less work to manage a heap of manure in this way than 

 may be supposed from my description of tlie ]>lan. Tlie truth is, 

 I find, in point of fact, lliut it is nut an easy thing to manage ma- 

 nure in this way ; and I fear not one farmer in ten will succeed 

 the first winter he undertakes it, unless he gires it his personal 

 attention. It is well worth trying, however, because if your heap 

 siiould free/x' up, it will be, at any rate, in no worse condition 

 than if managed in the ordinary way; and if you do succeed, 

 even in part, you will have manure in good condition for im- 

 mediate use in the spring. 



As I have said before, I keep a good many pigs. Now pigs, if 

 fed on slops, void a large quantity of li(|iiid manure, and it is n(jt 

 always easy to furnish straw enough to al)sorb it. When straw 

 and stalks are cut into cLafT, they will absorb much more licjuid 

 tlian when used whole. For this reason wc usually cut idl our 

 straw and stalks. We also use the litter from the horse-stable for 

 bedding tlie store hogs, and also sometimes, when comparatively 

 dry, we use tiie refuse sheep bedding for the same purpose. 

 Where tlie sheep barn is contiguous to the pig-pens, and when the 

 sheep l)edding can be thrown at once into the pig-pens or cellar, 

 it is well to use bedding freely for the shecji and lambs, and re- 

 move it frequently, throwing it into the pig-pens. I do not want 

 my sheep to be compelled to eat up the straw and corn-stalks too 

 close. 1 want them to pick out what they like, and then throw 

 away what they leave in the troughs for bedding. Sometimes we 

 take out a five-bu&hel ba.sketful of these direct from the troughs, 

 for bedding young i)igs, or sows and pigs in the pens, but as a 

 rule, we use them first for bedding the sheep, and then afterwards 

 use the sheep bedding in the fattening or store jiig-jjcns. 



" And sometimes," remarked the Deacon, " you u.se a little long 

 straw for your young jiigs to sleep on, so that they can bury 

 themselves in the straw and keep warm." 



" True," I replied, " and it is not a bad plan, but we are not 

 now talking about the management of pigs, but how wc treat our 

 manure, and how wc manage to have it ferment all winter." 



A good deal of our pig-manure is, to 1)orrow a phrase from the 

 pomologists, " double-worked." It is horse or sheei>manure, 

 used for bedding pigs and cows. It is saturated with urine, and is 

 much richer in nitrogenous material than ordinary manure, and 

 consequently will ferment or j)utnfy much more rapidly. Usually 

 pig-mauure is consid-Mcd '" cold," or sluggish, but this double- 



