NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



27 



KEEP YOUR STABLES CLEAN. 



As our stock all stand on plank floors, early in the 

 morning we first take up that part of the litter which 

 is not much soiled, with a fork, and place it in the 

 back part of the stalls, to dry during the day. We 

 then clean out the manure, and put it on the dung 

 heap. If litter be plenty, and it is an object to make 

 as much manure as possible, then we should let all 

 the litter go with the manure, and add plenty of 

 fresh every night for the stock to lie on. And while 

 on this subject, we wish to observe that if the litter 

 be straw or coarse hay, it ought to pass through a 

 straw-cutter before using it. This makes it much 

 easier to fork the manure in the heap, as it is not 

 then bound together with long straws. After remov- 

 ing the manure, we give the stables a slight sprin- 

 kling of plaster of Paris, or charcoal dust. Either of 

 these substances absorbs all unpleasant effluvia, 

 sweetens the atmosphere, and in the course of the 

 season, adds considerably to the value of the manure 

 heap. 



Many farmers let their stock stand on the ground. 

 If the soil be dry, there is no objection to this. If 

 not cleaned out till spring, the manure should be 

 spread evenly over the surface of the stable, every 

 morning, a coating of ])lastcr or charcoal dust then 

 ])ut upon it, and fresh litter added before night. 

 Each animal will thus make a larger quantity of 

 valuable manure during the season. One great ud- 

 vnntage follows this system, and that is, the salts 

 are not exposed to be washed out of the manure by 

 rain, nor volatilized by the sun, as when exposed to 

 the open air in the barnyard and other places. — 

 American Agriculturist. 



DRAINING OF MARSHES AND WET ARA- 

 BLE LANDS. 



By being drained, marshes which are now un- 

 sightly sources of disease, and as unproductive as 

 unhealthy, maybe converted into beautiful meadows, 

 at once the fountains of wealth and the guaranties 

 of health. All who have such lands upon their 

 estates, should, at once, set about to transfonn them 

 into arable soils. The improvement may cost time, 

 labor, and money, but it will pay twenty per cent. 

 upon the outlay' in products, besides adding largely 

 to the intrinsic value of such estates. 



The facts here presented for consideration are 

 worthy of mature reflection. Mr. F. Pym, of Eng- 

 land, a farmer r^ great practical experience, used the 

 i'oUowing eitiphatic language with respect to the 

 value of draining lands ; " Without that necessary 

 operation — draining — the profitable occupation of 

 heavy land cannot be carried on." 



F. Falkland, Esq., also of England, the author of 

 several agricultural %^'orks of merit, thus simis up his 

 views upon the importance of draining : — 



"In conclusion it should bo observed, that every 

 attention vrhich can be paid to the prejiaration and 

 application of manures will be inefiectual in render- 

 ing soils fertile, unless due regard be given to the 

 removal of excess of moisture by draining, when 

 needful. When a soil is saturated with water, air is 

 excluded from the roots of the plants, and prevented 

 from acting upon the manure ; while the low tem- 

 perature produced, by continued evaporation from 

 the surface, has an additional powerful effect in 

 retarding the progress of vegetation. 



'• To lay manure upon wet soils, is, in truth, to 

 throw money away ; but were draining universally 

 cfl'ectod, the whole of the now unproductive soil 

 of the country would, to a vast extent, be rendered 

 capable of receiving the benefit of the numerous 

 modes of fertilizing it. Its returns are immediate, as 

 well as compensative ; and to hesitate to drain the 



land, is to hesitate to confer a benefit upon one's 

 self, of which a strong proof has been lately brought 

 forward in a statement of the profit resulting from 

 the drainage of four hundred and sixty-seven acres, 

 and the employment of the drain Avater over eighty- 

 nine acres of land, on the estate of Lord Ratherton, 

 in StrafFordshire — affording a clear annual interest 

 on the outlay of full thirty-seven per cent." — Geiie- 

 sec Fanner. 



DEPTH OF PLOUGHING. 



All cultivated plants are benefited by a deep 

 permeable soil, through which theii' roots can pene- 

 trate in search of food ; and although depth of soil 

 is not fully equivalent to its superficial extension, 

 it is evident that there must be a great increase of 

 product from this cause. For general tillage crops, 

 the depth of soil may be gradually augmented to 

 about twelve inches, with decided advantage. Such 

 as are appropriated to gardens and horticultural 

 purposes may be deei^ened to fifteen and even eigh- 

 teen inches, to the manifest profit of their occupants. 

 But whatever is the depth of the soil, the plough 

 ought to turn up the entire mass, if within its reach ; 

 and what is beyond it should be thoroughly broken 

 up by the subsoil plough, and some of it occasionally 

 incorporated with that upon the surface. The sub- 

 soil ought not to be broiight out of its bed, except in 

 small quantities, to be exposed to the atmosphere 

 during the fall, winter, and spring, or in a summer 

 fallow ; nor even then, but with the application of 

 such fertilizers as are necessary to jmt it at once into 

 a productive condition. The depth of the soil can 

 alone dctei'mine the depth of ploughing; and when 

 that is too shallow, the gradual deepening of it should 

 be sought by the use of proper materials for improve- 

 ment till the object is fully attained. Two indif- 

 ferent soils of opposite characters, as of a stiff clay 

 and sliding sand, sometimes occupy the relation of 

 surface and subsoil towards each other ; and when 

 intimately mixed and subjected to the meliorating 

 influence of cultivation, they will frequently produce 

 a soil of great value. — Genesee Farmer. 



The Longevity of Trees. — A writer in the Edin- 

 burgh Philosophical Journal, alluding to the longevity 

 and size of trees, states that in Britain there are still 

 extant and growing oaks, and probably elms, which 

 Avere planted before the Conquest ; i. e. naore than 

 eight hundred years ago. And there arc yew-trees, 

 much older still. There are some at Fountain Abbey, 

 near Ripon, in Yorkshire, which are believed to be 

 more than 1200 j'cars old ; two in the churchyard of 

 Crowhiu'st, in Surrey, of 1450 years ; one in Bray- 

 bourn churchyard, in Kent, is said to have attained 

 the age of .3000 years ; and another atlledsor, Bucks 

 county, which is in full vigor, and measures twenty- 

 seven feet in diameter, apj^cars to be upward of 3200 

 years old. 



Natural IIat.its of Domestic Animals. — The nat- 

 ural habits of different domestic animals differ very 

 considerably. In small and thorough-bred horses, 

 the pulsations of the heart are about forty to forty- 

 two in a minute. In farm horses they do not amount 

 to more than thirty-six. AVhen they are treated ill, 

 or even when spoken roughly to, their circulation is 

 increased, say ten pulsations per minute. — Cold has 

 great eft'ect on the pig. It is found that pigs whose 

 sties have a southern aspect, thrive much better 

 than those placed in a colder declination ; they can 

 hardly, perhaps, be kept too warm, or too clean." 

 — Cuthhert W. Johnstone, Esq., Farmer's Magazine. 



