NEW ENGL.A]yD FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BV GEO. C. BARRETT, ISO. 5., NORTH '^IrkJTstREET. ].r rn. A;n.7.,...K... VV.K .rH,7.s..)-T. G. FESSEnFenTedT,^)^ ' ' 



NO. 88. 



OL. XIH 



jBOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1834 



Tlie following article was presented to tlie Mer- 

 'mac Agricultural Society, at their late meeting in 

 Earner, by Mr. James Hale, of Alstead, and re- 

 vived the Society's premium. — JV. H. Statesman. 



DISSERTATIOJf ON MAKIIVG AMD APPLY- 

 ING MANURE. 



It hasheen ohserved hy a writer on agricidtin-p, 

 at manure stands in the same relation to the far- 

 er that a stock of goods, calculated to meet the 

 arket, does to a merchant. Whether the cotn- 

 irison is correct or not in every point of view, 

 cannot be denied that manure is an article of the 

 eatest importance to the fanner. It is the in- 

 rition of the writer to present to the puhlic, in a 

 !iin and concise manner, for the aid of the prar- 

 al farmer, as well as to excite an investigation, 

 few ideas on the subject of making and applying 

 luure. 



MAKING MANURE. 



This subject comprehends not only the best 

 inner of saving and preserving the manure, 

 lich is naturally made by a stock of cattle on a 

 111, but likewise the best method of increasing 

 It quantity by the aid of other materials. The 

 iniM-e made in stables during the winter season 

 )uld be cleanly thrown from the same every 

 Y, and the stable floor well littered with straw 

 refuse hay. The litter, besides increasing the 

 ititity of manure, conrluces to the ease and 

 ilth of the cattle, and increases both the ipian- 

 and quality of the milk of cows. The tatil 



placed in the hills of Indian corn or potatots ihi 

 ensuing spring. Jt is believed that this is the 

 most profitible method of making and applyinp 

 such manure. If used the spring after it is made 

 it is not sufficiently rotten or decomposed to be- 



to add to Uu- heap some warm manure to promote 

 Its ii;rmeiitation ; sheep dung would be the best. 

 Straw, rcliise fodder, brakes, or any such vegeta- 

 bles, would be better disposed of in the barn-yard 

 than in tliis heap. The making of such a heap 



come the proper food ot plants It may be worth causes an appearance of neatness to exist abouZ 

 observing that the practice ot covering the barn- j house and other buildings; and besi les be" g a 

 yard wth brakes is very beneficial to the cow. | rich matinns the retnoving ;f so muc nil hi" f lo 

 kept in the yard during the fall season, and is its proper place is conducfve to the h all o he 

 equally as necessary as the stable-litter in the win- I oce.,,,ant.s or inmates of the house 

 ter. These weeds are very injurious to our pas- ' This is a good manure to spread' on tillage land 

 lures, and every cutting tends to destroy them. j.ju.t before sowing it with wheat or any kind of 

 The Hog Yard. With .-i little labor much valu- ; '^'"1''" !""' ''■''J' ^'^«'- -I' sliould be covered in the 



the winter should usually be confined in the 

 lu-jurd uiid the cows s.i .east should bo Jmded 

 •ing the night in the sunmier season. It is said 

 practical farmers that three loads of manure, 

 )t under a cover through the spring and sum- 

 r, are worth four exposed to the air during that 

 le. 



riie manure made by fatting hogs should be 

 luenlly cleaned from the hog-bouse and placed 

 the yard adjoining (no farmer should be with- 



a hog-yard) and the sty should be frequently 

 lenished with plenty of straw or other litter. 

 Jut the thriving, economical and scientific far- 

 r will not depend solely on the preceding me- 

 ils for his stotk of manure ; but, for the purpose 

 increasing the quantity of the same, will fre- 

 ntly make calculations resembling some or all 

 those which follow; and not only make, but 

 Jally put them in practice ; for, give me leave 

 ibserve, that calculations alone will make very 

 e manure. 



Vhe Farm Yard.* As soon as the haying and 

 vesting season is over, the farmer should cum- 

 ice collecting a large quantity of brakes, swamp 

 JS, or coarse refuse grass of any description, 

 , alter having removed the manure from his 

 ii-yard, spreail the brakes, grass, &c. over the 

 lie surface of the yard. There is no danger of 

 ;ing this covering of too great a deptli". It 

 uld be suffered to remain in this situation till 



next fall, when, together with the dung and 



le of cattle with which it is mixed, it makes an 



ellent manure, and should be carted out and 



in large heaps, for the purpose of being 



This enclosure is usually denommaleil by llie rariners a 

 Zt> J,"', ""^ appears lo be the inosl proper designaiion; 

 uosi wnl«rs 0.1 agriculture call it a farm-yard. - 



able manure may he made in this enclosure. It 

 is strong, rich and oily, and the fermeniation of it 

 proceeds slowly, consequently it affords m'ore 

 steady and durable nourishment to the plant.-i to 

 which it is applied than most other manures, nud 

 answers a good purpose when mixed with a large 

 quantity of earthy or vegetable substances. 



For the purpose of increasing the quanlilv of 

 this manure, the farmer should deposit in his hog- 

 yard^ at every convenient opportunity, chip dung, 

 rich" earth, weeds, leached ashes, leaves, mo.-s, 

 turt, and such other substances as his iiigpiuiity 

 may suggest; for no person should allow himselV 

 to be an entire book farmer, or servile imitator. 

 That the mixture of the several ingredients may 

 the more readily and efficiently be perforriied b_\ 

 tlie swine, a little corn or other grain should b"i- 

 sprinkled over the yard. 



Tlii^ is a good manure to enrich '.he exhaiisttil 

 soil of a garden, or to spread on land lo be plantuil 

 with Indian corn ; but perhaps the best manner ot 

 applying it is to cart it out every spring, and place 

 it in the hills of Indian corn or potatoes. If the 

 crop be iipt a good one where this manure is used, 

 we must look for the failure from some other 

 cause than the want of an excellent manure. 



Tht Compost Heap. Manures combined of dif- 

 ferent materials, and of such substaiices as are cal- 

 culated to act upon each other by fermentation or 

 otherwise, are eminently useful in increasing the 

 fertility of soils, and promoting the growth of veg- 

 etables. 



Select some convenient spot not far distant trom 

 the back pTirtof your house, or near the barn-yard, 

 and cart or place thereon, not in layers, but judi- 

 ciously mixed or shovelled together, such sub- 

 stances as the following, viz. rich earth, such us 

 may be obtained from ditches or the sides of t .e 

 road ; mud or the dirt from hollows, which Las 

 received the wash from rich lands ; marie, ushes, 

 oily substances, soot, putrified liesh, dead a.iinials 

 may be buried in the compost heap, if placed at 

 such a depth as to prevent any noxious effluvia ; 

 woollen rags cut in small pieces, scra| nigs of the 

 cellar and kitchen yard, of lanes an.i back yards 

 after rains, rubbish of old chimneys, eaitli thai 

 has been long under cover, salt, old brine, blood 

 and soap suds. These should be frequently mixed 

 together, and at each stirring much common earili, 

 or that which lies adjoining the heap, may be ado- 

 ed. If this manure be designed for a cold, Mifi', 

 clayey soil, sand or dry sandy loam should be a 

 principal ingredient; but if for open, lislit, sandy 

 ground, clay should be added. It w. uld be well 



■oil with ihe harrow. It will cause the grain lo 

 grow luxuriantly, and the land seldom fails of be- 

 ing well 'iocked with grass. It may be profitably 

 applied to gardens, and as a top dressing lo wet, 

 I'old mowing lands. 



Peat Moss, or Swamp Mud. This is a suhstanco 

 which yields little or no nourishment to plants un- 

 less it be mixed with barn yard or stable dung, or 

 some kind of hot irianure to bring it into a state of 

 Icrmeo'ation ; in this case the mixture may 1)3 

 used in the same manner and nearly to the same 

 I'liecl " weight for weight as barn-yard dung." 



Tlie cheapest and best manner of making this 

 kind of compost manure is, when the barn-ynrrt 

 dung is carried into the field, early in the fall, a 

 ceniiiu quantity, say one-half, or even two-thirds 

 ofit.e heap may be composed of swamp mud, which 

 ^h"uhi be well mixed with the other manure. 

 'r'f: . hole mass at this time will undergo a arong 



'enneniiiiion, and ;>6.,.o;!;c u ^-.vd h-mi-i"'- P-nrf» 



|.racti;e carting swamp mud into the bani-yard j 

 but in this case the two kinds of manure will not 

 so well assimilate by fermentation, as when they 

 are both moved at the same time and mixed to- 

 gether. The mud should be removed from the 

 swamp, and left to dry some weeks before it is 

 carrie.l lo the compost heap. I tried some of this 

 compost in the hill for corn and potatoes, on a dry 

 warm soil ; it consisted of nearly two-thirds mud ; 

 it did well with the potatoes, but with the corn 

 barn-yard dung had the advantage, thougli in this 

 case the mixture was probably beneficial. 



APPLICATIOiV OF MANURE. 



In addition to what has been before remarked 

 on this subject, some further observations will Ixj 

 made, founded on information derived from my 

 own experience, the best authors, and the most in- 

 telligent agriculturists. 



Stable dung or animal manure ought to be 

 spread on tillage land designed for corn or pola- 

 lues the spring after it is made, and well mixed 

 with the soil, by the harrow first and then (ho 

 plough. This mixing of the dung and soil should 

 be performed immediately after the manure is 

 carried tiom the heap to the field. If the small 

 heaps are suffered to remain in the field during a 

 ferinentaiion, there is great loss of heat, of volatile 

 fluid, oily, and gaseous matter, by their dissipation 

 in the atmosphere, which would, if the dung bo 

 speedily and properly buried in the ground, bo 

 communicated to the soil, thus securing to the 

 plants the most nourishing properties, and the 

 whole strength of the manure. 



As it respects tlielr speedy application, the BUDe 



