VOL. XTII. NO. 53. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



411 



BARN CELLARS. 



Every farmPr that hns <jiveii his attention to tlip 

 subject, will acknowledge the grent ulilily of bnrn 

 cellars for the purpose of saving inaniirp. With 

 this appendage to the ham, and a little additional 

 labor, a farmer niay add more than half to the 

 quantity and value of his manure. In the way 

 most coiiinionly practised, much of the best ma- 

 nure is carried otT by drenching rains, or hist by 

 exposure to frosts, and by the escape of gases in 

 fermentation, which often reduces the value of the 

 ma'nure one half 



But allowing that no water from the manure 

 heap runs to wast*, and loss by fermontalion is 

 carefully guarded against, and that the loss by 

 exposure to frosts and winds is small, ihfn there 

 18 a oreat loss by a waste of liquid manure. Care- 

 ful experiments have been made in saturating 

 loam with the liquid manure and applying it to a 

 piece of land, while the dung las been applied to 

 a piece of land of equal size and quality, and both 

 pieces treated alilic as to cultivation and crops, 

 and it was found that the liquid manure, thus sa- 

 ved, was equal to the solid. 



If a farmer has just manure enough to keep his 

 farm in the same condition, year after year, let 

 him consider what a vast Improvement he would 

 make by having twice the quantity of manure. In 

 a little while he would double ail his crops, witli- 

 out adding half so much to his labor as the in- 

 crease of crops, and as he increases his crops, he 

 can increase his stock and ir.anure, so that the in- 

 crease of manure and crops would go on accumu- 

 lating likf! compound interest. 



With a barn cellar, mud, muck, loam, sods, turfs, 

 or any common earth, may be used to absorb the 

 liquid manure and prevent fermentation, and the 

 manure in a cellar will be safe from the great loss 

 consequent upon exposure. Let every farmer who 

 lias not a barn cellar resolve to have one, and 

 make preparation for that purpose. Now is the 

 time, before the hnying season. 



We observed several cases last season, where 

 farmers had prepared for a cellar by arranging 

 their harns for that purpose before haying. They 

 dug out under thj posts and laid a good founda- 

 tion to support them, and at'ler haying they dug out 

 the earth. Some in(orme<l us that in making cel- 

 lars a few years since, they hauled the earth upon 

 their low lands, and thus improved tlicin for grass, 

 so much that the improvement paid nil the ex- 

 pense of removing the earth from the cellars. 



t^onie make a cellar under the cattle house only, 

 others extend it under the barn floor and mows, 

 for wheels, implements, hogs, and some for horses, 

 or some of their cattle, throwing out the manure 

 with ihiit from the tie-up. Sometimes a part of the 

 cellar is made warm with a good close wall, or by 

 double boarding, with some warm material stuffed 

 between, for the purpose of keeping roots fur stock. 



The most convenient method of making a bnrn 

 and cellar, is to set a barn on a side hill facing 

 the south, and have the cellar open to the barn 

 yard, on the south side. Some farmers dig out a 

 cellar, when their bams set on a level. This an- 

 swers well on a porous sandy soil. Others find it 

 necessary to raise their barns a few feet for con- 

 venience in making a cellar. There are various 

 ways of construction, ad:iptcd to different situa- 

 tions and circumstances. — .Mmost every farmer 

 can make one without much expen-ie, and as it 

 will add so much to the value and quantity of ma- 

 nure which every cultivator regards as indispen- 



sable to good crop<, every fanner should endeavor 

 to construct one this season. — Boston Ciilleiviilor. 



l''rnm the Maine CultiTTtor. 



.MY MISS-DEALS IN FARMING OPERA- 

 TIONS. 



Mr. Iluhnfs: — I have mad« some miss-deals in 

 farming, forty-six years in succession, small and 

 large ones. I'erhaps luany would not notice tlu' 

 small ones, such ns not hoeing my corn and pota- 

 toes sufficiently, mowing the small bushes, this- 

 ties, brakes, pidlypods, swale grass, &c., in my 

 pasture, and saving it for f.dder, — not pruning my 

 orchard to the best advantage — not putting my 

 barn yard fence in order before the ground became 

 frozen — not feeding what lillle stock I have kept, 

 sufficiently to make them profitable as they would 

 have been if I had d£alt otherwise with them ; and 

 lastly, of cultivating too much ground at the halves, 

 and especially, when planted with corn. 



I have gone far enough, 1 will try to follow my 

 tracks back again, lest I get in the mire. I have 

 generally hoed my corn ns others did, only twice ; 

 thrice would have done belter. In former years I 

 used the plough between the rows and raked up 

 the earth against the corn, but did not make as 

 large hills as many did. This is poor husbandry. 

 I find the plough had better be kept out of the 

 field after the corn is six inches in height. The 

 cultivator or harrow is much better. I prefer a 

 harrow where the land is stony and sody. It is a 

 plain case that corn planted laie, on land half 

 ploughed, then neglected by the hoe to a late 

 hour, then only chopped over of Ihe hdlves, and lit- 

 tle or no more done until the harvest, will yield a 

 light crop. I am of the opinion that corn, nine 

 times out of ten, yields a good crop, when rightly 

 managed. 



I am satisfied that all stock growers had better 

 give food enough to cause their stock to gain in- 

 stead of decreasing. As to the ham yard fence, 

 it could be repaired with much less trouble before 

 the ground became frozen, than afterwards. 



As to the orchard, if it had been pruned, and 

 some manure put around the roots of the trees, and 

 pastured with sheep, it would have yielded more 

 apples and much better in qu.ility. If I had plant- 

 ed a nursery twenty years ago, and taken care of 

 it, it would have been an nccommodatioa to some 

 few buyers for a few years past. 



As to small hushes, thistles, brakes, poUy-pods, 

 swale-grass, &.C., in pastures, they make tolerable 

 good fodder, if cut early, besides, the pasture will 

 produce more feed and make a much belter ap- 

 pearance. 



it gives me disagreeable feelings to see large 

 furrows ploughed between potatoe rows when they 

 are a foot high, then all Ihe sods and loose earth 

 scraped up against the lops, leaving them in a snarl, 

 with large ditches between the rows. I had rather 

 see, soon after the rows can be followed, a culti- 

 vator or harrow hauled between the rows. Then, 

 with a hoe, stir the earth round the hills, add but 

 little more earth than is taken away, and as soon 

 as they are of suitable size, use the cultivator as 

 before, and make flat, broad hills. By the last 

 mode, nine times out of ten, you will produce the 

 best crop, and I think at the least expense. The 

 whim of their growing out of the ground any more 

 by the last mode than th? first, is like telling a 

 tale to a deaf man. The story of making large 



hills around the corn, to prevent the wind from 



blowing t down, is a clear sheer humbug. 



J. WaiTMA.N. 

 Xorth Turner, May, 1844. 



Poisoned Sheep — n Remedy — Many sheep usual- 

 ly die in the spring, when first turned from their 

 winter quarters, by eating poison — laurel, or lumb- 

 kill," as It 13 popularly called. This is generally 

 fatal, to the animal partaking it, unless its efl'ects 

 bcspi'edily counteracted, and this can he effec- 

 tually accomplished only in one way. As soon as 

 you find your sheep begins to fail, hasten to the 

 forest and gather a handful of the small twigs of 

 tchite nah — place them in a pipkiu or common ket- 

 tle, after having bruised them well, and suffe'- them 

 to boil for an hour — This done, decant the decoc- 

 tion or extract, and administer two spoonful to 

 each sheep. Lambs require icss. If administ<?red 

 within 34 hours from the time of partaking the poi- 

 son, it will ordinarily effect a cure. 



Some have wondered why sheep eat this plant, 

 as their insllnd is generally competent to lead 

 them aright in their selection. I have supposed 

 that their eagerness for green succulent food is the 

 principal cause, and more especially as they are 

 seldom known to partake of it any other season of 

 the year. — Maine Cultivaior. 



Haw to Prepare a Cheap Paint. — Take one 

 bushel of unslacked lime and slack it with cold 

 water! when slacked, add to it 20 lbs. of Spanish 

 whiting, 17 lbs. ofsalt,aiid 12 lbs. of sugar. Strain 

 this mixture through a wire sieve, and it will be fit 

 for use after reducing with cold water. This is 

 intended for the outside of buildings, or where it 

 Is exposed to the weather. In order to give a 

 good color, three coats are necessary on brick, and 

 two on wood. It may be laid on with a brush sim- 

 ilar to whitewash. Each coat must have sufficient 

 time to dry before the next is applied. For paint- 

 ing inside walls, take as before, 1 bushel of un- 

 slacked lime, 3 lbs. of sugar, .'ilbs. salt, and pre- 

 pare as above, and apply with a brush. 



I have used it on brick, and find it well calcula- 

 ted to preserve them — it is far preferable to oil 

 paint. I have used it on wood, and assure you 

 that it will last longer on rough siding than oil 

 paint will on planed siding or boards. 



You can make any color you please. If you 

 wish straw color, use Yellow Ochre instead of 

 whitening, for lemon color, Ochre and Chrome 

 Yellow ;''for lead and slate color. Lampblack : for 

 blue. Indigo; for green Chrome Green. The dif- 

 ferent kinds of paint will not co<t more than one- 

 fourth as much as oil paints, including the labor of 

 putting on. 



Important Discovery. — Dr. Mosher said recently 

 before the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, that 

 the disease of fire-blipht in pears is produced by 

 very minute brown-colored insects, which, by the 

 help of a good lens, he discovered secreted in the 

 :;xilla of the leaves of small branches of the pear 

 tree. The quince, and sometimes the apple, he 

 says, are attacked in the same way. Thoy begin 

 on Ihe small and tender branches, and subsist by 

 extracting the vital juices of the tree, always mov- 

 iiii', however, to other branches before the efi'ect of 

 their ravages is made apparent by the blackened 

 j and dried state of the leaves. The only remedy is 

 I to cut off and burn every infected branch. 



