528 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



active fermentation, and with it the further evolu- 

 tion of free ammonia, is stopped by spreading out 

 the manure on the field, valuable manuring mat- 

 ters cannot escape into the air by adopting, this 

 plan." If this is a reasonable conclusion, it goes 

 far to remove our dread of losing, on such soils, the 

 better portions of farm-yard manure by top-dress- 

 ings. As the season will soon be here when these 

 dressings are commonly a])])lied to grass, it will 

 be useful to remember this fact. The best time 

 for applying the manure is held, by tlie great Che- 

 shire grass farmers, to be in the end of September 

 or the beginning of October, particularly in a 

 showery period, as the grass soon covers it, and 

 renders it less liable to be damaged by the sun or 

 drying winds. — Mark Lane Exjvess. 



A QUESTION ABOUT MANURE. 



Should Manure Ferment and Decompose in the Barn-yakd 

 OK TUB Field ? 



It is the general practice in this country to al- 

 low the manure formed in the barn-yard duiing 

 the winter to remain there until seeding time in 

 the fall. Is this an economical plan ? Does not 

 manure undergo considerable loss in the yard 

 during the warm weather of summer ? 



It has been calculated by those who have had 

 experience and the means of ascertaining, that for 

 every ten hundred weight of dry fodder, hay or 

 straw used, the farmer maj' expect from twenty to 

 twenty-five hundred weight of manure, in the 

 spring. 



This ten hundred weight of dry food and straw 

 will, as before stated, i)roduce from twenty to 

 twenty-five hundred weight of fresh dung, which, 

 at the end of six weeks, will weigh but twenty-one 

 hundred ; at the end of eight weeks but twenty ; 

 when half rotten, but from fifteen to seventeen ; 

 when entirely rotten, but from ten to thirteen. 



Thus, we see that, by the time the manure is 

 fully rotten, one-fourtli of tlie weight is lost, and 

 the mass is diminished in bulk one-half. These 

 remarks ap])ly to manure which is left exposed to 

 the action of the sun and rain. 



The main loss is in water ; but there is a very 

 large loss in ammonia and other volatile substan- 

 ces, which are evaporated by the heat of the sun, 

 or washed out by the rain. 



The question, then, is: Would it not be better 

 to haul the manure out to the field in the spring 

 and jilow it luuler, so that what loss by decom))o- 

 sition and fermentation iloes take ))lace may be 

 absorbed l)y the soil ? 



If em-iching the soil was the only object in view, 

 it would, without doubt, by most econninical to 

 ])li)W the manure under as soon as possible after 

 it is foruKid ; but there are other ])oints to be coir- 

 sidered, as, for instance, the state of the soil with 

 regard to texture. 



If the soil is light and very open, it would not 

 be economical to ])low in long or fresh manure, 

 for it would have a tendency to make it still more 

 so ; the rain wovdd \vash the soluble portions of 

 the manure too deep before they could be ab- 

 sorbed by the soil, and in this way a greater loss 

 might be created than if the manure had remained 

 in the barn-yard. I5ut in heavy or common soils 

 it is undoubtedly more economical to plow in the 

 straw and other manure wliile in a long and fresh 

 Btate, for it will then have a tendency to render 



the soil more open and permit a more free pas- 

 sage of the air. 



English farmers think this is by far the better 

 plan, for it converts the whole field into a heap of 

 compost, and fermentation goes on slowly, and as 

 fast as the volatile portions are given off they are 

 absorbed and retained by the soil. 



The crop for which the manure is applied must 

 also more or less influence the manner of applica- 

 tion. If the crop is one which grows quickly and 

 soon reaches maturity, it would not be economi- 

 cal to apply long, fresh manure, for the plant 

 would be done growing before the manure was 

 sufficiently decomposed to affect it much. But if, 

 on the other hand, the crop is one which grows 

 slowly, and it is desirable to furnish it with nour- 

 ishment throughout its M'hole growth, then long 

 manure will better accomplish the efl'ect desired 

 than common fermented or decomposed manure. 



I consider that I obtain more from my manure 

 by spreading it on the sod and plowing it under 

 for corn, than I do by keeping it, even ivith the best 

 care, until fall, and a])plying it to the oats stubble 

 to be plowed in for wheat. 



I think that the corn crop appropriates what 

 would be lost by evaporation, had the manure 

 been retained in the barn-yard in the usual way. 

 And when seeding-time comes in the fall, the ma- 

 nure is thoroughly incorporated with the soil, and 

 is ready to fertilize the wheat as soon as it begins 

 to grow. 



I do not find from several trials that the oats 

 are sensibly affected by the manure, as I do not 

 turn it up when plowing for oats. — Qermantown 

 Telegraph. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AGRICULTUKE IN SCHOOLS. 



I have often read the speculations of Mr. Golds- 

 borough, with respectful interest, but I must con- 

 fess, that I do not agree with him, when he says 

 that "boys cannot be educated for the farm in our 

 public schools." Pray tell me what is the pur- 

 pose of schools, if not to fit children for the busi- 

 ness they are to follow in after life, and what busi- 

 ness can be more important to the community 

 than the culture of the soil ? 



May not thirty years of pedagogical drill have 

 warped the mind of Mr. Goldsborough, so that 

 he thinks more highly than he ought to think of 

 his mode of school teaching ? I think his com- 

 munication shows a little of that irritability for 

 which school teachers are apt to be distinguished. 



South Danverx, Sept. 20, 1862. Sena. 



How TO Make Cider Wine.— J. H Keck, of 

 Macon Co., 111., gives the following method in the 

 Cunntnj Gentleman : 



Take pure cider, made from sound, ripe apples, 

 as it runs from the press, put 00 pounds of com- 

 mon brown sugar into lo gallons of the cider, and 

 let it dissolve ; then put the mixture into a clean 

 barrel, fill it up within two gallons of being full, 

 with clean cider: put the cask into a cool place, 

 leaving the bung out for forty-eight hours ; then 

 put in the bung with a small vent, until fermenta- 

 tion wholly ceases, and bung up tight, and in one 

 year it will be fit for use. This Mine requires no 

 racking; the longer it stands upon the lees the 

 better. 



