122 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



Cacti, are grown in the gardens at San Fran- 

 cisco and Oakland, and we were told that their 

 fruit was eatable. The leaves were perfectly 

 huge ; m arly a foot long, and at least six or 

 seven inches broad. We could imagine the 

 sutFerings of our soldiers in Mexico when 

 forced to march through such chapparals. 



.s. o. J. 



MUCK AS AN ABSOKBENT. 



The Secretary of the East Turner, Me., 

 Farmers' Club reports to the Maine Farmer 

 the substance of a late talk on manures : — 



C. Gilbert said that with many farmers one 

 half of the manure is lost from lack of atten- 

 tion, and nnich of that which is first saved is 

 lost by neglect and in the application. When 

 allowed to ferment before applied much loss 

 is sustained unless some ingredient is com- 

 posted with it. 



J. D. Gilbert said that his cattle were sta- 

 bled nights in the summer, and littered with a 

 sufficient quantity of partially dried muck to 

 absorb and hold all the liquid. His hogs are 

 kept in the cellar, and are supplied with 

 liberal quantities of muck or loam which they 

 woi^k over, and soon convert into valuable 

 manure. Enough absorbing material should 

 be used to keep the apartment dry, Fowls if 

 properly attended to will furnish a large 

 amount of the most valuable fertilizing ma- 

 terial. These droppings are very strong, and 

 should be mixed with five or six times their 

 bulk of pulverized muck, and allowed to 

 slightly heat, when the heap should be worked 

 over. A quart of this compost is sufficient 

 for a hill of corn. He has realized astonish- 

 ing results from its use. Ten head of cattle, 

 with horse, hogs, hens, turkeys, &c., should 

 make an ox-cart load of manure every two 

 days on an average the year round. 



L. Gilbert makes large quantities of valu- 

 able compost from . the house slops, and from 

 the deposits of the privy. An excavation is 

 made in some convenient place near the house, 

 and filled with muck and loam — muck is pre- 

 ferable — and all the suds and slops from the 

 house are conducted on it, and allowed to 

 filter through it, or dry up from the surface, 

 the muck retaining the manurial 2Jroj)erties of 

 the slops, and allowing the pure water to pass 

 away. AVhenever any offensive odor from the 

 surface is discovered, as will frequently be the 

 case in hot weather, the compost is forked 

 over, and uU odors absorbed. Muck is one of 

 the most powerful deodorizers in existence — 

 dry earth, of which so much is said, is not to be 

 compared with it. The privy is suj)plied with 

 a liberal share of this deodorizing material 

 from time to time, Avlien needed, and a large 

 pile of compost is realized therefrom. These 

 preparations are the most valuable manures 

 for the corn-liill of anything made on the farm. 

 They never fail to produce the most satisfac- 

 tory results. 



A. G. Day had composted the solid drop- 

 pings of his stock by forking over the heaps 

 at the barn and mixing an ecpial quantity of 

 pulverized muck, allowing the mass to remain 

 under cover till the next fall. Comparative 

 trials repeatedly made had proved this mix- 

 ture more valuable, bulk for bulk, than the 

 manure before being mixed. This testimony 

 was corroborated by the experience of many 

 other members of the club who had repeated- 

 ly tested the value of the same mixture. 



Z. A. Gilbert believed the farmer who 

 spends his labor to compost the solid manure 

 while the liquid is running to waste, is not 

 using his means to the best advantage. After 

 this has been done, then the farmer may com- 

 post his solids with muck and make the opera- 

 tion pay largely. 



S. Townsend said that muck was ipuch 

 lighter to handle than loam, and its absorbing 

 power was much greater. In the absence of 

 a barn cellar, he i)racticed putting muck or 

 loam under his tie-up floor, and thus saves a 

 portion of the urine. 



THE DEATH OF A BUFFALO. 



Whether it be that age causes animals to 

 become reckless, or that their lengthened so- 

 journ in the world has familiarized them with 

 their strength, and imparted to them a knowl- 

 edge of their powers of destruction, or that 

 the lassitude resulting from their infirmities 

 causes their tempers to become soured, I know 

 not. But when the old bull buti'alo has sep- 

 arated himself from the herd, and retired, as 

 it were, into private life, he becomes most 

 pugnacious, and fearlessly attacks all intru- 

 ders. Fortunately his activity has deserted 

 him at this soured portion of his existence, 

 and but little exertion is necessary to avoid 

 his onslaught. I once saw one of these hero- 

 veterans die a natural death, an unusual oc- 

 currence, for their enemies are numerous, and 

 always ready to attack them when in that 

 weak state that precedes dissolution. Well, 

 my hero was sitting on a mound, a setting 

 fiery sun slowly dijiped the western bounds of 

 the landscape behind him, and made his huge 

 outline loom doubly grand. Food had been 

 scarce with me, and yonsequently I made a 

 more than usually careful stalk to get within 

 range ; the game's position was such that I al- 

 most doubted the possibility of success, yet 

 closer and closer, without causing any visible 

 alarm, I advanced. At length, when I had 

 decided that the range did not require lessen- 

 ing, I felt convinced that I had been seen, for 

 the head and eyes were turned toward me ; 

 but no angry shake of the horns, paw of the 

 ground or flash of the eye evinced hostility, 

 and, moreover, the figure appeared to lessen 

 with each respiration ; and an air of incapacity 

 for further exertion Avas indelibly stamped 

 upon the veteran monarch of the prairie. My 

 gun was for the moment forgotten, and I 



