THE FARM. 1133 



with what has been previously added, twenty good wagon-loads, and 

 you will have within twelve months a pile of manure worth $20 for 

 any crop you choose to put it upon. Use a proportionate quantity 

 of mold for smaller animals, but never less than twenty good wagon- 

 loads for a horse ; and if any dogs manifest too great a regard for 

 the inclosed carcass, shoot them on the spot; ■"' 



Fish Compost, Substitute for Bone-dust. Manure from Fish 

 Refuse, etc, — The fish owes its fertilizing value to the animal mat- 

 ter and the bone earth which it contains. The former is precisely 

 similar to flesh or blood, consisting of 25 per cent of fibrin, the rest 

 being water ; and their bones are similar in composition to terres- 

 trial animals. As fertilizing agents, therefore, the bodies of fish will 

 act nearly in the same way as the bodies and blood of animals ; 100 

 lbs. in decaying produce two and one-half lbs., of ammonia. Hence, 

 400 lbs. of fish rotted in compost are enough for an acre. The great 

 effect is due to the ammoniacal portion ; for it renders the herbage 

 dark green, and starts it very rapidly. One of the best composts is 

 made as follows : Dried bog earth, loam, or peat, seven barrels ; 

 hard-wood ashes, two barrels ; fish, one barrel ; slacked lime, one 

 bushel. Place a thick layer of the bog ear^th on the bottom ; on the 

 top of this put a layer^of the fish, then a sprinkling of lime, then a 

 layer of ashes ; on top of the ashes put a thick layer of bog earth, 

 loam, or peat ;' then another thin layer of fish, lime, and ashes, and 

 so on till your materials are worked in ; then top off with a thick 

 layer of the absorbents, to retain the fertilizing gases. The de- 

 composition of the fish will proceed very rapidly, and a very rich 

 compost will be the result. It^should be shoveled over and over, 

 and thoroughly intermixed and pulverized. Put, this on so as to 

 have 400 lbs. of , fish to the acre. It may be applied with the great- 

 est benefit to corn, turnips, potatoes, beans, etc., in the drill, and 

 broadcast on the grass. 



Manuring with Green Crops. — This system has within a few 

 years been extensively adopted in some of the older settled portions 

 of the United States. The comparative cheapness of land and its 

 products, the high price of labor, and the consequent expense of 

 making artificial manures, render this at present the most econom- 

 ical plan which can be pursued. The object of this practice is, 

 primarily, fertilization ; and connected with it is the clearing of the 

 ground from noxious weeds, as in fallows, by plowing in the vege- 

 tation before the seed is ripened ; and finally to loosen the soil and 



