Our Plants, 23 



or spread about under the basement and straw stack 

 which stands on posts, permitting the stock to run 

 under it, the yard being deeper under the stack 

 than elsewhere, with eaves-troughs so arranged that 

 all water from the roofs was carried out of the yard. 



In foreign countries, and especially on the islands 

 of Jersey and Guernsey, every farmer has a liquid 

 manure cistern, and over or near it all the manure 

 of the stable is daily piled or composted. The drain 

 from the pile and the wash of the yard is collected 

 in this cistern, and from there pumped into carts 

 for this purpose, and distributed usually on the 

 meadows. The Jersey and Guernsey farmers are 

 the best agriculturists in the world, and they would 

 as soon think of going without a stable for their cat- 

 tle as without a liquid manure cistern. I think we 

 make a great mistake in this country in not having 

 such cisterns. 



In applying liquid manure, it is always greatly 

 diluted by allowing the eaves of the barn to run in 

 the same cistern, or water is otherwise added. 

 Where they obtain several cuttings of lucern for 

 instance, a dressing of liquid manure is put on after 

 each cutting, and the results are something magical. 

 A man with one horse cart, it is claimed, can pump 

 and deliver to the field, if within a quarter of a mile 

 of the barn, dressing for an acre. I doubt if one 

 man could deliver and spread more than one-half of 

 that amount of solid manure in a day. Where wind- 

 mills are used, they may be used to do the pumping, 

 having two carts, one being pumped full while the 



