MANURES FOR THE ORCHARD. 29 
tree should never be made. It is not advisable to feed 
horses by tying oats about their legs. There are very 
many refuse matters about the farm or in the neighbor- 
hood which can be composted. An intimate friend, 
who has the reputation of making everything into ma- 
nure, has also the best fruit of any one in the neigh- 
borhood. From a shingle mill nearly two miles from 
his home he drew the shavings and used them as bed- 
ding. From the stable they went into the manure 
heap and from the manure heap into the orchard. A 
pile of sawdust three miles away was utilized in the 
same manner. Even cinders from the blacksmith 
shop went into his manure piles. He asked the privilege 
of mowing swales on his neighbors’ farms. The weeds, 
brush and swale hay were obtained in quantities and 
stacked in the sheep yard. Al! winter this was fed to 
the sheep in abundance. They obtained half their liv- 
ing from it, and the remainder was broken and trampled 
down. In the spring it was carted to the orchard. 
Even the fine brush, which was cut from the apple trees, 
often went into the manure. Such litter, after standing 
a year or more in a compost heap, with a number of 
turnings and the use of a little quicklime, will be en- 
tirely decomposed. In this manner utilize the refuse 
from the vegetable garden, the autumn leaves, the brakes 
in pastures, and all other materials which can be made 
to decay. Of course the weeds should be cut before 
the seeds are ripe. If one keeps stock, this litter 
may be thrown directly into the stable or yard, to be 
broken and picked over by hogs, sheep and cows. This 
manner of disposing of litter produces a fertilizer little 
