THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1913 



As previously stated, there is no successful 

 farming without a liberal expenditure for ma- 

 nure. I had proved that high manuring would 

 pay, and while anxious to increase the quantity, 

 was desirous of reducing the money cost. I con- 

 tinued every season to scour the neighborhood for 

 leaves, and to gather up all available material 

 from the barnyard. But in addition to all this, in 

 October and November of my fourth year, I pur- 

 chased twenty heifers which would calve in the 

 spring, intending to feed them through the winter, 

 and then sell as soon as they had calved. My 

 idea was that they could be sold for a profit large 

 enough to cover the cost of keeping them, thus 

 leaving the manure all clear. I consulted many 

 persons versed in this business, farmers, butchers, 

 and others, before venturing on it, as it was a good 

 deal out of my usual line of operations. I also 

 consulted all my files of agricultural papers, where 

 I found set forth a multitude of experiences on the 

 subject, the most of which led me to conclude that 

 it would be safe to try the experiment. 



I accordingly had a rough shed built, large 

 enough to contain twenty cows, with an entry in 

 front of them and a large feed-room at one end. 

 Then mangers were provided, and a plank gutter 

 laid just back of where the cows would stand, into 

 which all the droppings would fall, and down which 

 the water would run into a wide earthen pipe 

 which emptied into the cistern in the barnyard. 

 Here the cows stood in a row, never being allowed 

 to go out, except an hour or two at noon when the 

 weather was fine. I agreed with my assistant to 

 take entire charge of the feeding and watering 

 for the consideration of $30 extra. I bought the 

 cornstalks from some twenty acres near me, at $3 

 an acre, and these were delivered from time to 

 time as they were needed, there not being room on 

 the premises for so large a quantity at once. I had 

 provided a superior cutter, with which Dick cut 

 up the stalks and blades, reducing them to pieces 

 a half-inch long, and he then put them into a hogs- 

 head of water, where they remained a day and night 

 to soak. Thence they were transferred to a steam- 

 ing apparatus, constructed expressly for this pur- 

 pose, where they were made perfectly soft. Corn 

 meal, bran, and various kinds of ground feed were 

 mixed in and steamed with the cut stalks, a sprink- 

 ling of salt being added. A day's feed for the 

 whole twenty was cooked at one operation. This 

 preparation came out soft and palatable, and the 

 cows took to it greedily. The ground feed was 

 varied during the season, and occasionally a few 

 turnips, parsnips, and cabbages were cooked up to 

 increase the variety. I had no hay to give them. 



But on the other hand, Dick gave them four good 

 strong messes every day, that at night being a very 

 heavy one. He said they throve as well as any 

 cattle he had ever seen. The gutter behind them 

 was cleaned out twice a day and sprinkled with 

 plaster, thus keeping the place always clean and 

 sweet. The manure was thrown directly from the 

 gutter into a wheelbarrow having a thick layer 

 of leaves spread over its bottom, and then emptied 



in a heap under the manure shed. As the cows 

 were also littered with leaves, these, when too foul 

 for longer use, were taken to the same heap. Others 

 were added, with cornstalks in occasional layers; 

 and as each layer was deposited, the whole heap 

 was saturated with liquor from the cistern. I do 

 not think a better lot of common barnyard manure 

 has ever been manufactured. 



Live Stock On the Farm 



AS soon as the cows began dropping their calves 

 in the spring, I advertised them, and plenty of 

 purchasers appeared. They had cost me $22 each. 

 I had kept them an average of one hundred and 

 forty days for each cow, at a cost of six cents per 

 day for each, or $8.40, making with the first cost 

 $30.40 per cow, or $608 for the whole. To this 

 was added $60 for cornstalks and $40 for Dick, mak- 

 ing a grand total of $708. I sold them at an 

 average of $35-5°, and thus realized $710, or a 

 cash profit of $2. Instead of paying Dick $30 for 

 his trouble, I told the fellow that, as he had per- 

 formed his duty so satisfactorily, he should have $40. 



Thus I made $2 in cash by the operation, besides 

 having a great quantity of cornstalks left over, 

 and a pile of manure certainly as ample as any for 

 which I had paid $250. Moreover, it was on my own 

 premises; it had been most carefully attended to 

 during the whole process of manufacture; I knew 

 what it was composed of, and that the seeds of 

 noxious weeds could not have been added to it. 

 Here was a clear saving of $250 added to my profits. 



The result was so encouraging, that I have con- 

 tinued the practice of thus feeding cattle during 

 the winter from that day to this, increasing the 

 number, however, to twenty-five. I find no 

 difficulty in making sales in the spring. Sometimes 

 I have lost a few dollars on a winter's operations, 

 sometimes made a little profit, and sometimes 

 come out just even. On the run of four years 

 there has been no profit beyond the manure; but 

 that much is all clear. 



There is a very cheap and convenient mode of 

 covering manure from the weather, which I have 

 constantly practised, thus avoiding the cost of 

 building sheds. I took inch boards sixteen feet 

 long, and sawed them in half, making two lengths 

 each eight feet. The boards were as wide as could 

 be had, say twenty inches. Battens were then 

 nailed across each end and the centre, to prevent 

 warping. Then to each end a board of equal 

 width, and five feet long, was secured by strap 

 hinges. The manure heap was then built up, 

 say five feet high, and eight wide at the top. When 

 thus finished, one of the boards was placed across 

 the top; the ends being hinged, fell down over the 

 sides of the heap, and touched the ground. Be- 

 ginning at one end of the heap, the hinged boards 

 were laid on until they reached to the other end. 

 The ends were covered with loose boards. When- 

 ever rain was coming on, and it was thought the 

 heap needed water to prevent fire-fanging, this 

 portable shed was lifted off in five minutes. After 

 receiving a good soaking, the shed was in five more 



The fertilizer for even a small place is usually quite a large item: but it pays! 



minutes replaced on the heap; and when no com- 

 posting was going on, the boards were simply 

 stowed away in some by-place until again wanted. 

 To those who believe in the value of housing manure 

 but who cannot afford to erect buildings for the 

 purpose, these portable sheds will be found, for $10, 

 to be as effectual as a building costing $60, while 

 at the same time they do not occupy any useful 

 ground. 



I will not say that ten acres in New Jersey can 

 be made to produce more money than ten acres 

 located elsewhere, but it is nevertheless remarkable 

 that the census tables show that the produce of 

 New Jersey per acre, when the whole area of the 

 State is taken into account, is considerably greater 

 than in any of the adjoining States. The product 

 per acre, in some of the fruit-growing counties 

 nearest the two great cities, is even more remarkable. 

 The average cash value of the products of all our 

 market gardens is $20 annually, while that of the 

 gardens in New York and Pennsylvania is only $5 

 each. Of our orchards it is $25, while in New York 

 it is only $10, and in Pennsylvania only $5. The 

 value of agricultural implements and machinery is 

 relatively far greater than in either of these empire 

 states. Nothing short of a superior productive- 

 ness for truck and fruit, in the soil of New Jersey, 

 can account for such results. 



Some Acre Figures 



I KNOW a small farmer who has realized $600 

 annually from six acres of rhubarb. Another has 

 twenty acres of asparagus, from which he realizes 

 $600 per week during the season for cutting. Be- 

 sides, it grows an acre of common gooseberries, from 

 which his annual profit is $200. I have known 

 another to sell $500 worth of tomatoes from a 

 single acre, besides having many bushels for 

 the hog-pen. Asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, 

 blackberries, currants, grapes, and gooseberries 

 yield enormous returns when properly attended 

 to, far surpassing anything ever obtained from the 

 heavier stable crops, such as grain, grass and stock. 



The greater profit per acre is almost invariably 

 made by those who have very small farms. The less 

 they have the more thoroughly it is cultivated: 

 while the few who have sufficient faith in manure, 

 and who thus convert their entire holding into a 

 garden, realize twice or thrice as much per annum 

 as they had paid for the land. I knew a striking 

 illustration of the value of this faith in manure. 

 It is in the person of a Jerseyman who began, 

 twenty-five years ago, upon a single acre of rented 

 land, with a capital of only $50. This man re- 

 garded the earth as of no practical use except to 

 receive and hold manure; and his idea was, that 

 if he crowded it full enough, every rain would extract 

 from it, and convey directly to the roots of the 

 plants, the liquid nutriment which gives to all 

 vegetation such amazing vigor. Thus, the solids, 

 if in sufficient supply, would be sure to furnish the 

 liquids, on which he knew he could rely. Though 

 full of original and practical ideas, this was his 

 absorbing one. He soon obtained possession of a 

 small farm, with ample time allowed for payment; 

 for his industry and skill established a character, 

 and character served for capital. 



His cash outlay for these fertilizers was of course, 

 enormous, and has amounted to thousands of 

 dollars per annum. It has been constantly in- 

 creasing, and grows even as I write. But his faith 

 in manure was accompanied by works. His fields 

 rewarded him in proportion as he enriched them. 

 As he went early and largely into the growing of 

 rhubarb, when all others were too timid even to 

 touch it, so for years he was the only man who sent 

 tons of it to market during a long period in which it 

 paid extravagant profits. By skilfully regulating 

 his crops, he secured an uninterrupted succession 

 during the entire season; so that from the earliest 

 to the latest period of the year he was constantly 

 receiving large cash returns. 



As may be supposed, such a man could not fail 

 to become rich. From his humble beginning of a 

 single acre he has gone on adding farm to farm, 

 house to house, and lot to lot, and is ever on hand 

 to purchase more. His passion is to own land. 

 But even so thorough a farmer as he may in the 

 end acquire too much to be profitable. 

 {To be concluded) 



