THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



93 



may be little or no waste by soaking into the 

 earth. Arrange your stables, hog-pen, &c, in 

 such order, as to throw all the litter and manure 

 into the yard. 



" 2. Sink a vat or reservoir to the lower side 

 of the 3'ard, of sufficient capacity to contain the 

 juice of the yard. The most common form of 

 the vat is six feet width by three feet deep, and 

 twelve or more in length, according to the size 

 of the yard, and the amount of liquor flowing 

 from it. When the vat is more than twelve in 

 length, it will be best to divide it by partitions 

 into two or three parts, so that if at any time 

 you want to use only part of the liquor, you 

 can do so without any inconvenience. It will 

 be further desirable to have the vat so connected 

 with the yard, that when once full, and you have 

 commenced your manufacture, if additional rains 

 come before you shall have completed your heap, 

 of which we shall soon speak, you can prevent j 

 the liquid so formed from running into your vat, I 

 either by keeping it back in the yard, or by I 

 turning it another direction. 



" 3. In this vat mix the following ingredients 

 as nearly as you can, without actual measure- 

 ment or weight: to every barrel of liquid add 4 

 lbs. of stone lime just slacked, 4 lbs. wood ashes 

 good quality and dry, or an equivalent of leached 

 ashes, or \ lb. of salt, or its equivalent of brine ; 

 2 ozs. saltpetre ; 20 lbs. plaster of Paris, or mud, 

 or muck ; 10 lbs. of excrements from the privy, 

 or 20 lbs. of horse manure. Mix these ingre- 

 dients thoroughly with the liquid in the vat, 

 and if the vat contains one hundred barrels, in- 

 crease the above ingredients an hundredfold. — 

 It would be well to mix these ingredients a few 

 days before you lay up your heap, and stir them 

 every day, but this is not essential. 



"4. On the upper side of the vat lay the 

 foundation for the heap, by placing poles or 

 rails, with one end to the vat, and the other ex- 

 tending from it, about two feet apart ; on these 

 lay other poles crosswise, (precisely as we do 

 the foundation for a stack of hay or grain,) to 

 keep the straw from the ground, and that the 

 liquid may flow freely beneath. 



"5. Having every thing prepared, commence 

 laying up the heap by placing a layer of straw, 

 weeds, stalks, or whatever you have at hand, on 

 the foundation of poles, to the thickness of a 

 foot. You will find great advantage from throw- 

 ing the materials as you collect them in the yard 

 and letting the cattle tread on them, until they 

 are thoroughly wet. When the layer is a foot 

 thick, stir up the ingredients in the vat and with 

 a pail or other vessel, thoroughly wet the layer 

 on the poles. Place another layer on the first, 

 and of the same thickness wet as before, and 

 thus continue until you have raised the heap as 

 high os you wish — say from six to ten feet. — 

 Be careful at wetting to stir up the ingredients 

 from the bottom of the vat. The easiest and 



quickest way to wet the several layers, will be 

 to use a pump, or elevate, with a hose attached, 

 to spread the liquor over the heap. In" such a 

 case, let one stir, another pump, and a third 

 manage the hose. Only be careful, whatever 

 method you pursue, to wet the several layers 

 thoroughly in all their parts. When finished, 

 cover the heap with settlings in the bottom of 

 the vat, or with anything else at hand — common 

 earth will answer. 



" 6. If the heap consists of straw, weeds and 

 the like, it will require wetting every fourth day. 

 If you have used much peat, muck, or earth, 

 with the straw, water once a week. To water 

 the heap, make holes with an iron bar or other 

 instrument in the top of it, from eight to twelve 

 inches apart, and extending downward about to 

 the middle; then stir the liquid in the vat, and 

 pour it into the holes until the hole is saturated ; 

 finally close the holes. At every watering make 

 new holes. 



"Give the heap three waterings when made 

 of straw, and it will be fit for use in fifteen days 

 from the time of laying it up, when much muck 

 or mud has been added, thirty days. 



" When it is desired to manufacture this kind 

 of manure in places where barn-yard liquid can- 

 not be readily obtained, river, spring or pond 

 water, will answer the same purpose for wetting 

 the heaps as the barn-yard liquid, by increasing 

 in a small proportion, the ingredients for the 

 mixture, as given in section 3, and adding them 

 to it." 



SEEDS FROM THE PATENT OFFICE. 

 We are much indebted to Mr. Ellsworth for 

 a large assortment of field and garden seeds. — 

 We will exercise a sound discretion in distri- 

 buting them, so that \hey may be fairly tried, 

 and if there prove any thing new or good in 

 them, that it may redound to the benefit of the 

 community. In this way, we imagine, we shall 

 best subserve the ends of the public spirited 

 donor. 



LABELS FOR GARDENS. 



The trouble of affixing permanent labels in the 

 beds or places where seeds or roots are planted is 

 known to all who have had any experience in 

 gardening. The common method of writing 

 upon sticks, leather or paper is soon rendered 

 useless by being exposed to the rain and sun, but 

 the following, quoted from a French Magazine, 

 by Hovey, in his Magazine of Horticulture, is a 

 remedy for the difficulty. 



"Zinc labels to write on with a common lead 

 pencil. — Slightly rub with pumice stone the part 

 upon which you wish to write, then write upon 

 it with a common lead pencil, and when the let- 



