113 



month, to cash the lumber bill, and in two' 

 months, enough to pay for hauling, fitting 

 up, and interest on that amount, and the 

 third and fourth months we take such an 

 investment a money-making operation. 

 And this is not all ; a shed 60 or 70 feet 

 long on each side of a yard, will shelter 

 a great many loads of manure, and every 

 good farmer knows that one load of ma- 

 nure, which lias been sheltered, is worth 

 as much as two loads which has been ex- 

 posed to all the snows and rains of winter 

 and spring, and sometimes one load of 

 sheltered manure is worth more than three 

 or four loads of unsheltered manure. Now, 

 suppose these sheds will shelter 40 loads 

 of manure, and it is worth fifty cents per 

 loa lj and its value is increased one half by 

 being protected, and we have $20 saved 

 in manure, in addition to the amount saved 

 in beef. » 



Again : Suppose the stock consists of 

 ten cows, and that, by such an amount of 

 lumber in comfortable sheds, fifty lbs, per 

 cow may be saved during the winter, 

 which makes five hundred lbs. This is a 

 low estimate. When the season for turn- 

 ing to grass arrives, these ten cows, which 

 have retained fifty lbs. each of fat and 

 flesh will make fifty lbs. of butter more, 

 during the season, than if they had lost 

 fifty lbs* of fat and flesh, which must be 

 supplied before they would give the great- 

 est How of milk. Here we have, then, 

 five hundred lbs. of butter, which, at 20 

 cents per lb., will bring $100 in clean 

 cash. 



A great many farmers plead that they 

 have not the money to expend for lumber 

 for sheds, and they hate to be in debt. It 

 is always very desirable to keep out of 

 debt, but when we have the most indomi- 

 table assurance than an investment will 

 return double, and even quadruple inte- 

 rest in less than one year — as in the in- 

 stances mentioned — no one should hesitate 

 for a moment to provide for his animals 

 that comfort which they so much need du- 

 ring the rigors of a cold winter. 



S. Edwards Todd. 



Lake Ridgp, Tompkins Co. N. Y. 



[Wool Grower. 



BARN- YARD MANURE. 



When a plant is burned, the four organ- 

 ic elements, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen 

 and carbon are driver^ off into the air, 

 while the ten inorganic elements are left 

 as ashe ! . Consumption by an animal has 

 been frequently compared to this burning 

 process, and to a certain extent the analo- 

 gy holds true. It has been supposed, by 

 some at least, that the organic elements 

 of the food passed into the atmosphere in 

 the form of breath, persiration, &c, while 

 the inorganic, or ashes, were voided in the 

 solid excrements. This, however, is true 

 only in part, and gives but a faint idea of 

 the actual process of nutrition. It is true 

 that one-half the organic matter of the 

 food is given off by respiration, &c , but it 

 is not an integral half. None of* the ni- 

 trogen of the food is exhaled in the breath, 

 or given off through the pores of the skin. 

 It is only the digestible hydrogen and car- 

 bon of the food which are burned in the 

 lungs and thrown off from the body in the 

 form of water and carbonic acid. The 

 greater part of the nitrogen of the food is 

 found in the urine, while the undigested 

 carbon compounds, (woody fibre, &c.) are 

 voided, in conjunction with the inorganic 

 elements, in the dung. 



Leaving out of the question mechanical 

 action, the composition of the food affords 

 a true criterion of the composition and 

 value of the manure. If clover ploughed 

 in would be good manure, clover passed 

 through the body of an animal would be 

 equally good ; *if straw ploughed in is of 

 little value, manure made by animals eat- 

 ing nothing but' straw will be no better. — 

 Hog and horse manures are known to be 

 of more value than cow and sheep manu- 

 res. They are so because hogs and horses 

 live on richer food, and for no other rea- 

 son. A cow or a sheep would make as 

 good manure as hogs or horses if both were 

 fed on the same food and other things were 

 equal. 



It is important lo ascertain, therefore, 

 what foods make the richest manure. — 

 There are many conflicting opinions on 

 this point, which our space will not allow 

 us to examine. We believe that the value 

 of manure will be in proportion to the 

 amount of nitrogen the food contains. — 

 There cannot be a rational doubt or. this 

 point. It is well known that clover is of 



