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Improvement of Dungsteads. 



and two in the next is the best. No timber should be impreg- 

 nated until it is air-dry. Timber treated with a preservative 

 dissolved in water should be piled after treatment for several 

 months at least, to allow the water pressed into the wood with 

 the salt to evaporate. Under no circumstances should timber 

 freshly treated with a water solution be exposed to the full 

 effects of the weather. 



Improvement of Dungsteads. 



The German Agricultural Press {Deutsche LandwirtschaftlicMe 

 Presse) of August 8th, and following issues, contains an account by 

 Dr. Kaufmann of the application of public funds for the purpose 

 of improving the dungsteads on the poor small farms of the Eifel 

 district. Between 1881 and 1886, 461 farms were improved in 

 this way. In 1889 the method of distributing assistance was 

 modified, and took the form of equal contributions from the 

 Province and from the District (Kreis). In any particular case 

 the joint contribution from public funds must not exceed 40 per 

 cent, of the total cost, the rest being borne by the farmer. Only 

 impecunious farmers in poor districts are assisted. As a rule, no 

 one owning more than five head of cattle is eligible for assist- 

 ance, the public contributions being limited in any particular 

 case to £4. It is a condition that the dungstead shall be suffi- 

 ciently removed from the homestead, that it shall have a floor 

 impervious to liquids, that it shall be provided with a liquid 

 manure tank, that it shall be in a shady place, and that no water 

 shall reach it except what falls direct from the clouds. The 

 dungstead must also be sufficiently large for the requirements of 

 the holding, the standard being about four square yards of 

 ground space per cow, three square yards per horse, and one 

 square yard per pig. In the district of Malinedy about 2,800 

 improved dungsteads have thus been provided, or more than 

 half of the whole number. The saving to the district of plant 

 food that would otherwise have been lost in the liquids is 

 regarded as a splendid return on the capital invested. 



