136 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
rcOPYKIQUT SECUnKD.l 
HERONS AND THEIR NESTS .— Fkom a Picture by Wolf.— 
to six days. The vines, with the peas attached, 
are then folded in bunches, and stacked, the 
stack being capped with straw. After remain- 
ing in the stack for ten or fifteen days, they are 
removed to houses, which are tight sheds, thirty 
feet wide, sixteen to eighteen feet high, and sixty 
or seventy feet long. A ten-foot passage runs 
the length of the house ; through this the wag- 
on passes, and the vines are stacked on each 
side, and afterwards the passage itself is filled 
with vines. The peas are thrashed by a steam 
or horse-power machine, which has been in- 
vented for the purpose. The vines are consid- 
ered equal in value to clover hay for oxen and 
mules, but are usually too sandy for horses. 
The yield varies from thirty to fifty bushels to 
the acre. Pea-nuts are very exhausting to the 
soil, and Mr. N. crops his land with them only 
once in three years ; the next year he takes a 
crop of rye, and the third the land lies fallow. 
A Heronry. 
Our country abounds in varieties of herons, 
and they are so peculiar in their form and color- 
ing, and so noticeable for their size, that they 
have an interest to almost every one. They are a 
race of fishers, living chiefly upon such fishes and 
other aquatic animals as frequent the shallow 
waters of ponds and brooks, though they are 
as fond of the young of other birds and of small 
quadrupeds, as frogs, mice, and shrews, as crows 
are of eggs. Herons, therefore, however interest- 
ing, are likely to do great damage in fish-ponds 
and trout-brooks, for they are ravenous feeders, 
and require an immense amount of food. Some 
varieties are shy and seldom approach the abodes 
of men, preferring, rather, almost inaccessible 
swamps or other quiet retreats. Other kinds, 
like the Night Heron and the Green Heron, or 
"Poke," are familiar birds, and will follow up 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
a trout-brook to our very barn-yards, and fre- 
quently visit the gold-fish ponds in gentlemen's 
lawns. The Heron family includes Waders, which 
have long, sharp, compressed, pointed bills, the 
edges of which are usually notched at the ends. 
They have a remarkable looseness and length of 
certain feathers, particularly those of the crest, 
neck, and back. They pass under the common 
names of Cranes, Herons, and Bitterns, although 
all that are called Cranes do not properly be- 
long to the Heron family. Most of the species 
of Herons build their nests in communities, or, 
rather, perhaps we may sa} r , they are not soli- 
tary from preference, but appear to enjoy life in 
what might be termed villages and large towns. 
And so there exist what are called Heronries, or 
places frequented by great numbers of herons 
during the breeding season. Heronries are usu- 
ally in the midst of swamps or similar isolated 
places, as is represented in the above engraving. 
