THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
163 
pc?L, Dot only :j;i acco"ni of ihe large propor- 
tion of vegetable ruaiter it contains, and the sa- 
line matters in it. br.t also, because it retains 
moisture. 1; is also when irv a good absorber 
and retainer ol hhat, and thus ser.'es to main- 
tain a higher r.e.T-f.«rraiure in the fields during 
night. Char-’onl .ni-so has tids proper v, and 
lan.l sprinkled v. itb it was ‘-ound, by an experi- 
ment I made tec yea."s ago. to be o: a higher 
temperature than that adjoining it.’’ 
The editor of the American Farurer" says 
that the richest . f manure may be saved upon 
an easy and cheao p'an. Let the larmer mix 
with his horsT and otherducg irrequal portions, 
layer apofi iaye.'', aimos’ any rich ea.'^rb or mould, 
aci as he does so, let ni u have grouod plaster 
or pnirei’zoi charcoal, sifted orer each layer in 
the proporior. of a bushel of the first an(' two of 
the laue^ to every t4;ent. loads of dung thus 
ini.xed wi h the earh or mould. The manure 
heap when thus relormed, should be covered 
over ten itir-hes with earth of some kind, the 
whole to present a cone-’ike shape so as to car- 
ry off the water.’’ 
Peatsuoida be spread in the stable to.absorb 
the urine, which is the most valuable part of 
animal maai/re. -One cf ihe best, if not the ve- 
ry best, modes of making manure in our cli- 
mate is to spread both leaves and peat in the 
stable — permit them to remain until wellsatu- : 
rated with urine, and until the leaves have be- 
come well tro'den and the dung and neat mix- 
ed; then t.Pro’.v into a heap, addi g peat un’i! it 
exceed-s the dung in the proportion of three to 
one. By such means the ^nyniih'y tviil be verv 
greatly increased, the dung prevented from fer- 
mentation, and all the ammonia which would 
otherwise escape and be lost, would te preserv- 
ed and absorbed by 'he peat, and the whole 
mass become better food for p'ar.ts than the or- 
di.nary dang. If. a strong smell like hartshorn 
should afanv lime arise in the stable, spffnkle 
powdered charcoal and it will be arrested. 
This smell is the ammonia escaping, wliich 
forms the chief food for plants. The manure 
heap should at all times be protected from both 
sun and ram ; if a pit be dug into which the ma- 
nure is throwD, it will be better preserved. 
A great object with the farmer is to multiply 
in every conceivable way the quantity of ma- 
nure. He cannot rely alone upon that irom the 
stable — a s cattle are a valuable source on 
which he can depend. Professor Johnson says, 
“cow-dung forms by far the largest proportion 
of the animal manure which in modern agricul- 
ture is at the disposal of the practical farmer. 
It ferm.erits more_ slowly than that of the horse 
ED.i the sheep. It acts more slowly, though for 
a longer period, when applied lO" the soil. Bv 
exposure to the air i: undergoes a sensible loss, 
-which in 40 days has been found to equal one- 
fifth of the whole solid matter which recent cqw 
dung contains. Although, therefore, the com- 
parative slow fermentation as well as the soft- 
nss.s of CO w-dungfitsit better fortreading among 
the straw in the open farm yard, yet the serious 
loss which it ultimately undergoes will satisfy 
the economical farmer that the more efieclually 
he can keep it covered up. or the sooner he can 
gather his rni.xel dung and straw into heaps 
the greater proportion of this valuable manure 
will be retaiued for the future enriching of his 
fields,” It is very valuable and should be 
saved; andiasieadoi permitting it to be dried up 
by the sun, or washed away by the rains, as it 
now is, let leaves be spread in the cowpens, and 
let peat be spread like .’"ise ; th-e urine will thus 
t-s preserved, as well as the excrement. If the 
dung couitl he cnllecfed daily and mixed in ! 
equal portions with peat the quaritity would be 
doubled, andthe vaiueimproved. Anaddition- 
al source of supply o! manure mav be had by 
tpreacing leaves and peat in the hog-pen, by 
which the urine, will be absorbed and preserved 
apd a compost made with 'Lhe dang. As a ba- 
sis for all compost, paal is the very best^be- 
cause it retains moisture to a greater extent thaa^ 
any other earth, and hence will suitour dry and 
warm seasons. Professor Johnson says of it, 
'• to soils which are dedeient in vegetable mat- 
' ter, it is clc.cr that a judicious admixture of 
peat n.ust prove advantageous, because it will 
sup;'.]y some at least cf those substances which 
are necessary to liie p-oduction of a higher de- 
gree of fc-rtility. It decavs very slowly in the 
air, and hence its apparent efieci when mixed 
with the soil is very small. I; will not imnte- 
diately prepare the land for ine growth of any 
particular crop; but if its decay be promoted 
then its immediate and apparent effect upon the 
soil is increased, and it becomes an acknow- 
ledged fertilizing manure. The half dried peat 
! may be mixed with from one-fourth to one-half 
its weight of iermenting farm-yard manure— the 
heap lieing covered with peat to prevent the es- 
cape of fertilizing vapors —Or the liquid of the 
farm vard may be employed for the same pur- 
pcsed' [Ccn luded inour next yo.l 
The History of the Thrifty and Unthrifty. 
BY A XEIGEBOR. 
From the Amsrican Agricallora! .Xlmanae. 
Id the neighboring vidage hard bp-, there are 
two farmers of equal standing as regards hon- 
ssty of purpose, benevolence of intention, and 
ad the social virtues. They both mean to dis- 
charge all their duties to society, their families 
and friends, and it is only when we try them by 
their performances that we find anv striking 
dirrerence. But to mark their qualities more 
lully, and affcrd instructio.u through the succes 
sire progression ob their parenmge, youth and 
manhood, we, must notice them dis inctivin each. 
Tlieir F, -tiers. — They were both b..rn in Ihe 
village where ‘hey now ;eside, and of equally 
reputable parents. Both were farmers and re- 
spectable members of society. The same year 
that the father of Thrifty was sent to the G-ene- 
lal Assembly, the father or Unthrifty received 
lhe commission for the office of Justice of the 
Peace. There was a slight difference in their 
respective chaiacters in only one particular. 
They were both “ well to do in the world,” as 
: the phrase is ; bat whilethe elder Unthrifty had 
' inherited all his property, a pan of which he j 
had already spent by bis easy good nature and : 
somewhat in lolent hnbits, the father of Thrifty ! 
had been a poor boy and worked his own way j 
in the world, and having married early in life, ■ 
had brought up a large family; while the other j 
had but this only son. i 
Tndr Mothers. — The greatest diffe.'ence, bow- j 
ever, in their parents, was in their mothers. 
Like her husband, Mrs. Thrifty was a poor 
child and an orphan, buthad been ‘-brought up” 
by a widowed aunt in habits of great industry, ; 
order, and economy. She was early taught to ; 
have a place for eve ything, and everything in j 
its place; to waste nothing and spend no ti.me | 
in idleness; and when her work was done in- : 
stead of sczzling away her time, playing with . 
the kitten or her apron strings, or sauntering I 
with Goody Tittletattla’s girls, and gossiping 
about the young me-n, she devoted her leisure j 
hours to reading useful books, or making up , 
counterpanes, knitting stockings, and other at- | 
tides that migat be useful : so that when she 
had become one-and-twenty, she not only had 
, her mind well informed, but had made up quite ^ 
a wardrobe for herself, and had acquired so good 
a character that iirs. Thrifty thought, and 
righth' enough too. .she was a very good match 
as a wife. Mrs. Unthrifty, on the other hand. • 
had been indolently and induigently educated! 
and always having enongh cn hand, without ; 
any necessity for looking out for herself, her i 
parents ” well off,” she arrived at what ought to j 
be “years of discretion,” without anv parlicu- = 
lar habits of any kind; yet being a pretty, amia- ! 
ble gir,. and withal, having a prospect cf inherit- ! 
ing some money. Unthrifty thought himself a : 
lucky dog in securing her as a partner for life. 
Their Boyhcci . — 1 he bovs went to the same 
district school, yet though Unthrifty was nearly 
two years the oldest, little Thrifty soon caught 
up to him in his studies, when being put in the 
same class, he easily got above hira, and after 
generally stood at the head, while Unihriitv 
f -tood at the foot. This was not owing to any 
I wa-rt of cuteness cn t.he part of Jce, or Josey as 
; he was gece.'’al]y called, for occasionally when 
any prize was ofiered that Joe wan’ied to obtain, 
' he would, by a ’idle application, get ahead of 
; all the boys and secure the prize; while Tom, 
as they called young Thrifty, ’would study with 
all his alight wiihcat coming within arm’s 
length of Joe, At hunting, fishing o'frclicking 
I of any kind, which »’equiied ingenuity or skill, 
I Joe was sure to be ahead of all his playmates. 
I But then his habits were negligent, he was half 
■ the time late at school, his lessons given him 
: over night not half learned when he got there, 
! and he bad very little idea cf mindi-cganv of 
i the rules; not that he was stubborn or bad tem- 
! pered, bat he “.didn’t see any use in .sitiingiD 
j h's own seat for three hours together, and learn- 
: ing arithmetic, geography and grammar, nei- 
■ iher of which wouid help to tree a squirrel, hole 
! a fox, catch a tront, or bring down a tut key at a 
i shooting march.” Tom was always punctual 
at school, always had his lesson learnt, though 
' he had to work haid lor it, and always did as he 
was bid by the master, simply because his pa- 
j rents told him this was the only -way to make a 
.man of himself — and he believed them. Josey’s 
parents indulged him as they indulged them- 
selves. and le- him take pretty much his own 
course as they had done before him, and it was 
universally believed had the boys swopped pa- 
rents when they wem babies, Joe would have 
been the smartest scholar of the two. 
Grown Up. — The boys got to be men while 
I the- still rhough: ihey were your.gsters, and be- 
I fore they were ihree-an-d-twenty both -were mar- 
j Tied to voang women in the village, somewhat 
alter their own character, 
Thdr Wives. — Tom’s wife was the daughter 
of a poor, but hard-working wagon maker, and 
had always been accustomed to indust.nous ha- 
bits, while the wife of Joe had received many 
more advantages in school, though it is said she 
had misimproved ihem ; but she could do worst- 
ed embroidery, draw pretty well from a copy, 
; and play ccmmon psalm tunes, Yankee Dco- 
j die, and contra dances on the piano. 
Their Geciipati&n.— Tom took to farming as 
i his father had done before him, and as he had 
I nothing to begin with, he rented a small farm 
■ which his lather helped him to stock. He 
had of his own, a pair of oxen, a few sheep, and 
some tools, which a couple of years of hard ser- 
vice since he “came of age,” had enabled him 
to purchase and his wife besides had three 
good cows, given her by her mother, while her 
father gave him a good second-hand ox wagon, 
Tom and his wife went “ right” to work. They 
were np by daylight in the morning, and by the 
time he had his “ chores” done, the cows milk- 
ed and turned to pasture, the oxen carried, fed 
and yoked, and the pigs provided for, breakfast 
was'on the table, so that he was ready to go 
out to his day’s work by the time Josey and his 
wife had “ turned out of bed.” 
In five rears after he was married and went 
to farming, Tom had actually got “fore-hand- 
ed” enough to buy a farm near him, which was 
naturally very good land, but had “ run down” 
from the shi'tlessoess of the former owner; for 
which he paid .32,000 in cash, out of his own 
earnings, which were pretty much all used up 
by the former occupant, in paying off’ execu- 
tions and debts against him, and he had just 
enough left to carry him to iVlichigan, to begin 
the world at forty, when Tom began at twenty- 
one. A mortgage of 61,000 slid due on the 
place, he assumed to pay to the merchant in the 
village who had taken it some time be.ffire in 
payment of all old scores, including some S200 
costs which had accumulated against the debtor. 
Josey had a first-rate farm, too, which had 
been given to him by his father, who also stock- 
ed it -with all the horses, cattle, sheep and pigs 
Jce wanted, bat Josey “ some how or other,” 
hadn’t met with very “ good luck,” as he called 
it. Indeed, ’twas some time before Josey deci- 
ded he would take to farming at all. 
Joscy's professwnal Inclination. — His father 
and mother, before him, had baeen in good deal 
