^Wii I iiMTTii iiiei laiiPT^riT^rii 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
207 
IN FARMING -MA.NUIIE IS “THE PRINCIPAL 
THING,” 
To the Editor of the Marlboro’ Gazette : 
There are so many good hints in the enclo.sed 
extract from the last number ut the New En- 
gland Fanner, and there ate so many of my ac- 
quaintances wlio ought to be ready to tefelhem, 
!hat 1 cannot lorbear asking you to give them 
a place in the Gazette. 
The chief, the grand, I was going to say the 
sole object, with every farmer, should be the 
accumulation of manure, from one year’s end to 
another, day in and day out. and from every 
possible resource. Not a single pound of fea- 
thers, or of hair — of horn or of hoof — not a sin- 
gle pint of ashes, or of soap suds, or of urine— 
not a weed, if it were possible to prevent 
!t, should be lost — all— all should be saved 
and converted into manure. Of one thing, 
<Every farmer is certain, that cultivation exhausts 
hisland — something, of course, must be done to 
restore that of which it is exhausted. How long 
will a horse work if he gets no feed? How 
long will the best cow give milk if she gets no- 
thing to eat? Neither can a farm be worked 
and milked withoutbeing/e<^. 
Instead of looking only to the stable, or the 
cow-pen, or barn-yard for manure, and mana- 
ging them carelessly and unskilfully, the think- 
ing farmer will reflect, that there is nothing 
which will rot, but what may be converted into 
good fattening food for his farm. If a horse 
dies on the farm, let him be covered with cart 
loads of earth, and the very gasses that escape 
an the course of putrefaction, will impregnate 
and makegood manure of the whole mass. Let 
nothing be lost— not even the offal of poultry or 
the pigeon house. I. S. S. 
‘‘Gleaninqs on the Farm. — ‘ Gather up the 
fragments, that nothing be lost? — The first les- 
son in true economy is, to take care of small 
matters. When one has made a fixed principle 
of action, he will be very sure not to suffer 
more important matters to be neglected. There 
are many things scattered over the farm that 
are worth saving, and may be turned to profita- 
ble use, if taken eare of now^ but which will 
loose their value, if neglected much longer. Of 
this character, are substances for manua» and 
litter — such as vines, potatoe tops, leaves, bog 
herbage, &c. The collection of leaves for ma- 
nure is particularly deserving attention. ‘ For 
many years (says one who has practiced this,) 
I have been in the habit of colieeting in the fall, 
leaves in my wood lot, and to use them as litter 
for my cattle through the winter. When the 
floor is cleared in the morning, the leaves and 
dung are turned over and chopped together, be- 
fore they are thrown out. This kind of manure 
for potatoes, I find superior to any other I ever 
used; it unites the richness of animal matter 
with the sweetness of a woodland soil ; and I 
feel confident that it not only contributes to the 
iSbundance of the crop, but that it ensures a su- 
perior quality. From the repeated benefits I 
have derived from the practice, my estimation 
of leaves has gradually increased, and they 
ifiave become such an essential article in the 
cultivation of my small farm, that I should be 
now at a loss how to do without fhera. Tfiey 
pack better if collected when somewhat damp, 
^pd when mixed or chopped with the dung, will 
more readily ferment.’ 
“ Perhaps there is a good deal of small stuff 
scattered over the farm that will serve for fuel, 
which may as well as not, and a good deal bet- 
ter, be picked up now, before it is hidden by 
snow — which latter, though, perhaps, not very 
soon expected, may come without warning, and 
when little anticipated. At any rate, it is wis- 
dom to prepare for emergencies, 
“ Let every thingbe saved for winter fodder that 
is eatable by your animals. ‘ We hear it fore- 
told by oar veteran farmers, (says the Ameri- 
can Agriculturist,) that the coming winter will 
be a tolerable severe one. They say they have 
never seen a season ot great abundance, espe- 
cially in fruit, that was not followed by a hard 
winter.’ Though little faith is to be had in such 
signs, it is best to prepare for the worst, and 
save everything to lengthen oiu your stock of 
food, that can be saved. Some vegetable sub- 
stances which cattle will not eat it they 
can get more palatable food, they will freely de- 
vour in winter’, if mixed and chopped with a 
portion of eatable hay. 
“ Turnip and cabl age leaves, and corn husks, 
should all be husbanded lor fodder. They are 
superior as food lor cattle, to hay ofcomnron 
quality. 
“ We have seen pumpkins left in the fields to 
rot, the farmer having, seemingly, grown more 
than he knew how to dispose of with profit. At 
one of the meetings of the New York Farmers’ 
Club last summer, a gentleman presented some 
sound pumpkins ot the growth of the previous 
year, which had been preserved by placing 
them in oneof his out-buildings on rails laid in 
courses, so that the pumpkins did not rest on 
each other. This plan seenas worthy of trial : 
for stock— cows in milk especially — would be 
much benefitted, by a meal a day of pumpkins, 
in the last ot winter or beginning of spring — 
more especially it their owners do not provide 
othQV coyidiments lor them in the shape of car- 
rots, turnips or beets; and it is yet true— ‘and 
pity ’tis true’ — that many a slock of unfortunate 
animals have to live through, orraiherget 
through, the winter, without having a taste of a 
root — kept upon the loio diet system — the Gra- 
ham system in an aggravated form — that is, a 
few cornstalks, a very liHle good hay, and a 
great deal of— straw,. Pity that the poor brutes 
thus cheated of their dues, had not the faculty 
to persuade their owners that both eelf-interest 
and humanity dictate that they should keep no 
more stock than they can keep well. 
“ Your sheep will thank you for saving your 
bean vines for a bite in the winter; and in this 
connection we introduce the following, think- 
ing it may impart information from which some 
may profit: 
“ ‘ Beans for Sheep.— you have any beans 
on hand which are unfit for culinary purposes, 
in consequence of being mouldy or rancid, 
wash them carefully and give them to your 
sheep. A gill a day will be of more benefit to 
them than a pint of corn. Beans, for .sheep, 
even in this condition, we consider equal to the 
best corn in any state. — Maine Cultivator? 
“Upon the abovf>. Dr. Lee, of Buffalo, re- 
marks : ‘ The Cultivator tells but half the story. 
Why is a gill of beans better lor sheep than a 
pint of corn? This is an important problem, 
and one that not one flockmaster in a, thousand 
can answer, if the object be to form fat sheep, 
then the remark that beans are worth more than 
corn, is not true — for corn contains more of the 
fat-forming elements than beans. But if the 
object be to form muscle and loool, then the re- 
mark is true. Beans contain more of the ele- 
ment of wool tlian any other cultivated plant. 
Hence nature, ever true to herself, has endowed 
the sheep with a taste for the plant which is 
denied to the pig.’ ” 
From ihe American Farmer. 
ACCUMULATION OF MANBRE8. 
The following article has many suggestions 
by which the farmer may profit, and althongh 
written for the meridian of Maine, is equally as 
applicable to any other State in the Union where 
there are worn out lands. It is unfortunately 
the case everywhere among farmers in this 
country, that the procurement of manure is not 
made a part of their system of husbandry ; and 
that a too-common opinion prevails, that they 
cannot spare the necessary time and force to 
gather the materials for making manure. Than 
this, a more erroneous opinion never entered in- 
to the mind of man. We have thought much 
upon this subject, and had some little experi- 
ence, and we have no hesitation in declaring, 
that a man and a team employed the year round 
in the collection of materials for forming ma- 
nure heaps, would add fifty percent to the pro- 
ducing capabilities of any farm — nay, we will 
go farther and say, that if such materials, when 
collected, were judiciously composed and pre- 
served, that they would make every cultivatable 
acre of impoverished land increase its yield a 
hundred per cent. Where farms may lie upon 
salt water rivers, with salt marshes attached, 
the supply of manures are nrit only inexhausti- 
ble, but of the very best character, where the 
proper pains were taken to procure the and 
eithei compost it, or spread it over the cattle 
yard, as besides the vast amount of vegetable 
remains, the saline matters found therein are of 
the very first importance. 
From the Maine Cultivator. 
MANURE. 
Messrs. Editors: — Very few farmers, com- 
paratively, are to be found who make any ef- 
forts at all to increase either the quantity or the 
quality of their manure. The subject is a very 
important one, and it is to be hoped that farmers 
will, ere long, become not only thoroughly con- 
vinced of the importance of attending to the ma- 
nure heap, but that they will do something more 
than to talk of the excellency of manure. 
Now itdoes not require a large capital in or- 
der to make an abundance of manure— it re- 
quires only a firm resolution, a good yoke of 
oxen, a good cart, a good wheelbarrow, and a 
good spade. We do not expect to see every 
farmer in moderate circumstances build a splen- 
did stercorary, but then every farmer may make 
a compost-yard ot his barn-yard and may double 
or treble the quantity, and also improve the 
quality of his manure. It would be well if 
every barn-yard were shaped somewhat like a 
milk-pan, sloping every way towards the cen- 
tre; but if a farmer cannot afford the expense 
of bnoging his barn-yard to the right shape, he 
can, at least, haul a few loads of dirt, and form 
a dam at the lower part of the yard to prevent 
the liquid portion of the manure Irom escaping. 
Insteadot suffering the liquid part of the ma- 
nure of the barn-yard to escape, we should move 
the wheelbarrow, and supply a sufficient quan- 
tity of materials to absorb the same. 
But who has thought highly enough of our 
sioamps? Who can calculate the amount oi 
muck or mud to be found in the State.of Maine ? 
If this valuable material can be rightly mana- 
ged— if our farmers, one and all, will make 
strong efforts every year to procure this materi- 
al from swamps, pond holes, from the brooks 
and other places, what a change may be wrought 
in our agriculture ! 
Suppose that a farmer by driving forward his 
business and making a proper improvement of 
time can be able to spare three weeks in the 
course of each year, in collecting materials for 
manure — what effects will this have upon his 
prosperity? How much manure will a farmer 
V/! 0 like Farmer Thrifty is a man of energy 
collect in eighteen days — at only six loads per 
day it will give one hundred and eight loads — 
let this be thoroughly mixed with the manure 
of the barn yard, the stable, the sheep-pen, and 
the hog-yard. When clearing out the manure 
of a barn-yard let a quantity of mud, &c,, be 
placed upon the bottom Letusalso cover over 
the animal manure with loam, turf, mud, &e. 
so that it may not escape. When digging over 
manure let us not forget to cover the same with 
some material calculated to prevent the precious 
matter from escaping into the atmosphere. 
It has been often asserted that one load of 
animal manure will ferment three loads of peat 
— this is a substance which is to be found in 
swamps, and differs from mud or muck. 1; 
must be more of a task to bring peat into the 
right condition to operate well as manure than 
mud or muck. 
It is easy enough to see that every farmer 
who can find mud or muck, &c., may double 
or treble the quantity of his manure at a very 
trifling expense. Those who may not happen 
to reside near .some swamp may certainly pro- 
cure at least a considerable quantity of rich 
matter in waste places by turfing the highway, 
&c. But suppose that a farmer cannot get 
materials enough to satisfy his ambition, he 
can add to his manure by plowing in green 
crops. Various modes of plowing ip crops for 
