Practical Farming—Wheat Sheaf Farm. 
mg sun, well mixed with earthy and vegeta¬ 
ble matter, it is here retained till it can be 
advantageously applied to the land. Between 
and contiguous to the barns, is a tank capa¬ 
ble of holding twenty-five thousand gallons, 
which is the receptacle of those enriching li¬ 
quids of the farm-yard, without the retention 
and careful application of which, to the grow¬ 
ing crops or stercorated heap, no farming ar¬ 
rangements can be deemed complete. An 
outlet near the top conducts off the surplus 
liquid to a heap of compost if it rises too 
high before required for use, by which it is 
absorbed. At all other times the cistern is 
emptied by sheetiron buckets attached to 
a revolving iron chain, and propelled either 
by the windmill, or if necessary, by horse¬ 
power, the shaft geering into either as re¬ 
quired. 
The great excellence of the management 
of this farm, we conceive to be, in the judi- 
ciousarrangement and thorough application of 
every means for increasing the stock of ma¬ 
nure ; and for the accomplishment of this ob¬ 
ject, there is a combination of peculiar natu¬ 
ral advantages, controlled and directed with 
much skill, and admirable science on the 
part of the enlightened proprietor. A princi¬ 
ple in constant exercise with regard to the 
land itself, is one we have before earnestly 
enjoined, viz.: that it should be constantly 
working for its own or its proprietor’s ad¬ 
vantage. When not occupied by a remune¬ 
rating crop, it is employed in producing 
something for its own benefit, and whatever 
is thus produced, is turned in for the support 
of future crops. The animal and vegetable 
manures, both liquid and solid, we have be¬ 
fore seen, are husbanded and applied with 
the greatest care. There are yet three other 
sources of fertilization of limited diffusion 
among farmers, though greatly abounding 
here ; the peat and muck beds before refer¬ 
red to ; the sea-weed which is driven on to 
the shore in great quantities, charged with 
salts and vegetable matter; and the moss 
bankers, alewives, or bony fish, that are 
caught in the greatest abundance in May, 
June, and July. The sea-weed is hauled up 
to the yards and stored for the double pur¬ 
pose of affording beds for the cattle, absorb¬ 
ing the liquid manure, and adding to the 
compost heap. A combination of the peat 
and fish which are mutually corrective of 
each other, forms the most fertilizing mate¬ 
rial for the soil. 
Peat, it is well known, consists of decayed 
vegetable matter, which in portions of Eu¬ 
rope, and especially the islands of Great 
Britain and Ireland, is found in great extent 
and purity, often reaching to the depth of 
5 to 40 feet, and it is there extensively used 
for fuel. In the cultivated parts of this 
country, however, it is generally mixed with 
a considerable quantity of earth, and is sel¬ 
dom adapted to any other object, than the 
reproduction of vegetable life. The organic 
matter of which it is composed, is princi¬ 
pally the bark of the larger vegetable pro¬ 
ducts, with various species of the mosses and 
lichens, and especially the sphagnum, a pro¬ 
lific, bog-producing water plant, which grows 
and matures on the surface of the swamps, 
and then falls to the bottom, to add to the 
accumulating mass. But though abounding 
in fertilizing materials, it will not yield them 
in its natural condition. 
It is saturated with tannic acid, which 
constitutes the antiseptic or preservative 
principle, that has suspended the natural ten¬ 
dency to vegetable decay for ages, and 
which would still continue to hold it un¬ 
changed but for the labors of the husband¬ 
man. 
The first operation is effectually to drain 
off all the water; then, if required for ma¬ 
nure, to throw it up from its native bed and 
place it wherever required for the compost 
heap. An exposure of some weeks or 
months, according to the season, is required, 
to dry it thoroughly and allow of the benefi 
cial action of the atmosphere. It is then 
mixed in alternate layers, with one-third or 
a less proportion of manure, or with ashes, 
or its equivalent, a solution of potash; or 
what i^ perhaps more valuable and more eco¬ 
nomical, when to be had at all, than either 
of the foregoing, animal matter of any kind, 
a dead horse having been found to convert 
20 loads of peat into the finest quality of ma¬ 
nure. The material used by Mr. S. for cor¬ 
recting the acidifying principle of the peat 
and rendering it every way adapted to the 
object in view, is the fish before alluded to, 
which are taken in unlimited quantities early 
in the season, and are of no value for any other 
purpose. These are hauled up to the peat 
beds and are there mixed in layers of about 
3 inches of fish to 9 inches of peat, the pile 
when complete, to be covered with 2 to 4 feet 
of peat, which absorbs all the enriching and 
volatile matter of the decaying fish, which 
might otherwise escape. 
We have in this process, a combination 
of advantages. Fish have for a long time 
been extensively used along the sea coast, 
as manure, but the application is made di¬ 
rectly to the land, being scattered broadcast 
