38 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURES L\ 
[JANUARY, 
Tho Treatment of Manure in Winter. 
How can a farmer make money ? Only from 
large crops cheaply grown or from animal products 
cheaply procured. How can large crops be cheaply 
grown ? Only by means of abundant manure and 
good cultivation ; the one being unavailing without 
the other. Then it comes, after all, to this : that if 
a farmer would make money, the size and quality 
of his manure pile is the exact complement of his 
profits from his crops ; and without manure he may 
hope in vain to make money. His first thoughts 
and chief employment at this season must be 
directed to making a supply of manure for next 
year’s crops. It is better late than never, and 
though it is now late, thousands of farmers who 
have not yet begun, may yet do something towards 
securing a stock of manure for use in the spring. 
One of the most important parts of the work is, to 
provide a proper receptacle for the manure. An 
open yard from which the water drains away in all 
directions is the poorest place for manure making ; 
and yet in such a yard an excellent manure pit may 
be made. We had recently the opportunity of 
showing a neighbor how to make such a pit, which 
was done at little expense, at the side of his yard, 
and we now see him every day hauling load after 
load of stuff into the pit to make a rich compost. 
The yard sloped considerably on one side towards 
a road. A pit 20 feet in length was dug in this 
bank with the bottom sloping backwards, and some¬ 
what lower at the rear than the front. The pit was 
16 feet wide and 8 feet deep, at the rear end. A 
fence was made around it on the yard side with a 
set of bars, so that the contents of a cart could be 
tipped into the pit. The shape of the pit is shown 
in the engraving. The pit was half filled with 
leaves from the woods, sods, and muck from a 
swamp, coarse manure from the yards, sods from 
the road sides, which were plowed and cleared for 
this purpose, yielding a large quantity of ma¬ 
terial. Then the manure was thrown into the pit 
and the yard was furrowed so that the rain water 
which usually gathered in the center of it, should 
run into the pit and keep the manure moist. The 
pit was made in October and in about one month 
was nearly full. Before it was started the farmer 
thought it would be foolish to make it, as he could 
never fill it. But one can never know what he can 
do until he makes an attempt. There is yet time 
to do a great deal in this way before spring, and 
if nothing but leaves are raked up in the woods to 
make an absorbent foundation for the pit, much 
may be done with them. It is necessary to have a 
good layer of stuff in the bottom to hold all the 
moisture of the manure, and if there is danger of 
over-heating, water may be hauled and poured on to 
the heap, unless there is some more ready method 
of applying it. 
A VALUABLE WORK. 
AMERICAN FISHERIES. 
A HISTORY OF 
THE MEWHABEN. 
By G. BROWN GOODE, 
Curator V. S. National Museum; Assistant, XJ. S. Fish 
Commission; Author of “The Game Fishes of 
Noi'th America; ” Special Contribuloi' to 
American Agriculturist. 
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE 
AGRICULTURAL USES OP 
FISH. 
By W. ©. ATWATER, 
Professor of Chemistry , Wesleyan University; Special 
Contributor to American Agriculturist. 
AND AN INTRODUCTION, BRINGING THE 
SUBJECT DOWN TO DATE. 
WITH THIRTY PLATES. 
1 _. . FIUCE, POST-PAID, $2.00. 
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
245 Broadway, New York. 
“ In a quiet way you are doing a grand work for girls— 
more than people who are not patrons imagine,” writes 
a father to Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Mass. Send 
for Catalogue. 
Dr. Eben Tourjee, of Boston, whose European Excur¬ 
sions have been so successfully carried out for two sum¬ 
mers, is arranging a still more attractive and compre¬ 
hensive programme for next season, which will be duly 
announced. 
Partner in Hay anti Stock: Farm. 
Wanted, a Partner, with twenty-five to thirty thousand 
dollars, to purchase half an interest in a Plantation and 
Stock Farm of eight thousand acres, all under fence ; 36 
hours from New York. There are two thousand acres 
cleared ; with all necessary Machinery, Tools, and work 
animals; and a herd of over 300 Cattle ; 2000 Hogs, and 
some Sheep. 12 per cent Income can be assured. For 
particulars, address the 
PROPRIETOR, Care of American Agriculturist •dice. 
Delicate mothers will find Ridge’s Food just what they 
need. It gives health and strength. In cans, 35c., and 
upwards. WOOLRICH & CO., on label. 
Grass, Clover, & Forest Tree Seeds. 
(American and European*) 
Catalogue free on application. 
HENRY NUNGESSER* Seed Merchant* 
_ 83 Av enue D, New York. 
How to get a Revolver. 
The largest and costliest Catalogue of Revolvers, 
«c., m the world, containing exact pictures ofj 
nearly every Revolver in existence; a valuable book 
of Seat free to any address.. 
GQF*$6.82 calibre Revolvers reduced to $2.75. Colt 
Revolvers, $2.50. Biggest bargains ever known. 
Catalogue explains now one man in 
every .Town in the United States can 
get a So Revolver free. Address the 
ESSEX REPEATING ARMS CO., 
57 Washington St«, Boston* Mass,, U. S. A* 
GRAND HOLIDAY OFFER! 
1.000 Grand, Square and Upright Pianos. 
3,000 Church, Cabinet and Parlor Organs. 
My own manufacture, in every variety of style, now 
oft'ered at Prices lower tlian ever before. PIANOS, $145, 
5150, 1165, 1225, ^250 and upwards,including Cover, 
Stool and Book. 
ORGANS, $45, 562, 575, 580 , 585, 590,5100, 
5120, and upwards, including Stool and Book. 
All instruments fully warranted for SIX YEARS and 
Bhippedon(5 DAYS’ TEST TRIAL. Send for illustrated 
Catalogue containing full information. Address theManufacturer 
JAMES T. PATTERSON, " 
p. o. Drawer 12. Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.A. 
Iowa Barb Fence Co., Limited. 
Marshalltown, Iowa.—Johnstown, Pa.—93 John St., New York. 
Sole Manufacturers of Burnell’s Patent Four-Pointed Steel-Barb Wire Fenc¬ 
ing, Galvanized and Painted ; Staples, Stretchers, Pincers, Wire Cutters, 
Post-Hole Diggers, Iron Posts, etc. 
Pc)!' Sale .at all Hardware Stores. A.sk. to see it. 
Illustrated C irculars and Samples sent by Mail to any part of the World. 
Our Wire is put up on spools in lengths 
of about one hundred rods, weigh¬ 
ing from 100 to 3 30 ll>s. 
One pound measures 15 feet in length ; 
352 lbs. measures a mile. Our staples 
run about §0 to the pound. Iron 
posts, weight, 12 lbs.; stretcher, 12 lbs. 
Having just put un (in addition to our Marshalltown, Iowa, factory,) exten 
sive works at Johnstown, Pa., in the very heart of the Iron and Steel industries 
of this country, we have facilities for turning out more Barb Wire than any 
other company in the United States. We manufacture under our own patents 
issued June 19th, 1877, and are ready, willing, and able to protect all dealers and 
consumers of our Barb Wire. 
Our Wire is all manufactured from fresh ingots of Steel made direct from 
the ore (we use no scrap or old rail ends), and has a tensile strength of 2,000 
pounds to eacli line of wire ; it has a four-pointed barb which passes between 
the two wires, and then is wound around both, but not so tight as to bind the 
wires solid together, and destroy the contraction and expansion. Our four- 
pointed barb lias a great advantage over those cut from solid metal: in that 
style, the twisting of the wire hard like a rope injures the strength, greatly in¬ 
creases the weight, and is liable, especially in cold weather, to break and un¬ 
twist, allowing the barbs to fall out; of course, no two-pointed wire can at all 
compare with a four-pointed, particularly the kind where the barb is twisted 
around only one wire. 
In regard to the construction of our Barb Wire Fencing, to conuteract the ef¬ 
fects of our severe climate, we claim to have, after much experimenting, found 
out the best manner of twisting wire together. When our wire is expanded by 
heat the twist simply loosens, and when contracted bv cold tightens, all without 
altering the relative length of the combined wires. When we remember that a 
length of 100 feet of steel wire, in a cold winter day, is one inch shorter than in 
a hot summer day, we can readily understand how it is that so many single wire, 
and tight twisted double wire, fences, break, or pull the posts down in cold 
weather. 
The savingin land surface in putting up the Barb Fence is a matter of great 
importance. For instance, the old-fashioned zigzag or worm fence takes from 
every hundred acres an area of five acres, and this strip of land is worse than 
wasted, as it becomes a jungle of noxious weeds and harbor for all kinds of ani¬ 
mals and vermin that prey upon the crops. Of course the same waste of land 
and objections apply to a stone fence, and much more to a live or hedge fence, 
which usually occupies a strip of land ten to fifteen feet wide, exhausting the 
soil on either side; this mode of fencing is rapidly declining in this and foreign 
countries. 
It is the cheapest fence made; the most durable; is not affected by fire, wind, 
or flood; does not cause snow-drifts; takes fewer fence posts; stock can 
not push it down ; it protects itself—acts on the defensive; it takes but little 
room ; you can cultivate close to it; weeds are easily kept out of it, requires 
but little labor to put it up ; you can draw at one load enough to fence a farm ; 
and can fence a good-sizeu farm in a day; it is the greatest practical invention 
of the age, and lias come to be the farm and railroad fence of the country. 
One Thousand Founds of our Wire will make over 
A. MILE 
of Fence of tliree Lines. 
A Good substantial Fence for Farms or Railroads 
can be put up for less tlian 50 cents a rod, including 
posts. 
We ask the readers of' this Paper to examine the cuts of the different Barb 
Wires, as illustrated by the Editors on another page, and judge for themselves 
which is the best. (Ours is No. 14.) 
Address, IOWA 1SAKSS FENCE CO., at eitliea- 
UKarsliailtowsi, Iowa; or S1JS «Bo5sa St., Mew York; or .S«>Isia».£<>vt at. Fa. 
