THE CULTIVATOR. 
359 
Making Compost. —The great art of obtaining good 
crops, consists in the saving and application of manure. 
Of this truth, very many farmers are beginning to be con¬ 
vinced, and they are contriving various ways to save and 
increase their manures by the addition of such materials 
as will absorb those portions which have hitherto been 
wasted. The N. E. Farmer thus describes the course 
pursued on the farm of J. S. C. Green, Esq. at Watham, 
Mass, by Mr. R. Murray:—“The urine from the cattle 
is all saved and conveyed to a cistern underneath the sta¬ 
ble, that holds about nine hogsheads. The floor of the 
stable is sprinkled with gypsum, every morning after the 
cattle have been turned out, and the stalls cleaned. The 
solid manure is also thrown into the cellar below, which 
is accessible to the hogs. The manner in which the 
urine is disposed of is as follows: As often as the cistern 
is filled, a lot of well pulverized meadow mud, or peat, 
which had been exposed a year, containing 18 common 
cart-loads, is made into a broad flat bed, with the sides 
raised up so as to retain the liquor; into this basin the 
contents of the urine cistern is discharged. As the liquor 
soaks into the peat, six bushels of ground plaster is spread 
over the surface, to fix the ammonia; the whole bed L 1 
then thrown up into a compact form, four or five feel 
high; stakes are thrust down into the middle of the bed, 
that some idea may be formed of the temperature of the 
heap from time to time, which is examined often, that 
the mass may not get overheated and burnt, as it may be 
very much injured or be made nearly worthless; by 
withdrawing the stake, an experienced person will as¬ 
certain very nearly the state of the bed by the heat of the 
stake; but this is not left to uncertainty; a thermometer 
is inserted in the hole repeatedly, and when it indicates 
90 degrees, the fermentation is deemed sufficient; the 
heap is then shoveled over, and spread a little, and hav¬ 
ing remained a week in this state, is ready for applica¬ 
tion, or to be put under cover for future use. Compost 
from night soil is made in the same way.” 
Fattening Hcgs. —Fatting hogs must now have as 
much as they can eat; they should be urged forward as 
fast as possible before cold weather comes. They will 
gain n ore in one week now, than in two weeks three 
months hence. There is much in the garden now that may 
be added to the mush for hogs. Pumpkins, refuse squashes, 
cabbages, apples, potatoes, &c., may be boiled up or oc¬ 
casionally fed out raw, just for variety—for pig is a gen¬ 
tleman that prefers a variety of dishes and a good dessert. 
Give him, also, your greenest corn, cutting up cob andj 
corn and stalk, an inch or two long. He will eat up all 
clean, while they are novelties in his pen. After all, 
your main stay for fatting him up, is grain of some kind. 
Indian corn ground, is best. Buckwheat comes next; 
rye is good, mixed with Indian; and oats always make 
the breakfast relish well. You should bear in mind to 
l^c your hogs have charcoal every" year; therefore we 
name it that you need not suppose what was said and done 
about it last year, will answer for this. A little brim¬ 
stone, too, is good—and brimstone need alarm no one 
since we keep it to whiten straw with.— Mass. Plowman. 
Apple Pomace.— Let this not be wasted. If consider¬ 
ed of no value as food, let it be incorporated with the 
materials in the hogs’ yard, or put in heaps, spreading 
lime plentifully over each layer of a foot or less of pom¬ 
ace, and, mixed with other manure previous to being ap¬ 
plied in the spring, it will well repay for whatever care 
has been bestowed upon it. We have known cases where 
it has been thrown away as worthless—the farmer decla¬ 
ring that as food it was hurtful to his stock, (probably 
from being allowed to eat too much of it,) and that for 
manure it was of no sort of value, being “poor, sour 
stuff.” Its sour quality" is the sole cause of it worthless¬ 
ness as manure: get rid of this—neutralize it—as you can 
by the process above recommended, and it becomes a 
fertilizer of soil and a nourisher of vegetation.— N. E. 
Farmer . 
“ In an experiment in Maryland in feeding hogs with 
shelled corn, and half the quantity in meal made into 
mush, those pigs fed on the mush, weighed five pounds 
heavier in a given time, than those fed on the raw corn, 
and their coats much better.” 
Madder. —The amount annually paid by this, to for¬ 
eign countries, for this article, used in dyeing, is per¬ 
fectly astonishing. Mr. Ellsworth, in his report, esti¬ 
mates the amount annually imported at five thousand tons! 
The wholesale price is now from fifteen to eighteen cents 
a pound. At fifteen cents the annual importation amounts 
to the round sum of one and a half millions of dollars, 
for an article that can be produced as good and as cheap 
at home. This is not theory. Mr. Joseph Swift, of Erie 
eounty, Ohio, planted nine acres, and allowed it to grow 
four seasons, and the crop was harvested and sold in 1842, 
and an account given of it in the New Genesee Farmer, 
for March, 1843. The product of the best land was two 
thousand pounds per acre, (and he is certain that with 
his present knowledge he can produce three thousand 
pounds per acre.) The labor required per acre to raise 
and prepare the crop for market, was from eighty to one 
hundred days’ work, and his figures show, after paying 
for the labor and use of land, a nett profit of two hundred 
dollars per acre. Although the crop requires several 
years to arrive at maturity, and needs considerable know¬ 
ledge and labor, yet the value of the crop is greater in 
i proportion to the cost and the quantity of land it occu¬ 
pies, than any other farm crop that can be named. Our 
farmers should give more attention to the cultivation of 
this article, while the profits are so great.— West. Farm-. 
Shovel in the Muck.— The present time is favorable 
for those who have a muck mine and are desirous to avail 
themselves of its benefits. The effects of decomposed 
muck are now so well understood, that there are very 
few farmers who are not desirous of laying in a good 
store of it for future use. No better raw material can be 
found for hogs to operate upon and convert into the best 
of manure. A worthy old farmer of our acquaintance, 
makes it a rule to hire a hand for a month in the fall— 
furnish him with a cart and yoke of oxen, and keep them 
all at work hauling muck. In this way he lays in a large 
supply, and in the spring has a large quantity of excel¬ 
lent dressing for his land. He says he cannot invest the 
amount of the man's wages and service of cart and oxen 
in a more profitable way. Perhaps some of our reader? 
who have never thought much of this plan may be indu 
ceil to adopt it .—Maine Far. 
A good plan of making Manure —A writer in the 
Southern Flamer recommends the following plan of ma¬ 
king manure, of which we highly approve: 
“ Have a pit thirty or forty feet square, and two 
or three feet deep, with a good bank around it. In 
this pit let the materials, viz: oak leaves, pine tags, 
earth, &c., be put in suitable layers; on which throw all 
the slop-water, soap-suds, yard-sweepings, as ley, con¬ 
tents of chambers, and in short, every thing that can be 
conveniently got together. It may be at any convenient 
distance from the kitchen, so that the slop-water, soap¬ 
suds, &c., may be conducted to it by a trough. Be sure 
that no water gets into it in any other way. If at any 
time it should become offensive, start your teams imme¬ 
diately and cover it with sand or earth sufficient to pre¬ 
vent the escape of any effluvia.” We say we approve 
of this plan of making manure; but we think it might be 
improved by sowing plaster over each layer of the mate¬ 
rials of which it is composed, and occasionally, say at in¬ 
tervals of two or three weeks, sowing it over the sur¬ 
face, by which means all unpleasant smells would be 
avoided, and the enriching gases saved to fatten the land. 
Any pit which may be made for the purpose should be 
protected from the weather.— West. Farmer. 
FOR SALE. 
SAXONY BUCKS, raised upon the farm of the late Elam Til- 
den, can be had at reasonable prices, by applying to Col. Tan¬ 
ner, on the premises. M. Y. TILDEN, P. M. 
New Lebanon, Columbia Co. N. Y. Sept. 7, 1844—It.’ 
IMPROVED STOCK. 
HE subscriber has now on hand and will sell, at fair and reason^ 
able rates, several Durham cattle, consisting of cows, heifers and 
calves; also two bulls, a cross of the Durham and Ayrshire stock. 
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP.—Two yearling bucks, several buck 
iambs and 16 ewes from 3 to 4 years old. 
All letters, (post paid,) will be punctually attended to. Address 
C. N. BEMENT, 
September 1,1844. American Hotels Albany 
