1854 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
283 ' 
Mechanical Conveyance of Manures. 
Manure is as necessary to successful farming as the 
engine to a steamship, or as fuel to a locomotive ; and 
the amount of discussion on the economy of saving the 
materials and manufacture of manures, shows that 
their importance is well understood by intelligent cul¬ 
tivators. There is one part of their management and 
application, however, that seems in a great measure to 
have been overlooked, or at least underrated, and this 
is- the saving of mechanical labor in its conveyance, 
while preparing and applying it. 
Drawing manure is one of the heaviest and most 
costly of farm operations. The farmer who draws 
twenty loads of wheat, or thirty tons of hay, laborious 
as this may seem, performs but a small task in com¬ 
parison with what he should yearly accomplish in the 
conveyance of manure; for every farm of one hun¬ 
dred acres will yield at least two hundred loads of the 
best manure if properly managed, and some may be 
ipade to double nearly this amount. Hence it is no 
wonder that we often see huge piles of this life-ele¬ 
ment of farming, wasting in barn-yards through the 
summer unapplied. 
But the farmer who makes manure in the ordinary 
imperfect manner, that is, by merely casting out into 
his yard the cleanings of stables mixed with the litter, 
added to the droppings of the cattle running at large, 
obtains but a small quantity in comparison with the 
skilful manager, who saves every thing by a large ad¬ 
mixture of absorbent. If then, the more scanty heap 
occasions too great a labor to draw out and apply, how 
important it becomes that the most careful manage¬ 
ment be devised, to economise as much as possible the 
cost of handling and carting the increased accumula¬ 
tions of the most improved process. 
On small farms, where the fields to which the ma¬ 
nure is applied lie quite near the barn-yard, it may do 
to manufacture the compost heap in the stable-yard. 
But'in most cases this will be a most expensive prac¬ 
tice. The largest amount and the best manure must 
be made by not only collecting all the solid droppings 
mixed with the straw or litter, with the liquid portions 
saved and added, but a large portion of peat, turf, loam, 
and otfyer similar absorbents of a more solid character 
should enter largely into its composition. Now, to cart 
a hundred loads of turf into the barn-yard from a re¬ 
mote part of the farm, and then to draw all this hea¬ 
vy bulk back again into the fields, is causing a vast 
amount of labor. Again,—the shovelling over and 
mixing of the compost heap, which is practiced with 
so much advantage by Europeans, cannot be thought 
of for a moment by our farmers who pay the present 
high wages. The intermixture resulting from drawing 
and spreading the heap, may generally be sufficient, 
but a more thorough execution of this work would be 
better. 
The question therefore occurs, How may this labor 
of conveyance be reduced as much as posiible 1 
We have found a most important means of saving 
labor, by forming the compost heap in the field where 
i the manure will be required. Loam and turf are ab¬ 
solutely essential for the absorption and retention of 
the ammonia. Large quantities of turf may be ob¬ 
tained from fence corners, where otherwise it would be 
of little or no use; but on large farms, the more 
mucky portions of pastures may be obtained at less 
labor, by first plowing the sod. Let the manure from 
the yard, as it accumulates, be drawn out and spread 
a few inches in thickness,, in a long and narrow strip, 
say from a few feet to a rod in width according to its 
quantity, and then be covered with a layer of turf (or 
loam) at least equally thick. A second layer of ma¬ 
nure is applied and a second layer of turf until gradu¬ 
ally during the season, a height of some two feet has 
been attained. If the successive alternating layers 
have been thin, a great deal of subsequent intermixing 
will not be necessary, and this may be easily and 
cheaply accomplished by the use of a large plow at¬ 
tached to a yoke of oxen, beginning at the sides of the 
heap and plowing down successive slices of the mix¬ 
ture, using the harrow between each plowing, until a 
most thorough pulverization is accomplished. This 
may now be drawn off and spread from the cart or 
wagon in an even and perfect manner, being entirely 
free from lumps. Such a material as this is admirably 
fitted for preparing wheat land. 
A western farmer keeps his yard perfectly clear of 
stable accumulations by drawing out every morning a 
wagon load when the team goes out to plow or to other 
work. This practice is pursued more particularly dur¬ 
ing the times of spring and fall plowing. In summer 
but little accumulates; and in winter there is little 
difficulty in keeping the coast clear. During the sharp 
frosts of winter, however, a difficulty exists in conse- ’ 
quenee of the earth being frozen and incapable of be¬ 
ing applied in successive layers. Those who are so 
fortunate as to possess a drained muck or peat swamp, 
may draw from it without hindrance. any time of the 
year; but others may secure a-supply of tnrf by the 
plan lately mentioned in the Country Gentleman, 
namely, plowing up a turfy or mucky pasture early in 
autumn, and piling the sods when dry like cords of 
wood, under a large coarse shed made for the purpose. 
These will become so free from moisture as to be easily 
used any time during winter. But in the absence of 
either of these provisions, an imperfect substitute may 
be found in spreading a layer of old straw, chip dirt, 
&c., upon the. manure. 
This mode of forming the heap in the field possess¬ 
es two especial advantages. The stable yard is at all 
times kept clear of those accumulations, which are 
never any ornament to the establishment, and which 
in wet and muddy weather are a serious inconveni¬ 
ence ; and the manure being nearly accessible to the 
land requiring its application, it is drawn on and spread 
without that large consumption of time usually requir¬ 
ed at the exceedingly busy season of preparing for 
crops. 
One of the largest and best farmers in the country, 
whose stables are arranged in an octagon, with the 
