1854 . 
311 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
A Fine Orchard. 
Moore’s New Yorker gives an account of the or¬ 
chards of Austin Pinney, Clarkson, Monroe Co., N. 
Y., who has for several years past devoted himself to 
the collection and planting of fine fruit, and more par¬ 
ticularly of peaches, for the best varieties of which he 
has ransacked the whole United States. The editor of 
the New Yorker states that he has 28 acres occupied 
with fruit trees, of which there are 3000 peach trees, 
and 2700 dwarf pears. Most of them have been set 
out about 3 years. They are stated to be exceedingly 
thrifty and healthy, many of this year’s shoots being 
four to five feet long. The land was subsoiled before 
planting, and heavily manured with a compost of yard 
manure and muck. The soil is kept mellow by cul¬ 
tivation, but no annual crop is admitted, except an 
occasional crop of beans in the peach orchard. No 
wonder these orchards should be so widely celebrated 
for their thriftiness, with such treatment as this. 
Increase your Manure Heap. 
Messrs. Editors- —After all that has been written 
and published in our agricultural papers upon this 
subject, not half the attention is paid to it that its 
importance demands. At this time of extreme drouth, 
I have with pleasure noticed here and there, a farmer 
entering his swamps and muck beds and taking there¬ 
from material for future use upon the farm. But such 
incidents are by far too few; every farmer that has 
upon his land any place of rich mould or vegetable 
deposite, which in ordinary seasons are too wet to get 
into without the labor of drainage, should improve the 
present, and all dry times, to cart to the compost heap, 
to the hog and barn yards what will help to absorb 
the liquids, retain the ammonia, swell the amount of 
manure and greatly enhance the fertility of the soil. 
In this way we can, in a limited degree, counteract 
the deleterious effects of the drouth, for these enrich¬ 
ing materials can be taken from their native and use¬ 
less beds at much less expense than in common sea¬ 
sons. It is an old adage that “ there is no loss with¬ 
out some small gain and now while we are losing 
extensively by the severe and protracted drouth, can 
we not gain a little, and not a very little either, by 
improving our advantages in increasing that which is 
so essential to keep up the fertility of our lands, and 
which is the base of all good farming, especially on 
our old New England farms. 
Unfortunately for the writer, there is not a swamp 
or muck bed upon his premises; he has no such mine 
of wealth to resort to at this favorable time, or at any 
time, wherewith to enrich his lands, but he has some 
scattered materials common to all farms, such as turf 
upon the sides of the highway, the settlings in the 
ditches of the road, leaves in the woods which can be 
gathered in a wet time late in autumn, green weeds, 
thistles and brakes, the scrapings of the chip yard, and 
here and there a low place in the rough pasture lands 
from which a black loam can be taken and removed to 
the hog yard; and from these sources, with the addi¬ 
tion of leached ashes, and corn cobs, into which has 
been thrown the suds from the wash tub, the wash from 
the chambers, &c., for a year past, sixty-four loads of 
first rate manure have recently been taken out of the 
hog yard and a small compost heap, and put on to two 
acres of land, which will soon be evenly spread and 
plowed to the depth of ten inches, designed for a crop 
of corn next year, and with a favorable season sixty 
bushels to the acre will be obtained. 
Now for the benefit of myself, a brief, and I think 
nearly accurate computation has been made of the 
expense of these sixty-four ox cart loads of manure, 
and its value, connected with the expense of raising 
and fattening four hogs, with the market value of the 
pork; and if it is of any benefit to others, they have 
it for the perusal, but the best way to test their experi¬ 
ment is “ to go and do likewise.” 
Dr. 
4 pigs, five weeks old, at $2 each,.$8 00 
Interest 20 months, at 6 per ct.,. 80 
22 bu. corn each in raising and fattening—S8 bu. at $1, 88 00 
Feeding, tending, labor of scalding meal, fuel, &c... 10 00 
Labor of carting and getting material into hog yard,. 12 00 
Skim milk and whey from the dairy of 4 cows,. 12 00 
Butchering the 4 hogs, 50c. each,. 2 00 
Interest on cost of hog pen and yard,. 4 20 
$137 00 
Cr. 
Average weight of hogs at 20 mos. old. 400 lbs —1600 
lbs., at 7c.,.'..$112 00 
Lard and other grease from intestines,. 6 00 
Value of 64 loads of manure in yard, at 1.25 per load, 80 00 
Whole avails,.$198 00 
“ cost,. 137 00 
Profit,. $61 00 
or $15.25 per hog. 
It must be remembered that in this computation 
perfect accuracy is not pretended, though it cannot be 
far from the true result. The corn at 1.00 per bushel 
includes the cost of grinding and transport to mill 3 
miles and back; the labor of tending and feeding and 
keeping the yard supplied is not too high, neither is 
the interest, nor is the amount of corn consumed, though 
at first sight it might seem that the cost of the 1600 
lbs. of pork is too high, and exceeds the market value 
by $19.00, not taking into account the manure, and 
had there been nothing added to the yard so as to get 
the benefit of the work of the swine it would have 
come out about even. But a decided advantage and 
profit is realized by this economical way of making 
manure, and I have long been of the opinion that 
pork making in New England above the wants of the 
farmer’s table is not profitable unless connected with 
an economical method of manure making. The labor 
of adding material can be done at odd jobs and when 
other farm work does not drive, and nothing is more 
deserving the attention of the farmer than this. Every 
one will agree with me that whatever pursuit or busi¬ 
ness a man follows for his living, in order to become 
successful, must be well done ; he should be competent, 
faithful, discreet and energetic, and not get above his 
business. And of all the occupations of life none re¬ 
quire more constant care and unremitted attention 
than that of the farmer, though he need not make 
drudges of himself and family. J. W. Colburne. 
Springfield^ Vl. t Aug. 29th, 1854. 
