1852 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
49 
li Clyde,” the property of Mrs. Jane "Ward, Mark- [ 2,000 lbs.—and evidently possesses grea4 strength, as is 
ham, Canada West,—received the first premium in the indicated by his capacity of chest, muscular auarteisand 
class of foreign draft-horses, at the show of the N. Y. close jointed, sinewy limbs. The chief defect in his shape 
State Ag. Soc. in 1848, and a certificate as the best in the is a hollow over his loins, which is shown by the figure 
same class, at the show of 1851. He is of the Clydes- j The figure, however, fails to give an idea of the massive 
dale breed, so celebrated in Scotland, as draft-horses. | size, and imposing appearance of the horse, being com 
He is a horse of great size-having weighed upwards of 1 paratively too small and light in the body. 
the liquid and prevents the waste of gases from the 
manure. The urine voided by the animals in the stalls 
is partly taken up by the litter with which they are (or 
may be) abundantly supplied, partly poaks into the 
ground, (the animals generally standing on the ground 
without any intervening floor) and partly runs into the 
yard. But with all practicable attention, there is more 
waste of this valuable liquid than there is where the 
animals are kept over cellars into which the manure and 
urine falls, and is there mixed with muck, litter, &.C., 
to any necessary extent. In some instances, it was no¬ 
ticed that there was a drainage of the liquid from the 
yards—the extract of the manure being thus carried in¬ 
to the highway, or a stream, or to some neighboring field 
■where it rendered a small portion of the soil too rich to 
give good crops. This is scarcely avoidable where there 
are no means of governing the quantity of water which 
goes into the yard. In seasons of abundant rain more 
water will accumulate in the yards, unless it is allowed 
to run away, than is useful for the proper rotting of the 
manure. For this reason a sheltered depository, where 
just the requisite, amount of moisture could at all times 
be secured, and where it would be protected from wash¬ 
ing, and from exhalation, would be preferable. 
But it will perhaps be argued, that it is necessary to 
spread the straw and corn-stalks, which are to be con¬ 
verted into manure, over the yard, in order that they 
may be broken up and made short by the tread of stock 
■—that if the litter were thrown into a mass with the 
manure, it would not rot well, and hence could not be 
readily moved with the fork or shovel. The answer to 
this is, that it is better to cut the straw and corn-stalks 
with a machine. This is readily and cheaply done by 
the application of horse-power, and is the quickest anc 
best way of converting these articles into manure. Thev 
absorb more liquid when cut, mix better with the manure 
and offer no impediment to its being worked over for 
composting, or loaded for carrying to the field. When 
spread in the yard, and uncut, these substances decay 
slowly, and even when deposited on the wheat or corn¬ 
field, are often in so rough a state as to obstruct the ope¬ 
rations of the plow and harrow. This objection would 
be done away by passing the materials through a cutting 
machine. 
The common practice in the section of which we are 
speaking, is to spread the manure on the surface of the 
ground, for wheat and corn, and plow 7 it in three and a 
half to four inches deep—a very suitable depth for bury¬ 
ing manure, unquestionably, though it can scarcely be 
doubted that it would be useful to loosen the soil, which 
is of a tenacious tendency, to a greater depth. We re 
marked in a previous chapter, that the land here is sel¬ 
dom plowed deeper than five inches. It seemed to be 
the almost universal testimony, that all experiments at 
a greater depth had resulted injuriously—that the mix¬ 
ing of the underlying clay with the surface soil, tends 
to sterility. Some examples of this kind were detailed 
to us, by persons whom we regard as entirely reliable; 
but no trials at subsoiling, so far as we learned, had been 
made in this district. It would' be highly desirable to 
ascertain what would be the effect of loosening this clay¬ 
ey stratum, thus opening it in some degree, to the action 
of the air, and giving to the roots of plants a wider ex¬ 
tension. 
It should have been mentioned when speaking of the 
I course of cropping, that it is usual to apply about fifty 
