66 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Feb. 
farms every year, so great that could it be present¬ 
ed to our minds in the light it ought, would, I am 
sure, startle us. Many farmers think they have not 
time to make manure, and yet without manure, they 
are well aware that they can grow but poor crops. 
Leaves, weeds before seeding, dirt from road washes, 
the wood-yard, the fowl-houses, the pig-pens, when 
properly managed, supply a vast amount of valuable 
manure. The first four named, should be incorpora¬ 
ted with the droppings and litter of the barn-yard 
and stables; the fifth should be mixed with plaster 
and ashes, according to the receipt in the May num¬ 
ber of the Cultivator for 1850, page 181, and which 
I think is certainly one of the finest composts I ever 
used. The pig-pens should be kept well littered with 
straw, leaves, weeds, &c., and the farmer will be 
amply repaid for the trouble it will cost him. 
Straw is so valuable for converting into manure, 
and contains comparatively speaking, so little actual 
nutriment as food for stock, that I think it ought 
seldom to be used for the latter purpose. Some ex¬ 
cellent remarks upon this subject, from the pen of 
Mr. John Johnston, of Geneva, will be found in 
last September’s Cultivator. I feel sure that they 
Will accord with the experience of all those who have 
tested the matter thoroughly. The bare droppings 
from stock, make comparatively but a very small 
quantity of manure. It may be said that although 
small in quantity , it is more highly concentrated, 
and will go further. To a certain extent, this may 
be true; but it is a well-known fact, that the whole 
mass of straw, leaves, &c. &c., when incorporated 
with the droppings and saturated with the liquid from 
the stock, becomes almost as valuable as the clear 
droppings, and may be made to exceed it many times 
in bulk. It is therefore better economy to pass the 
straw through the yard in order to get a greater 
amount of manure to apply to the growth of valuable 
crops. Those farmers living near villages or cities, 
have opportunities for obtaining manure which are 
out of the power of those farther off, unless the 
means of transportation are easy. We presume no 
good farmer will neglect any opportunity afforded 
him to obtain a supply of manure at rates that will 
repay him. 
The Presevation of Manure. —I am fully of 
the opinion that manure ought to be well rotted, to 
be applied to the greatest advantage on sandy soils. 
For that purpose, therefore, the manure of the farm 
should be secured, either under sheds for the pur¬ 
pose, or in yards so planned as to prevent loss by 
drenching rains, or leaching off, and made one year 
to be applied the next. The heaps should be covered 
with dirt or plaster of Paris, in order to prevent the 
escape of ammonia. 
The Application of Manure.—I have found by 
repeated trials, that about two to three inches is the 
best depth to cover manure when applied to sandy 
land. I should always prefer plowing the ground 
first, when practicable; spread the manure broad¬ 
cast, evenly over the surface, after which, harrow in 
well with an iron tooth harrow. If manure is used, 
which is not rotted, it should be put on before plow¬ 
ing, and the ground well harrowed afterwards. I 
have obtained great benefit from top-dressing grass 
lands early in the spring, with well rotted manure. 
There is a custom prevailing in some places, which I 
think cannot be approved of by the best farmers—• 
namely, manuring the corn crop in the hill, with 
barn-yard manure. In behalf of the custom it is 
urged that a greater quantity of corn to the acre can 
be raised in this way, and that the manure can be 
made to cover a greater space. The fact is, it is a 
forcing system; the idea is the making a good crop, 
not the general improvement of the land. If the sea¬ 
son prove moist, a good crop may doubtless be rais 
ed in the way named; but should the season prove 
dry, the manure in the hill would damage more than 
benefit the crop. The only advantage gained, is in 
giving the corn a start. As to covering over a great¬ 
er space of ground, I can ' only say that I think an 
even culture the greatest beauty of farming, and my 
dislike to the system in question is, that it militates 
against this. Corn is a crop, the roots of which 
run out every where in search of food; if manure is 
spread evenly over the surface, as soon as the roots 
of the corn begin to extend themselves, they will be 
sure to find it, and at a time, and in such quantity, 
as is best suited to the growth and development of 
the plant—and the ensuing season our eyes will not 
rest upon an uneven field of oats; here a tall cluster 
of spires, and there an army of dwarfs. I have 
stood some distance off, and looked over a field treat¬ 
ed in this way, and could count where every hill of 
corn had been the season before. Such a system of 
husbandry is not calculated to improve our worn-out 
land. We want an even culture, calculated to bene¬ 
fit the whole, not a part of the land. Broadcast ap¬ 
plications of manure, evenly spread over the surface, 
are always the best. 
Plowing Sandy Soils. —So far as my experience 
goes, I have found six inches the best depth to plow 
sandy soils and loams. I am aware it is very fash¬ 
ionable to say “ plow deep,” and I think this is said 
too much, without any discrimination. In clay soils, 
there is little fear of going too deep, but there seems 
to me no reason in plowing a soil to a great depth, 
that is already too porous. Even sandy loams are 
not benefitted by too deep plowing, and as to sub- 
soiling any light soil, except, perhaps, for the pur¬ 
pose of raising root crops, I think it ruinous. 
Fencing. —The first object of attention in regard 
to fencing, should be to get line fences in good order. 
<c Good fences make good neighbors,” is an old and 
true adage. The lines should be evenly divided, and 
memorandums to that effect should be exchanged 
