Building a Manure Pit 
Details of Material and Construction 
I expect to deliver the manure from 45 head of cows 
and young stock and six or eight horses with a carrier 
and a track to storage pit. I have never even seen a 
manure storage, but I realize the value of saving every 
bit of both liquid and manure, and I hardly know just 
how to build it. Our best convenience would be to 
store the manure not over two or three months at the 
longest during busy season, then making a job of haul¬ 
ing it out. Most of the year we would haul it at least 
once or twice per month. It is not quite convenient to 
haul it every day, and mixing the horse and cow 
manure together, i do not think there would be much 
wasted in a concrete storage. I would like your best 
advice as to just how to arrange it. how large and how 
deep. We presume it is best to run the spreader down 
in the pit to load it. and of course will have to have it 
watertight, with a roof on it. How wide do we want 
the walls and how deep, and do I understand the side 
walls are to be separate from the floor? I should think 
they should be absolutely watertight, and if they are 
built separate will they be watertight? 
We probably would want but one track 
to deliver; still, we could have two tracks 
if necessary. w. E. G. 
Ravena. N. Y. 
ITIIOFT knowing the conditions 
about the barn it is impossible 
to plan a storage that will exactly meet 
your needs. All that can be done is to 
give you some general suggestions and 
let you adapt them to your case. The 
pit that is perhaps in the most common 
use is rectangular in shape, nearly 
square and about four feet deep, with 
walls and floor of concrete. An ex¬ 
cavation is first made to the required 
size and depth, and a concrete lining 
put in. Sometimes a sump hole is pro¬ 
vided. to which the liquids can drain, 
and a pump installed to pump them 
back over the pile or into a tank for 
removal to the field. This sump may 
be arranged to take the drainage from 
the trenches in the barn as well. 
Whether or not this sump is provided 
it is best to absorb all of the liquids 
possible with litter. 
This style of pit has certain advan¬ 
tages. It requires a comparatively 
small amount of concrete for installa¬ 
tion. The manure is stored compactly 
and well preserved, and it takes up 
but little room in the yard. If a litter 
carrier is in use a swinging boom may 
be attached to the barn, as in Fig. 520. 
which will permit dumping in any part 
of the pit. permitting the building of a 
well-arranged pile with little or no 
handling. 
To offset these advantages is the cost 
of excavation which, unless there are 
ground conditions, as a slope, peculiarly 
adapted to this style of pit. is consid¬ 
erable. the fact that it must be located 
close to the barn. 30 to 40 feet, to 
secure the benefit of the use of a swing¬ 
ing boom, and the difficulty of loading 
and drawing the spreader from the pit. 
The pit is made with one end sloping 
down to the bottom, down which the 
spreader is backed, this arrangement 
requiring the loading of a good deal 
of the manure from the back. 
A storage well adapted to the use of 
such modern tools as the spreader and 
litter carrier is a long, narrow concrete 
floor, shaped like a shallow V trough 
with the litter carrier track extending 
down the center. If desired it can be 
provided with a roof, the same posts 
serving to carry both track and cover¬ 
ing. Such a storage is very convenient 
to load from. Being built at the ground 
level the spreader can be driven across 
it at any point and loading comes at 
the side, the most convenient place. 
About 12 feet is a convenient width, 
and it is customary to provide about 
15 square feet per cow, each animal 
producing from 70 to SO lbs. of manure 
daily, indicating a length of approxi¬ 
mately 50 feet for the floor. If de¬ 
sired this could be arranged to drain 
to a sump, as in the case of the pit. 
For the best construction a trench 
about 114 feet deep should be dug sur¬ 
rounding the proposed floor and a curb 
about eight inches thick laid with its 
top edge just coming flush with the 
ground surface. The area so enclosed 
is then dug out to the depth of a foot 
or so, removing all manure, etc., for no 
matter how solid it may appear it will 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
in time decay, leaving the floor unsupported. The 
surface is then brought to the proper grade and 
shape with well-tamped cinders or gravel. They 
provide some drainage beneath the concrete, and 
tend to prevent heaving should freezing occur. The 
floor should be about six inches thick and the top 
surface at the outside should be flush or nearly so 
with the top edge of the curb surrounding it. A 
mixture of one part cement. 2V. parts clean, well- 
graded sand and five, parts screened gravel will be 
found satisfactory. The concrete should be mixed 
to a mushy or “quaking*’ consistency and laid in 
9 
squares about 6x6 feet. The cracks between these 
squares will soon fill with manure, or hot tar or 
asphalt may be run into them, making them water¬ 
tight. and at the same time the floor will be pre¬ 
vented from developing shrinkage cracks that would 
A Big Long Island Baldwin. Fig. odl 
1603 
be likely to develop should it be laid all in one piece. 
Such a floor, using the mixture and thicknesses 
indicated and built 12x55 feet in size would require 
about 20 barrels of cement, although the use of a 
considerable amount of stone or ‘’rubble’’ in the 
bottom of the surrounding curb would reduce this 
amount somewhat. robekt h. smith. 
A Big Baldwin Apple 
T nder separate cover I am sending a Baldwin apple. 
I found several on one of my trees that weighed a 
pound, but this one went about one and a quarter 
pounds, and I thought I should like you to see it. I 
have only a small orchard at best. 
Suffolk Co.. N. Y. EDWARD F. KINSEY. 
HIS apple is shown (natural size) at Fig. 521.' 
This ear we have found many big specimens 
of Baldwius. especially on the young trees. The wet 
season has enabled such trees to make 
a full growth, and at the same time 
develop a full crop. Judging from our 
past experience we expect some of 
these trees to give another fair crop 
next year, especially where some form 
of phosphorus was used in late Sum¬ 
mer. It is the nature of the Baldwin 
to overbear one season and then pro¬ 
duce nothing the following year. Dur¬ 
ing the first few wet seasons our Bald¬ 
win trees have begun to produce each 
year. While the big apples are hand¬ 
some and interesting as monstrosities, 
most buyers prefer au apple of medium 
size. The big ones are seldom of tbe 
highest flavor and are apt to be too 
“plunky” for best eating. 
Preparing Celery for the Retail 
Trade 
TTRACTIVEXESS and cleanliness 
are tbe main attributes of a good 
bunch of celery if it is to sell quickly 
and at a good price. Whether the 
product is to be sold from a wagon, 
through a retailer, or ou the public 
market, care should be exercised in 
grading, bunching and wrapping. 
As soon as brought from the field 
the produce should be trimmed by re¬ 
moving the injured and broken outside 
leaves sufficiently to make the stalks 
appear uniform in size, such as will 
be in proportion to tbe shape of the 
variety. The stalks should then be 
immersed in a washing vat of cool 
water, where they can be removed at 
the convenience of tbe packer. From 
here they are placed on the wrapping 
table, where they are bunched, tied and 
wrapped. This operation gives the 
opportunity for grading, both for size 
and shape of the individual stalks and 
for size of the bunches. Several meth¬ 
ods of tying, depending on the demand, 
are common, the least attractive of 
which is to use common, heavy, soft 
cord, wrapping the bunch securely near 
the base and also near the top. A 
modification of this method is to use 
colored tape or ribbon, which adds to 
the attractiveness of the package, and 
is more common on bunches of from 
three to eight stalks thau on bunches 
of twelve. Another method still more 
attractive is to wrap the bunch in oiled 
paper, preferably showing a field scene 
with the name of the grower or some 
other advertising material. Such prac¬ 
tices as the last are more common in 
selling from public markets, or by other 
methods direct to tbe consumer, thau 
in selling through the retailer. 
A convenient device for tying celery 
iu bunches of 12 stalks can be made as 
follows: Bore two one-inch holes near 
the edge of the bench as far apart as 
the bunch is wide, and iu these fasten 
securely two round pins six to eight 
inches long. Lay the cord or tape ou 
the bench about two iuehe- behind tbe 
pins, which iu order to be of the right 
length should uot be cut until rhe bunch 
is fastened. Place a similar cord about 
12 inches from this for tying the tops. 
Then place tbe stalks ou the cords or 
tape with their bases between the pins, 
which bold them firmly and assure 
uniformity in size of bunch. If the 
hunch is to he shipped it should be 
