28 
THE AUSTRALIAN GAKittNER. 
other manurial ingredients originally 
presents in the fresh material; further- 
more, the ingredients in manure rotted 
under such conditions will be more readily 
available as plant food. 
Storage——The method of storing farm- 
yard manure has great influence on the 
final quality of thedung. Nomatter how 
rich the solid and liquid excrement may 
be in the first instance, a large proportion 
of the valuable ingredients of the manure 
are liable to be lost by subsequent bad 
management. Whatever may be the 
conditions under which dung is made 
and stored, care should be taken to pre- 
vent— 
. 1. Loss of the liquid by drainage, 
for the reasons already indicated, 
2. Overheating, which drives off 
much of the nitrogen from the manure. 
The following precaution for pre- 
venting loss from farmyard manure in 
either of the two ways mentioned are 
applicable to all conditions under which 
dung is produced. 
The manure from different classes of 
stock varies considerably in character and 
quality. Thus, horse manure is rich, dry, 
and in bulk quick to ferment and over- 
heat. Onthe other hand, manure from 
byres and piggeries is less concentrated, 
contains more moisture, is cold, and fer- 
ments slowly. A manure evenly rotted 
and of uniform composition is secured by 
mixing the dung from each class of stock 
together. Itisabad practice to keep 
each kind of manure in separate parts of 
the dung heap. 
The manure should be spread over as 
little space as possible. kept well com- 
pressed and moderately moist. © In 
covered yards, where cattle or pigs are 
kept on the manure, these conditions are 
easily attained. Open heaps, however, 
require more attention, and the manure 
should be compressed by wheeling each 
barrow load of dung over that already in 
the heap. 
The bottom of the heap should be 
covered with a layer of some absorbent 
material such as bog mould, rough litter, 
&c.,and a quantity of such substances 
also kept round the heap to retain the 
liquid; this material should be thrown up ~ 
— 
on the heap as 1t becomes saturated, ana 
then replaced by a fresh supply. 
Site of Manure Heap.—The manure 
heap must necessarily be situated con- 
venient to the farm buildings, and 
consequently the choice of a site is often 
restricted. The most favorable situation 
is on level ground where there is small 
chance of water gaining access to the heap 
from springs, higher ground, or roofs of 
buildings, or of the liquid draining away 
from ths manure. 
Bottom of Manure Heap.—The bottom 
of the heap must be impervious to 
liquids. Concrete or hardbricks laid on 
edge make excellent floors, which in 
addition to being water-tight afford a 
hard surface for carting. A layer 8 to 
12 in. thick of well-covsolidated clay 
makes a cheap and in many respects a 
suitable fioor. The bottom of the heap 
should have a distinct slope backwards, 
especially when there isa retaining wall 
at the back against which the manure can 
be compactly built. 
Working the Goat. 
Some three thousand angora goats are 
to be herded out on the brush-covered 
foothills of California for two years be- 
ginning this Spring; the experiment’ is 
unique both as a stock raising proposition 
and as an engineering and tree culture 
problem. The goats are to eat their way 
through mile after mile of bushy 
chapparal, starting from defined trails 
about eighty rods apart. It is expected 
that the wide lanes opened out by the 
goats will serve as ideal fire protective lines 
and also open up the dense undergrowth 
for the planting of merchantable trees. 
This work is being done under the care 
of the United States Government, and if 
successful, will be extended to other 
national forests.—Florists Exchange. 
The area under wheat in New Zealand 
was 252,391 acres, and the estimated yield - 
8,328,903 bushels, an average 
bushels per acre. The area under oats is 
403,037, and the estimated yield 
17,095,054, an average of 40 bushels to 
the acre. 
of 33 
a 
ARAB COFF 
April 1, 1909 
ae 
Miscellaneous Items. 
Good teams are 
farming. 
The colt should be taught to eat well 
before weaning. 
Tf a horse’s legs are scarred, look out 
for a kicker or a stumbler. 
A horse’s mouth is not a sure index of 
his age, especially if he is over six or, 
seven years old. 
Sheep require the constant care of 
someone familiar with their needs and 
habits if they a-e to be kept in large 
numbers. 
There is no more important qualifica- 
tion required in heayy draught horses 
than that they should possess good walk- 
ing experience. 
It is a common practice to serve fillies 
early, and if well mated the stock are 
quite as large and powerful as those from 
mares of an older age, 
Mr. Sid. Kidman says that the English 
Company which had bought Victoria 
River Downs, the largest cattle station in 
the world, would take delivery at the end 
of May. There were 80,000 head of cattle 
on it. 
How many farmers count the profit 
they gain by having their children well- 
cared-for in the clean, bright country, 
free from the snares, sins, and distempers 
of a city, with an equal chance to learn 
in the country schools, which are to-day 
as good as any in the city. 
The man who builds up to-date, modern 
buildings, cement floors in all stables, 
piggery, and hen-houses, saves all 
manure, solids and liquids, puts it on the 
land before the goodness goes down the 
brook, keeps buildings warm, his stock in 
comfort—there is no hard times on that 
farm, 
Farmers should study how to raise 
farmers on the farm. Sometimes a farmer 
thinks that ifhecan raise a doctor or a 
lawyer he is doing well, but he should 
remember that some of the noblest and 
most successful men in the nation are 
farmers. The farmer may not become 
vastly wealthy, but wealth is not the 
measure of success. 
essential to good 
—-—«xHKRICLOWS ARowA. 
