Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1858-04-09
From the American Farmer.
Preservation of Farm-yard Manu-

Preservation of Farm-yard Manure.
In the July number of our journal. we
received an article on the Composition
Of Farm gard Manure. and tie chunges
Which It undergoes. on keeping unRer Gif-
-Terent circumstances" copied from num-
ber of the journal of the Royal Agricul-
tursl Society of England, from the pen OF
Professor Voelcker.
In speaking OF the 25.h proposition
which Professor V. laid down, and which
were in these words:
"25. The most rational plan Of keep
ing manure in heaps appears to me that
adopted by Mr.. Lawrence, of Cireucester.
and described by him at length in Nor.
toms Cyclopedia of Agriculture, under
the head of manure
We said. OF the 25th we cannot
speak, not having read the article he
speaks Of" Since then We have obtain
ed the work. and take pleasure in copy
ing it for the benefit of our readers, as We
believe it an excellent plan for preserv
ing the virtues Of manure.
MANURE HEAPs.-''Ther being few
steadings where the accommodation is
sufficient 10 hold all the manure until
wanted for application to the land, it is
necessary and particularly convenient 10
cast it out to the more distant fields, and
to make it up into large heaps. Wherev-
er this is necessary, the cart should also
be- driven upon the heap before being
emp'ied. BY SO doing manure is cousol-
idsted. air is excluded and fermentation
prevented. In finishing the heap, the
end should be raised near on level with
the centre, which is easily done by
u little attention on tho par! Of the carter.
These portions unavoi1abiy lett low at
both ends for the cart to get OF and on
the heap can be raised ON q level with
the rest by backing several cart loads.
tilting them up. and throwing up this ma
nure with forks. After this tue whole
heap should be covered with earth from
the sides, three or four inches thick.
which should be we'll beaten down with
the back of spade. Road scra[inys
when they can be got conveniently, are
oven better than common SOii. they
are in u verJ minute state OF sub division
from the grinding and treadi0g of cart
wheels and hoase's feet. bes!cs always
containing considerable quantities of ma
nure dropped on the roads. If these arc
sufficiently wet to beat into plaster on
the heap. SO much the better, as the sur
iAce will be thereby more hermetricaily
sealed, both within and without. In ed-
dition to all this, the whole surface may
very properly be sPrinkled with sulphur
ic acid, so that any ammoniecal gas that
may escape through the earth, may be
at once arrested by this useful agricuitu-
raj detective. whose affinity for fugitive
alkalies is altogether Unsuitable. Dis
solved bones. havinga suficiency of free
acid. may also be employed for fixing am,
monia. and if the manure be intended for
turnips or mangold wurtzel. it is an ex-
cellent plan to mix q few cWt. through
the whole heap.
'' The site chosen for these manure
heaps should be as sheltered as possible.
in order to prevent the surface from be-
coming too dry. An e1cavated site. built
on three sides. with wal! feet high. is
decidedly the best mode OF preserving
manure in field and were every field
on farm which may not be adjocent.
and therefore not easily manured from
the homestead. furnished with a pit OF
this sort. there would be no risk Of loss
from evaporation, or fermentation, pro-
vided the top and open side were cover
ed with earth''
Before leaving this subject, We would
state that no weeds in which the seeds
have ripened and arc still remaining in
them, should ever be mixed with farm.
yard manure. as these seeds are sure to
vegetate when placed in the soil again.
Couch grass may be so employed. but the
stolons take long while to become COM
pletely rotten.
Potato stalks and farm yard manure
make an excellent mixture for raising
turnips. and if possible they should eth.
er be taken whilst green to the straw-yard
to be trodden down and mixed with the
manure there. or mixed up with manure
in the fields and covered with earth.
Turnip tops. if not ploughed in green.
should also be treated in the same way.
On sharp dry land. where the quality Of
the grain is generally good. turnip tops
make excellent manure for wheat and
barley. and this is very generally the
mode for using them on hard land farms,
but on soft soils they produce coarse
and inferior sample.
EB- The bill establishing a Lunatic
Asylum somewhere in the Trans AlleUha-
ny district of Virginia, has passed the