Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-08-09
Management Of Manure.

Management Of Manure.
The progress of Improvement in the ogri-
culture Of any country j, indicated ty the at
tention that is paid to the collection, prcscr-
walton aud application OF manure. The won
derlu change that has taken place in tho
British hus5andry was ushered in by attempts
to tnlarge The quantity and improve the
quality Of manure. Every kingdom of ma
ture has been rausacked to fud out substan-
ces endowed with the principle Of fertility.
Science has come to the all Of art; philoso
ply has stopped from her dignity and joined
in the research, and the public mind appears
to be more fully aroused to still more adven-
turous efforts The formation of compost
mlddens, the mixture of soil with decompos~
able matter, the universal application of
lime, the construction ofliquid manure tanks,
the introduction oil guano, burnt clay, bones,
plaster, g., are all steps in the great race i'll
which Intelligent agricuIturists have been and
are engaged Unless such means IRE re.
sorted to- Great Britain could not sustain
her dense population. Without the greatest
economy Of manlre, the millions Of China
would starve.
The continued production of grain crops
will exhaust the most fertile SOIL unless rest
is given and manure applied. it has been
proved and acted on in Belgium and England
that a farm may be kept in good heart aud
suhjeJed tawsssGontlnued course Of cropping
without 9th manure than that which is
,,u1f ~ from, tl,
OF green CROPS, hay, straw, &C., and the prop
er management and application Of the solids
and liquids which are thus obtained
In new countries, such as the United States
and Canada, where rich land is easily obtain
ed and labor scarce, manure is neglected, and
when the soil il impoverished by continual
cropping and the rapid increase of weeds
fresh locations are sought, and the WORKOUT
soil abandoned; but when all the land te-
comes occupied this system must be changed
and manure and rotation of crops called in
to the aid of the farmer.
Few persons in a new country are sufi-
GENTLY careful Of manure. Sometimes it is
spread on the green sward, sometimes per-
nitted to remain lying round the barn yard
for two or three seasons. The liquid which
exudes from it is not economical. The cxha-
lations which arise from the ardent influence
of the summers sun, and from the natural
activity OF fermentation are permitted to es-
cape and carry away with them the most val
liable part OF the manure. Proper means
are not used to fix the gases which are gem
Grated by putrefaction, and which constitute
the elements of vegetable food. Every ma
nure heap should have foundation OF muck
to receive the liquid which exudes from it
layers Of muck intcrmixcd with it to keep the
manure from being overheated and protec.
zion of some kind to keep it from the inhu-
ence Of the weather. Plaster should always
be used for fixing the ammonia. Very few
farmers pay any attention to the degree of
heat attained by the lermentng manure; it
should never exceed one hundred degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer. AT much low
er heat, car0onic acid, and other gases as
cend in elastic fluids and are ditfusod aud LOST
in the atmosphere; the manure heap becomes
fire. tanged, and its fertiizing ingredients are
expelled.
So long ago as 1912, Charles Alexander,
an intelligent farmer in Scotland, published
an account Of his experiments to ascertain
the value OF the Urine of cattle as a manure.
He commenced operations by digging pit
near his feeding STALLS but distinct from that
which was occupied by the solid manure
The dimensions OF this wore thirty-six feet
square and four feet deep. Surrounded on
all sides by a wall. Having selected the
nearest spot where he could find loamy Garth,
he proceeded to fill it, and found that the
whole expense Of transporting tho earth to it
did not exceed 500, When the work was
complete he eveled the surface of the heap
on line With the sewer which conducted tue
liquid from byre, that he might be enabled to
saturatc the soil evenly The liquid was
supplied by fourteen cattle which were kept
for five months on turnips and hay. The
contents of the pit produced 288 loads which
manured seven acres Of land He tried this
experiment annually for ten years, and used
In separate fields the rotted COW dung and the
saturated clay, aud found in ali cases the lat.
ter was fully equal to the former. The bene-