The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-03-03
Composing Manure. Another Way

The article 10 recent number of the
Country Gentleman, which l have unfor.
tunately mislaid but written | believe by
a Virginiap, seems to Inc to be rather
calculated 10 discourage many who be-
eve 10 making the most Of the raw ina.
teriul from their stables and barnyards,
but who are unable to put it through the
rather complicated process described ID
that article And it seems to me thai
his theory is as wrong os lis practice
would certainly be inconvenieut to many
farmers. No amount Of hauling ion to
high ridges or composing can add g sin.
gle per cent. to the amount Of nitrogen,
phosphorio acid or potash contained In
the original mass, and therefore cannot
" increase the quantity" it may, and
probably 10 his case does retain those val.
liable ingredients which might otherwise
be lost by washing or evaporation, and
thus far, and where labor can be obtained
at half the rate it commands here, is u
good plan 10 the absence of a better. Do.
lug most Of my manual labor by proxy
and having yet a few hungry acres to feed
up. l do not always succeed to my owl
satisfaction in getting the greatest bcu,d
from my manure heap; but the best sue
cess have as yet achieved was in this
wise
Promising that the barn--a toerably
correct representation of which may bt
found in the prospectus Of the Country
Gentleman, coupled with the name of
certain Justice Of the Peace-pig pei
aud earth closet, which is also the recep
tacle of coal nshes from the kitchen
stove. all open into the bainyard (wbicl
is not more than eighty feet square and
rather too large). the manure from fou'
cows, one horse and pen of shotes, and
the contents OF the earth closet, were
thrown at short intervals into heap l.
the centre, where it soon OF course frog
as hard as brick. l should have SAT-
that at the previous cleaning out, which
was done in the eigth month, about TWEEN
ty.6ve cart.loads Of soda. road scrapings
and load or so Of potatoe vines, wer,
spread over tho yard. When the Jan
uary thaw" came, which by the way die
not come till late 10 the next month, the
shotes we're encouraged TO operate on tn,
heap by making few holes in it with b
post. bar. and filling them 1.-THE holes) with
corn. Being set to work hungry, and
realizing probably that their breakfast
depended on their earning it, they wen
at it With high vigor, and 10 a very short
time had the upper twelve or sixteen
inches of the bed as thoroughly torn W
aud mixed as if they had been at work
for that especial purpose This wa,
carefully piled CD one side, and the pro
cess repeated until nothing was left o.
the orr gical heap.
The new heap Of course soon began te
heat, and in the spring the yard wa.
carefully scraped and tho scraping'
thrown on top of the heap, where it re-
NAMED until after harvest, losing 10 that
time suppose at least one hundred
thousand pounds Of water. and nothing
else Of any account or value, as not thu
least unpleasant smell was observable ex
cept on one or two occasions, which wa
Immediately checked by a Sigh. eprink
ling of coal ashes or dry earth, whichever
happened to be on hand. Now for re
sults The yield was fly onc.hors,
loads, fifteen of which, APPLIED to an acr'
Of grass in tolerabe good condition. CAV,
return Of four aud a half tons of ha
and an aftermath latter second cutting
which kept COW six weeks, The ha,
was weighed, not guessed at and nettet
$40 over the cost Of cutting and hauipl
to town. The remainder of the manur
was used 90 land too poor to grow any
thing without manure, and guess did q
much good as four or more times it
weight Of any raw manure ever boug CHI
1t is only right to state. however, tina
the stock which produced the manure wa
not fed on next.to nothing aud whea
straw, but on good clover hay and whoa
bran, and the horse on hay aud oats
Also about 1000 pounds Of chambers
greaves were run through the shotes re
ferred to-so that the manure was origin
ally good, and hold was better, havin
lost nothing but the bulk and weigh
when applied.-W. 4 Cambria, County