Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-03-29
Farm and Household.
How a Vermont Farmer Makes Wa.



farmer in Craftsbury in this State writes
as follows to the Country Gentleman of his
method Of saving, increasing and using his
yearly stock Of manure
have a large she'd all closed up but gate
to go out and in, and a sliding window oppo-
site, which in summer can be opened, and
that permits n current of air to pass through,
which keeps the cows comfortable in the night
In winter the window is shut, so that it is
comfortable for the cows There is good run
ming water in the she'd which does not
freeze.
In the spring, after getting out my manure,
| cart in dry muck or scurf from spruce
ridge. and cover the floor of the shed all
over about one foot deep for the cows to lie
upon. Every morning take up the manure
with six-tined fork, and the urine turns the
muck to a dark color, so l can readily take
that up and pile it with the droppings at one
end Of the shed. This is attended to every
morning rs regularly as l clean out the stable
in winter In this way double the manure
in summer. When again get out all the ma
nure Gin the falD | fill up again with muck,
and where l throw out the stable manure |
put it one and half feet deep. The stable
floor is water-tight cut up straw and brakes
in n straw-cutter to litter the cows in the STALL
thus keeping them clean to milk, and keep lit
tel Ou tht lONtI uuOIs udCh Vi llle COWS, 10
take up the urine. | hoe back the manure
morning, noon, evening, and at nine o'clock
before go to bed and sft litter under the
cows every time. Then in the morning. |
fork the manure. urine soaked muck and straw
together, and then throw all out upon the
muck in the shed. All the water that drains
out is taken up by the muck underneath
Thus by spring the muck is saturated. and is
lust as strong AS any of the pile.
This management more than doubles Sle
quantity and quality of manure. The common
talk of my boyhood was that load of hog
manure was worth two or three loads of cattle
manure, because the hog is fed ON richer food,
and the bedding, urine and solid manure were
all mixed up together by the hog Now if a
COW is kept fat by feeding 20 pounds of cut
hay, cut from the 10th to the 10Th of June
and has peck Of potatoes in addition, you
have just rs rich manure as the hog makes,
if it is treated as above described. number
of years ago ] manfred piece of ground for
corn with hog manure | lacked enough for
the piece, and filled out with load from the
cow-shed, and there was no difference in the
corn. spread load of hog manure on my
meadow for top-dressing after moving in
June, and also took n load of COW manure and
spread it side by side with the other. and in
six weeks from the time l spread it | moved
the grass I cut little over two tons per
acre, and the two loads of manure were equal
in effect-one being as good as the other.
The manure changed the grass from less than
one ton to over two tons of nice hay in six
weeks. 1t was showery after putting it on.
and nice growing time
The manure I am now making will be
spread ON the ground next spring and cult
waited in; seeded down with II bushels of
seed per acre and rolled. The 10Th of July,
If 1t is good growing time, l can cut two
tons of hay per acre the last of August will
get two tons more. 1 have done this many
times The manure on this springs sowing,
grows and puts back into the barn two crops
of nice hay, and comes back into the tub next
winter in butter as nice as summer butter
Thus this treatment more than doubles the
product and the product more than doubles
the beef and butter above the common prac-
tice. The manure then goes again for anoth-
er crop to the land the next spring so the
annual circle is carried around complete.