The Portland daily press., 1879-12-09
AGRICULTURAL.
seasonable Farm Hints.

The value and return from the crops to be
cultivated next season ON the farm must be
determined largely by the amount OF manure
which the farmer secures. Now is the time
to commence the work ofpreparatlon. Moth
ing should be neglected which Will increase
the stock of fertilizing material Loose hay
and straw should be raked up and thrown
into the pig pen. The cutters on the road
sides should be cleared of fallen leaves,
which latter make excellent bedding for
stock, and the best of manure when satura-
ted with liquid excrements.
1t is question for consideration whether
or not it pays to cart sand or simple loan
into the barn cellar, since neither material
contains great amount OF fertiizing mat
ter. The loan should be carted directly to
the land upon which it is to be applled.
Sometimes loan alone forms an excellent
top-dressing for grass, especially where the
latter has been very closely cropped. Loan
serves as protection to the roots as well as
acting as a fertilizer There are objections
to first carting loan into the manure cellar
and then out again to the field, with all the
additional expense of shoyelling and re-
handling, simply as compost. Is it not far
better to cart out the manure, composing 1t
with the soil on the field? For the same
reasons objection is made to carting sand
into the cellar and out again. Ii the soil to
which sand was to be applied is heavy
CLAY, why not first cart on the sand, then
the manure, finishing the compost on the
field?
Meadow muck, dug at this season of the
year and allowed to remain in piles during
the Winter and the following Summer, be-
comes when dry valuable auxiliary in the
preparation of manure. For use in the pig
pen it is excellent, making dry bed for the
pigs and an excellent manure. Its weight,
when saturated with urine, is not an obJec-
ton to its use, while the fact OF its being
vegetable matter renders it mechanically as
well as chemically beneficial to the soil. On
sandy soils muck thus prepared renders them
more tenacious and more retentive OF mois-
ture. 1t also renders clayey soils more trl-
able and prevents them from becoming too
compact, while water can ascend through
such soils much more readily than through
those of light sandy nature.
Year by year farmers are learning more
fully the value of Fall blowing and cultiva-
ton of the soils, both as to the beneficial Ell
feet upon the land and the advantage gained
by the saving of time in the hurry and rush
of Spring work Especially should stiff
clay soils be plowed deep in the Fall, so that
the frost may penetrate them, exercising a
beneficial influence through aiding in the
liberation of the fertilizing matter in the
soil. Through the action of frost the fertile
elements are rendered more soluble and
more available as plant food. Fertilizlng
matter in the soil is worth as much if prop
erly utilized as the same ingredients i'll the
shop of the dealer in commercial fertilizers.
Almost every soil contains material enough
to render it fertile if made soluble, and one
of natures most powerful agents in effecting
this is frost One of the best aids to the
important work of the frost is judicious
blowing in the Fall before the ground be-
comes frozen.-Boston Cultiyator