The Portland daily press., 1879-11-26
AGRICULTURAL.
Improving Muddy Barnyards.

Every one who has the care of domestic
animals like to have a dry yard to turn
them Into portion of each day, while they
are kept at the barn. and to keep dairy stock
and some other animals in al night while
they are at pasture.
In summer the yards are generally dry,
and in winter they are frozen solid most of
the time, in this climate, but then in the
spring and fall many of them are wet and
some decidedly muddy, not a comfort ,ble or
clearly place for the animals and cause of
much extrs work for those having the care
of them.
On many farms the barns are located so
that the manure is thrown out where it
must be hauled across the yard to get it to
the field where it is wanted for use. A
large portion of this work is done i'll the
spring on most farms, and the muddy yard
is the cause of much additional expense;
but at this time there is no practicabl5 rem
edy for it. The water is in the soil and only
passes off by the slow process of evapo-
ration.
There is no chance for drainage from be-
low on account of a strata Of frozen ground
at considerable depth below the surface that
does not thaw till quite late in the season in
such situation. AT any time after this,
aud before the ground is frozen the next
winter, the cause of the mud may be re-
moved by drainage, and the yards much i'm
proved if not made entirely satisfactory.
For the benefit of those who have yards
in similar locations, and would like to i'm
prove them, the way one was drainedis CIV
en-. The place was on the side of the hill that
rose gradually for considerable distance be-
yond the buildings. The barns were on the
upper side Of the yard which was so soft
that the wheels would sink half way to the
hubs in the mud when loads were hauled
across it in the spring. At first cutters
were put under the caves of the barns, and
surface drains were made to convey off the
water. This did not make it much better,
and after that portion of the yard was
paved with stone, but the frost hove them
out of place, and it was if possible worse
than before. Having concluded that the
water soaked into the yard through the po-
roGs soil from the higher land and was pre-
vented from passing off by the more COM
pact soil there, ditch was dug across above
the barns with the bottom below the level of
the surface of the ground in the yard. and
from each end of that down past it on each
side to the lower ground. Drains were laid
with stone in the bottom of the bitches, then
they were filled nearly full of small stones
and completed from the dirt that was
thrown out of the bitches.
In that place the cost in labor was con-
siderable as the ditch above the barns was
about six feet in depth. The ones that run
down the hill from each end of that growing
gradually shallower to the outlets from
which small quantity of water flowed most
of the time. The result was dry yard, that
the owner could drive loaded team across
with comfort at any season of the year, and
this more than compensated for the work.
1t might be better where stones are used for
drain in soil that is composed mostly of
clay, to pack them in without leaving an
opening for the water to pass through, as
the clay will sometimes when saturated
with water, dress in the sides and clog the
drain. When the stones arc packed in with
out leaving an opening the water will pass
off readily, and there is less liability of any
loosening of the soil at its sides.-Drigo Ru-
rail-