Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-01-08
How to Manage the Manure Heap.

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is problem we'll worth studying.
In "Talks on Manures," published
by the Orange Judd Company, JOS
eph Harris tells how he deals with
this subject and his plan is so sim
pie and so easily adopted by every
farmer that we copy portion of it
for our readers. There is no better
time to study this whole manure sub
ject than in the leisure of winter,
and it would amply repay every
thinking farmer to send for this work
of Mr.. Harris, and devote the spare
time of the remaining winter even
ings to it. There is no man in the
country better able to speak with au-
thority on this matter than Mr.. Har-
ris:
"The real point of difference be-
tween my plan of managing manure,
and the plan adopted by the Deacon,
is essentially this: | aim to keep all
my manure in compact pile, where
it will slowly ferment all winter.
The Deacon throws his horse-manure
into q heap, just outside the stable
door, and the cow-manure into anoth-
er heap, and the pig manure into an
other heap. These heaps are more
or less scattered, and are exposed to
the rain, and snow, and frost. The
horse-manure is quite likely to fer
ment too rapidly, and if in a large
heap, and the weather is warm, it not
unlikely 'fire-fangs' in the center of
the heap. On the other hand, the
cow-manure lies cold and dead, and
during the winter freezes into solid
Jumps.
~ wheel or cart all my manure into
one central heap. The main object
is to keep it as compact as possible.
There are two advantages in this
lst, the manure is less exposed to the
rain, and (2d), when freezing weather
sets in, only few inches of the ex.
ternal portion of the heap is frozen,
| have practiced this plan for sever
al years, and can keep my heap of
manure slowly fermenting the whole
winter.
"But in order to ensure this result,
it is necessary to begin making the
heap before the winter sets in. The
plan Is this:
Having selected the spot in the
pard most convenient for making the
heap, collect all the manure that can
be found in the sheep-yards, sheds,
COW and horse-stables, pig.pens, and
hen-house, together with leaves,
weeds and refuse from the garden,
and wheel or cart it to the intended
heap. If you set q farm-man to do
the work, tell him you want TO make
hot-bed about five feet high, six
feet wide, and six feet long. do
not think | have ever seen farm
where enough material could not be
found, say in November, to make
such heap. And this is all that is
needed. If the manure is rich, if it
is obtained from animals eating Glow
er-hay, bran, grain, or other food
rich in nitrogen, it will soon fermcnt.
But if the manure is poor, consisting
largely of straw, it will be very de
sirable to make it richer by mixing
with it bone-dust, blood, heu-drop-
pings, woollen rags, chamber-lye, and
animal matter of any kind that you
can find.
"The richer you can make the ma
nure, the more readily will it fer
ment. A good plan is to take the
horse or sheep manure, few weeks
previous, and use it for bedding the
pigs. 1t will absorb the liquid of
the pigs, and make rich manure,
which will soon ferment when placed
in heap.
'If the manure in the heap is too
dry, it is good plan, when you are
killing hogs, to throw on to the ma
nure all the warm water, hair, blood,
intestines, etc. You may think am
making too much OF such simple
matter, but have had letters from
farmers who have tried this plan Of
managing manure, and they say that
they can not keep it from freezing.
One reason for this is that they do
not start the heap early enough, and
do not take pains to get the manure
into an active fermentation bafora
winter sets in. Much depends on
this. In starting a fire, you take
pains to get little fine, dry wood,
that will burn readily, and when the
fire is fairly going, put on larger
sticks, and presently you have such
q fire that you can burn wood, coal,
stubble, sods, or anything you wish.
And so 1t is with a manure-heap.
| Get the fire. or fermentation. or moro