Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-12-09
Wintering Stable Manure.
4. IS. Allen In Rural New Yorker.

Some contend that in order to pre-
serve its fertlizing salts, stable ma
nure should be covered by a ror' If
it he pure and without lite II any
kind, it is undoubtedly best to have
it well sheltered from sun, wind, rain
and snow; but if, on the contrary,
the manure abounds with litter, or il
is composted with sod, muck or peat,
shelter over it is injurious rather than
beneficial for the outside clements
are just what it requires to assist in
a more rapid decomposition and finer
pulverization, which better fit it for
application to spring crops. Rain
and snow contain more or less am
monia, according to the season and
the frequency of the fall of them
and these, saturating the manure, add
considerably TO its fertility in the
course of . few months. AS | have
neither sod, peat nor muck, but plen-
ty OF coarse marsh hay and straw, |
use these lavishly for stable bedding.
In addition also use them in making
up manure heaps in the following
manner:
Make a bed Of one or both of
these, a foot thick, on the open
ground where most convenient, and
daily spread all the stable manure
over this bed till it is about four
inches thick; then put on the next
layer of straw or hay only six inches
thick, and over this layer of only
three inches Of manure, and thus
proceed till the heap is as high as is
wanted, finally with a layer Of six
inches of pure manure without litter
in it. This last is necessary to top
the heap, in order to make it rot
equally in a short time from top to
bottom. usually make the heaps
about five feet high, and they soon
settle down TO four feet.
Leaves of trees may be substituted
for hay and straw when obtainable if
neither Of the latter can be had.
Manure thus heaped up never fires,
although decomposing rapidly, and
none of its salts filter through the
bedding; all are retained by the sew
eral layers Of hay and straw, and
assist in rotting them, and making
the whole heap a homogeneous mass.
The object in having the lowest layer
twice as thick as the subsequent ones,
is TO insure its saving all the salts
that may be washed down from the
other layers into it. When n quality
Of manure is wanted richer than the
above, We sprinkle fine ground bone
dust or meal and guano alternately
over each layer as fast as made, in a
greater or less quantity as desired.
A fair amount Of these mixed with
a heap containing ten two-horse wagon
loads-say five cords-would be $50
pounds each. This additional fertil-
izing matter would make the ten
loads sufficient to manure half an
acre Of land-unless excessively poor
for all ordinary crops grown on
the farm. Superphosphate may be
substituted for bone dust. but IL does
not usually contain as much of the
fertilizing elements for the price as
the latter, and is not 50 reliable.
Pure, fine, ground bone dust or -four
mixed up with stable manure as
above, is as well fitted in a few
months to he applied to crops as
superphosphate; and fine sifted or
manipulated guano, of course, is al.
ways ready for immediate application.
IL the manure is to be applied to
potatoes, or for the production of
fruits, potash is also an excellent
additional fertilizer to be sprinkled
on every layer as fast as added 20 the
heap. Some are at the extra labor of
tossing over this compost once or
twice before using it, but [ have
found this unnecessary. Forking it
down straight from the top TO the
bottom in loading into the wagon,
and doing the same when unloading
it for the crops mikes it sufficiently.