The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-04-26
1t is retained by some absorbent, or
kept from the drenching rains. 1t will

II Is retained by some absorbent, or
kept from the drenching rains. 1t will
be quickly out of reach. Manure is
manufactured product, and the success
Of all farm operations in the older
states depends upon the quantity and
quality OF this product. Other things
being equal, the farmer who comes out
in the spring with the largest amount
of the best quality of manure, will be
the man who finds farming pays the
best. A barn-yard. whether on side
hill or on level, with all the rains free
TO fall upon the manure heap. should
be 50 arranged as to lose none Of the
drainage Side-hill barn-yards are
common, because the barns thus 1ocat-
cd furnish convenient cellar. Abar-
rier of earth on the lower side of the
yard can be quickly thrown up with a
team and road scraper, which will catch
and hold the drenchings of the yard
above, and the coarse, newly-made
manure will absorb the liquid and be
benefited by 1t. 1t would be better to
have the manure made and kept under
cover, always we'll protected from
rains and melting SHOWS. Only enough
moisture should be present to keep it
from fermenting too rapidly. An old
farmer who let his manure take care OF
itself, once kept some of his sheep I'M
der cover, and was greatly surprised
at the increased value of the manure
thus made In fact, it was SO strong"
that when scattered rs thickly as the
leached dung of the yard, it made a
distinct belt of better grain in the field.
The testimony was so much in favor Of
the stall made manure, that this farm
er is now keeping all his live stock I'M
der cover, and the farm is yielding
larger crops and growing richer year
by year. If it pays to stop any leak
in the granary, it is all the more i'm
portant to look well to the manure that
finishes the food, that feeds the
plants, that grow the grain, that fills
the grain bin. At this season the liv-
ing mills are all grinding the hay and
grain, and yielding the by-products of
the manure heap. Much may be saved
in spring work by letting this heap be
as small as out door yard feeding and
the winds and rains can make it. but
such saving is like that of the econom-
ic sportsman who went out with the
idea of using as little powder and lead
as possible. In farming. grow the
largest possible crops, even though it
takes week or more of steady hard
work to get the rich, heavy, well-pre-
pared manure upon the fields. More
than this, enrich the land by throwing
every stream of fertility back upon the
acres which have yielded it. Watch
the manure heap as you would mine
of gold.-American Agricu turist.
TO EQUIP A WHEAT FARM IN DAKOTA.
The amount of machinery necessary
to plant and harvest the crops of the
northwest, according to the St. Paul
Pioneer Press, is enormous. The prin-
cipal crop of the northwest is wheat,
and as nearly all the labor required to
seed and harvest il is performed within
few months. usually from the LIST of
May to the LIST of October-rarely six
months-everything must be done with
rush. Farmers who raise nothing
but wheat can not afford to employ
help all the year round, and this fact
renders it very difficult to obtain the
necessary assistance when it Is needed
during the busy season. Wages are
high on account of this fact, and the
wheat-raiser finds himself compelled to
depend upon mechanical help instead
of muscle. 1t is questionable whether
it is more profitable. To properly equip
farm of even 100 acres with all the
machinery necessary to pillow the
ground, seed it, harvest and thrash the
grain, requires large outlay of money.
The total outlay for wagons, plows,
harrows, seeders, and harvesters neces-
sary to work farm of this size is about
500. This is an outlay that must be
made before the farmer can realize
from his first crop. 1t is not to be sup
posed that cash is required to buy all
this machinery. The farmer can bury
his entire outfit on credit. Mortgages
are often taken, but not as rule. The
agents of reapers and harvesters re-
quire no security beyond a simple note
IF hand Early in the snrinu a nerfact |