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Barn-Yard Management.
In the course of many visits we
have paid to farmers throughout the
country, one of the most noticeable
defects to be found, even amongst
those who may be fairly considered
intelligent and progressive men, is
the want of any proper system of
managing their barn yards. It does
not seem to occur to them that the
making and saving of manure is the
main point in any system of husband¬
ry, looking forward to a steady amel¬
ioration and improvement of the pro¬
ductive capacity of their farms, be
they large or small
Some have their yards trodden into
quagmires of mud, for want of some
absorbent material; while others lo¬
cate them on a bill side, from which
every rain storm washes away all the
richest and best qualities of manure
into some ditch or creek. Some again
do their best apparently to save all
the manure they can, yet allow it to
lose much of its strength and value
through being dispersed over a large
extent ofsuiface in the yard.
We propose to give a few general
rules to regulate management of barn
yards : yard should he loca¬
First—The so
ted and constructed that none of the
urine or salts in the manure can he
washed away.
Second—It should he entirely clean¬
ed out, and every particle of manure stock
ho applied to the soil before the
are to occupy it for the Winter, and
commence the work of making their
own food into plant food
Third—The bottom of the yard
must be made hard and solid enough
to prevent the liquid elements of the the
manure from leaching away into
soil on which it is located.
Fourth—The entire bottom should
he filled up with muck or dry loam,
to act as an absorbent of the liquids;
over this should he placed a layer of
straw several inches in depth.
Fifth—A mixen should be formed
if possible, under a shed; to it should 1
he carried all the droppings from tlie
stables, byres, pig sties, etc., to be
thoroughly incorporated together, and
the straw and droppings of the yard
mixed in as often as they can he got
partially worked up by the treading
of the stock. This mixen should he
so managed that the manure, while
being made, will ferment, yet not
rapidly, so as not to become decom¬
posed till near the time for app’yiug
it to the soil. This fermentation can
be controlled by keeping the mixture
moist, by adding water when too dry,
and not allowing an excess of straw
to got mixed into the manure.
Sixth—The entire yard, including
the layer of muck or loam at the bot¬
tom, should be cleaned out and added
to the mixen at hast once every three
months, and a fresh supply of muck
or other absorbent applied to the yard
and covered with straw.
By a proper course of management
the amount of manure made can easily
be doubled, and the yard kept sufh
ciently clean and dry for the comfort
of the stock that are turned into it du¬
ring the day time, w lieu loosened from
their stalls. It is better to keep add¬
ing fresh layers of straw, a little at a
time, as the surface of the yard gets
wet and dirty, than to put on a large
bulk at once that will take all Win¬
ter to be worked up, and then be of
small value for want of composting.
To get water enough for use in the
mixen, and also to wash out the floors
of the stalls and byres ODce in a
while, a cistern should be provided in
the yard, to which all rain falcon the
roofs of the various buildings adjoin¬
ing the yard can be conveyed by
pipes, and afterwards pumped out as
required to be thrown on the mixen,
or used for wateiing the stock, if the
supply is sufficient for both purposes.
This making of a mixen will cause
some extra work to the fanner and
his hands, hut the labor bestowed
npou it will be more than amply re¬
paid in the increased value of the
larger quantity and better quality of
the manure manufactured by means
of it. The object of having the mixen
undercover if to prevent trie too rapid
evaporation by the sun of its best con¬
stituents, during the warm, bright
days of Spring and early Summer,
before the land for root crops, to
which most of the manure is usually
applied, is ready to receive it. The
trampling of stock on the mixen tends
rather to improve it, by makiug it more
solid and better mixed; hence it may
he open to the access of stock, but
they should uot be allowed to lie on
it .—Canada Farmer.
--
Sheep Husbandry.
Mr. Editor: I have for a long
time intended to write a short article
for your paper, on this subject; hut
other topics have so far engaged my
pen, that may not he as valuable in
the facts given and suggestions made
as those contained in this. Twenty
years ago, perhaps, having bought an
extensive tract of land contiguous to
the North Mountain, and embracing
some of its minor spurs, 1 was induced
to carry with me, soon after, an iutel
ligent German neighbor and fanner,
a native of Hesse Darmstadt, who has
been a resident of Albemarle and
August.! for fifty years, to ride over
it with me, and give me his views as
to the best mode to manage it. lie
expressed himself highly pleased with
its general appearance, freedom from
stone on the surface, the gentle asceut
of the hills, most of which could be
conveniently plowed, aud the kindly
character of the soil, much of it under¬
laid with slate and soapstone, and the
many rivulets admitting of much
watered meadow, lie remarked that
with two or three hundred sheep,
managed as they were in the portion
of Germany he was fa m : liar with, that
the highest hills could, ; u a few years
be made so rich that wheat would
lodge on them. It was common for
the .owners of flocks usually not ex¬
ceeding two or three hundred, to
have a boy and one or two good dogs,
anddiive the sheep, in some instances,
lour or five miles, to the mountains,
and range careful them through the day,
keeping a watch over them,
and to set out on their return in time
to reach home by dusk. The sheep
were pounded in movable pens, made
of sections of frames, made like the old
fafhioned racks for hay in & horse
stable, the slats three and a half or
four feet long, and entering augur
holes in the long pieces, just far
enough to prevent a sheep attempting
to pass between them. These were
set up perpendicularly, enclosing a
square or parallelogram large enough
for the number of sheep to be penned.
When the ground was sufficiently
with the droppings, three sides would
be lifted around, enclosing a like
quantity of fresh ground, and with a
light ODe-horse bar share plow, the
manure would be turned under, and
the sun’s rays and washing rains be
prevented from wasting it. You will
discover how rapidly, with two or
three hundred sheep, you could cover
over an extensive surface, that could
not, by possibility, he reached in any
other way, and that every particle of
the susteuance of the sheep brought
from the mountains is a clear gain to
the land. D >e s not this idea carry
great force? IIow many situations
are there contiguous to our moun¬
tains where fine plantations may be
made at little cost, in this way, to say
nothing of the thorough cleaning and
taming of the lands on which the
sheep are enclosed; or ot the rapid
improvement of the sheep in health,
flesh, and increase of numbers ? IIow
many thousands of acres of worn out
lands are there in Virginia and the
South, that can he rapidly restored
in this way ? Tis only under the care
of a trusty shepherd, with his dogs,
that sheep can be made secure through
the day, and carefully pounded at
night; and how easily and cheaply
may it he done, compared with the
profits. Aud % through the Winter, if
upon, experiment, it is ascertained
the “Gorse” can be turned to profita¬
ble account to feed them, who will
calculate the profits in increase from
the fl icks, and the rapid improvement
of the land iu the rapid aud extensive
accumulation of manure ?— Valley,
in Southern Farm and Planter.
Btan as Food for Milch Cows .—
We were rather surprised recently,
says the Practical Fanner, at a
meeting of a prominent farmers’
club, composed largely of dairymen,
to hear the merits of bran us feed,
quoted chiefly on account of its
value as an uperieut, ami keeping
the system in good condition. It was
not spokeu of at all as an important
milk producer aud stimulant of the
lacteal secretiug organs, as it; really
is. We had thought the value of
bran for these latter uses, was now*
uui vet sally understood in dairy dis¬
tricts. The demand fur it is so
great, that it brings neatly double
the price of Indian corn meal per
ton, and we know of no substitute so
profitable for milch cows—the reason
being that the chemical constituents
of brau are those found iu milk.
We have turned to one of our au¬
thorities and find 100 pounds of
bran (the mere hull of the wheat,)
contains of water 3 pounds ; starch,
gum and sugar 55 ; gluteu, albumen
and legumine 19 ; fatty matter 5.
An aualysis of M. 8aussure makes
100 parts of the ashes of the bran of
wheat, viz: soluble salts 44 15,
earthy phosphates 46.5, silica 0 95 ;
l:ss 8 6. These results explain the
value of bran, so rich in the elements
of milk and bones. For growing
animals it is indispensable. Meal as
a fat former, and to keep up nutrition,
should be combined with bran lor
these other uses, two parts of bran
to one of Indian meal being a good
proportion. For the same reason,
what is called bran bread, or bread
made from the whole wheat, Inis
more nutrition for the system than
the bread of pure bolted wheat flour,
though it may not he so fashionable,
and would he discarded entirely by
our farm laborers, it set before them.
—Ex.
Domestic Ftecipes.
To Keep Milk and Cream —In
very warm weather when it is very
difficult to preserve milk from be¬
coming sour and spoiling the cream,
it, may he kept perfectly sweet by
scalding the uew milk very gently
without boiling, and putting it away
iu the earthen pan or dish in which it
has been scalded. This method is
adopted in all the large dairies iu
England, and, particularly, iu Devon¬
shire. Cream already skimmed may
be kept quite sweet fur twenty-four
hours if scalded, but if as much pow¬
dered loaf sugar be added as will
sweeten it, and then scalded, it will
keep in a cool place for upward of two
days.
To Make Butler in Summer .-—
During the Summer, skim the milk
before the sun has heated the dairy,
but let it always stand for twenty
four hours without skimming. Fut
the cream away iu a dry well or cold
cellar. If you have not enough to
churn every d.»y, change it into fresh
scalded jars, but never churn less often
than twice a week. If possible place
the churn in a thorough draft, and set
it in a tub of water to give firmness to
the butter. When the butter cone s
our off the butter milk and put the
utter in a fresh scalded pan or dish.
Pour cold water on it aud let it lie
until it begins to harden before you
work it; then change the water and
beat it with a flat board until all taste
ot the butter milk is removed, and,
until the water, whicti must he fre¬
quently changed, is perfe ctly cle ir
and has no color of the milk. Then
work some salt into it, aud make it
into forms and throw them into a
covered earthenware dish half full of
cold water. In this way you can have
nice cool butter in the hottest weather.
It should he remembered that butter
requires more working in hut weather
than in cold.
to Preserve Butter for Winter
Cue .—When the butter has been pre¬
pared as directed above, take two
parts of fine common salt, one pai t of
the best loaf sugar, and one part of
saltpetre beateu aud blended well to¬
gether. Of this mixture, put one
ounce to sixteeu ounces of butter and
work well into it Press the butter
when cool into jus holding ten or
twelve pounds.