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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.