Let us locate one acre of land on the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude, midway across the continent, say near the City of St. Louis. While under the intensive system of cultivation which will be pursued, less land than one acre will ultimately be found sufficient to supply the wants of one cow, it would not be advisable to begin with a less quantity. That one acre is sufficient is opposed to the general opinion, as witness the assertion of Mr. Schull, of Little Falls, N. Y., that the land in pasturage and hay, requisite for the support of one cow, is three acres, and this accords with the estimate of Mr. Carrington for moderately good dairy farms in England. Colman says: Three acres are required for a cow in Berkshire Co., Mass. Mr. Farrington, in the Report of the American Dairymen’s Association says, four; while Mr. X. A. Willard thinks that in Herkimer Co., N. Y., one and a half to two acres will pasture one cow, and that in some exceptional cases one acre will suffice.
True it is that these estimates take into consideration grass and hay solely, and the treatment of the land is presumed to be that usually pursued, viz.: scant allowance of manure, absence of subsoil drainage, and consequently shallow cultivation.
But high manuring and deep cultivation are indispensable in view, viz.: the obtaining the greatest quantity of dairy food from the least land. And high cultivation, implying depth of soil, tilth, porosity and aeration is impossible without subsoil drainage; nor in its absence does manure produce its best effects. It is foreign to the purpose of this article to elucidate the action of tile draining upon crops and soil. The lasting and great benefit of the system is, to-day, a matter of such plain fact, that no intelligent agriculturist will question it.
Therefore we begin by selecting an acre of land which affords the best facilities for laying tile-drainage pipes. An easy slope with a good, open outlet into ditch, run, or gulch, is all that is required. The advantages of a sunny exposure are so obvious that, if possible, we should choose land which trends to the south and east. The tile-draining of one acre will necessitate an outlay of about twenty-five dollars; but this expenditure is indispensable to the obtaining of the best results.
THE DUNG HEAP.
Truly did the German agriculturist, Schwerz, in seeing the fertile streamlets oozing and trickling away from the exposed manure piles of his opinionated countrymen, denominate the dung heap the “Fountainhead of Benediction.” This, like other blessings, may but too readily be perverted in its uses.
Impressed with the necessity of husbanding every part and portion of this substratum of good agriculture, we choose between two distinct methods of saving and utilizing the fluid and solid dejecta, viz.: the dry and wet. In the former the dejecta are commingled with such absorbents as dry earth, leaves, straw, sawdust, etc.; in the latter, they are received in a tank where they are mixed with sufficient water to stay loss by too rapid fermentation. The application of the manure under either method is respectively in its dry or in its liquid condition.
Fig. 24.—A COW STABLE WITH MANURE CELLAR.
If the dry or absorbent method be adopted, it will be found advantageous to locate the stable on a little declivity, so as to secure a manure cellar with the least excavation.