16 GARDENING INDOORS AND UNDER GLASS 
in a village or suburb, where the following may be 
procured, your problem is not a difficult one. Take 
about equal parts of rotted sod, rotted horse manure 
and leaf-mould from the woods and mix thoroughly 
and together, adding from one-sixth to one-third, 
in bulk, of coarse sand. If a considerable quantity 
of soil will be required during the year, it will be 
well to have some place, such as a bin or large bar- 
rel, in which to keep a supply of each ingredient. 
The sod should be cut three or four inches thick, 
and stacked in layers with the grassy sides together, 
giving an occasional soaking, if the weather is dry, 
to hasten rotting. The manure should be decom- 
posed under cover, and turned frequently at first 
to prevent burning out; or sod and manure can be 
rotted together, stacking them in alternate layers 
and forking over two or three times after rotting 
has begun. The manure furnishes plant food to 
the compost, the rotted sod “ body,” the leaf-mould 
water-absorbing qualities, and the sand, drainage 
qualities. 
If the soil is wanted at once, and no rotted sod is 
to be had, use good garden loam, preferably from 
some spot which was under clover-sod the year be- 
fore. If it is difficult to obtain well-rotted manure, 
street sweepings may be used as a substitute, and 
old chip-dirt from under the wood pile, or the bot- 
tom of the woodshed if it has a dirt floor, will do in 
place of leaf-mould. Peat, or thoroughly dried 
