SUBURBAN GARDENING. 277 
obtaining a sufficient supply of dry earth at nominal cost and trouble, we 
fear the difficulties are too great to prevent its general adoption where its 
velue would be greatest—in our large towns and their suburbs. Wherever 
the nightsoil can be systematically mixed with dry earth, easily moved, 
stored under a shed, and frequently turned over for a few months before 
being applied to the land, Mr. Moule’s system can be employed with 
great advantage, and what too often proves a fearful nuisance may be 
disposed of and utilised as a valuable enricher of the land. 
Farm-yard manure, where obtainable, when well mixed and saturated 
with the drainage from cow-sheds and stables, is one of the best forms in 
which to apply food to the soil for the production of most of our garden 
crops. Garden refuse, pea and bean haulm, the remains of all crops, in 
a state of partial decomposition, may be dug into the ground with 
advantage. Clippings of hedges, prunings of trees, &c., partially charred, 
should also be employed as fertilisers. There is scarcely an article of 
any kind made of organic matter which is not available to swell and add 
valuable substances to the compost heap. 
Artificial manures suitable for the various sorts and conditions of 
land, replacing what has been withdrawn by the last crop, or supplying 
what will be required by the next, are readily obtainable anywhere. The 
requirements of the cultivator and the condition of the land must of 
course settle what kind of artificial manure can be used most judiciously. 
Speaking generally, the best time to apply manure of a permanent 
kind is when the ground is being prepared in the autumn. By being 
well incorporated with the soil it will be slowly acted upon by it, and 
will impart some of its more soluble parts to the soil in immediate 
contact with it, which will then be in the fittest condition to afford sup- 
plies of food to the roots of plants in the spring, whenit is most needed, 
that is, when active growth commences. 
On light sandy soils an application of marl, rich in carbonate of 
lime, &c., is more than equivalent to an ordinary manuring, for it is 
much more durable in its effects, and supplies ingredients of great value 
to plants in which the soil is naturally deficient. If marl be easily 
obtainable enough may be added, with advantage, to so change the 
texture of a light soil as to incline it towards stiffness. It must, however, 
be remembered that marls differ very much in quality. In some samples 
only five or six per cent. of carbonate of lime is present; others contain 
as much as eighty per cent. Marls also differ as to the proportions they 
contain of phosphate of lime and potash, and the quantity and compo- 
sition of the silicates. A rough and ready method for ascertaining 
whether lime is present is to place a small piece of marl in some good 
vinegar ; if active effervescence ensues, the presence of lime is indicated. 
If effervescence does not take place lime is absent, or present in too small 
quantity for the marl to be worth applying. 
Where garden ground approaches in character to clay great benefit 
will be secured by burning a quantity of it annually, and afterwards 
applying it asa manure. Burning clay causes the particles to lose their 
adhesiveness, and if this burnt earth be added to a stiff soil in sufficient 
