38 MARKET GARDENIKG. 



of good materials, should be a Avell disintegrated mass of 

 equal quality, throughout, in fertilizing substances, in 

 ready condition for quick assimilation by plants. The 

 process of fermentation and disintegi'ation may be has- 

 tened in compost piles by the same application of a fer- 

 menting solution as described for coarse stable manure. 

 For one ton of compost we recommend two bushels 

 of powdered quicklime, one bushel of land plaster, one- 

 half bushel of refuse salt, ten pounds of saltpeter, ten 

 pounds of muriatic acid, all mixed in three barrels of 

 barnyard water. This mixture, costing about two dol- 

 lars and a half, will weigh about thirteen hundred pounds, 

 and, if further diluted, as would be advisable, the ton 

 of compost, when treated, will weigh two tons. In the 

 application of the lye, the comj)ost should be worked, 

 and packed up in a square, round, or other compact 

 form, applying the solution to every layer of five or six 

 inches, that the lye may dampen every j)ortion. 



Commercial Fertilizers. 



A commercial fertilizer is an article of concentrated 

 strength, and adapted to transportation, storage and 

 easy application. These fertilizers may be divided into 

 three classes. First, articles found in natural deposits, 

 as Peruvian guano or Chili saltpeter. Second, articles 

 resulting from a manufacture or process, as fish chum 

 from the oil works, dried blood from the slaughter house, 

 graves from tallow works, or odorless phospliate from 

 the basic process of making Bessemer steel. Third, 

 compounded materials, those requiring manufacture, as 

 suj^erphosphate, and the various combinations of potash 

 and soda. While commercial manures were used in 

 England fifty years ago, they did not become common 

 in the United States until about 1844, when Peruvian 

 guano was introduced, and this, then as now (more so 

 then than now), was a complete manure, the early ship- 



