Making the Soil Over 229 



and pro rata for rows spaced a greater or lesser dis- 

 tance. To insure even distribution, mix the fertilizer 

 with fine, dry earth just before spreading. 



Compost is especially desirable when quick growth is 

 wanted. Compost is thoroughly rotted manure or or- 

 ganic matter. It should be prepared from six to twelve 

 months before being used, by putting the manure and 

 other materials in piles having perpendicular sides and 

 flat tops. These piles are usually from two to four 

 feet high and six to eight feet long. 



Besides the usual waste of garden rubbish, there is a 

 large waste of leaves, weeds, and the skins and other 

 unused portions of fruits and vegetables. These should 

 all be thrown on the compost pile to decay for use on the 

 garden next spring. Destroy all plants which are dis- 

 eased. The compost pile should be built up in alternate 

 layers of vegetable refuse a foot thick, and earth an 

 inch or more thick. The earth helps to rot the vegetable 

 matter, when mixed with it. The top of the pile should 

 be left flat, in order that the rain may enter and help 

 in the process of decay. 



If the pile can be forked over once a month when not 

 frozen and the contents well mixed together, it will de- 

 cay quite rapidly and be in good usable condition in the 

 spring. The compost may be either spread over the 

 garden and spread under, or it may be scattered in the 

 rows before the seed are sown. This is, of course, not 

 as rich as stable manure, but it is a good substitute. 

 Compost is also used as a top dressing during the grow- 

 ing season, for hastening growth. 



In the cities and towns tons of leaves are burned every 

 fall. This is a loss which ought to be prevented. These 



