140 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



We should, therefore, make it a rule to put back on 

 the land all offal ; and ._ tbis_shguld_ne yer be 



._ _ 



cause burning wastes into the air the nitrogen that 

 should nourish the crops and the humus that should 

 improve the land. Weeds' and vegetable and animal 

 trash of all kinds can be put into piles with some 

 earth. These piles should be kept moist, so as to 

 make them decay into " compost/ 7 a very useful 

 fertilizer. 



Farmyard manure, of course, supplies all the kinds of 

 food taken by plants from soils (seepage 57), but only 

 in small amounts, and largely not in a very available 



condition^ but its effects last several years. ^ When we 

 want quick action we often have to use other fertilizers. 

 We can also get quick action by watering the plants 



I with the teachings or " manure water/ 7 which flows out 

 from the manure pile when it is kept wet. We can 

 also stir up manure in water, and water pot plants with 

 it. For this, and for general use, manure should first 

 be " cured " or left to ferment or rot for some months, 

 keeping it moist all the time. 



Fresh , strawy manure is often used in the humid region, 

 being left on the surface or plowed in. The frequent rains 

 will then rot it in the soil. But in the arid region this can- 

 not be done, because in the dry surface soil the manure will 

 not rot, but keeps the soil too loose and open, so that crops 

 are injured by heat and dryness. For this reason manure 

 (as well as straw) has in California been burned in autumn. 



