38 



In conclusion, the writer would suggest that the planters make 

 some comparative experiments on the two modes, and give in- 

 formation as to the results ; for though the chemical theory may 

 be in favor of the pile, the difference in the yield of the crop 

 may not compensate for the greater expense of composting. 



DIRECTIONS TO MAKE AND MANAGE A COMPOST 



PILE. 



Select a slight incline, if possible, and from any convenient 

 point dig a ditch up the hill, say ten inches wide and six deep, 

 as long as may be necessary, and sink a keg at the mouth to 

 catch the drainings. If the country be flat, just give the ditch 

 a slight inclination to the keg, and locate the spot for the pile 

 where the rain water will flow away from the pile and not 

 make a boggy place, 



Now, on each side of the ditch, say six feet, lay off a line 

 parallel to the ditch, with a string or pegs, and slope down the 

 ground from each of these lines to the ditch, so that all the 

 drainings will flow into the ditch ; cover the whole bottom with 

 plank, taking care to cover the ditch so that the drainage water 

 can get into it, and at the same time that it will not be choked 

 by the compost falling into it. 



Now, in order to build up the pile straight, erect a temporary 

 barricade with plank across the ditch, some two or three feet 

 up hill from the keg; this can easily be done by putting two or 

 three saplings in the ground for posts, bracing them from below, 

 and resting the plank against them. 



Now haul the materials to the spot, and commence building 

 the pile from the barricade upwards. 



Having thoroughly soaked the cotton seed with all the water 

 it will absorb, mix it intimately with an equal weight of dis- 

 solved bone, and throw it against the barricade; build up the 

 pile in sections, of say six feet, to any convenient height, sloping 

 the sides so as to shed rain. Finish each section to the top, 

 sprinkle the outside with dissolved bone, and cover with boards 

 or with hay or straw, like a stack; then proceed in like manner 

 with the next section above ; the advantage of finishing each 

 section being, that decomposition starts sooner; so that by the 

 time the last section is done, the first will be the sooner ready. 

 A diagram would then look thus : 



