612 EVERYDAY SCIENCE 



should have a compost heap. This is a pile of waste organic mate- 

 rial prepared from six to twelve months before using on the garden. 



In every household there is a waste of garden rubbish, leaves, 

 grass mowed from the lawn, parings and other unused portions of 

 fruits and vegetables. These should all be thrown on the compost 

 heap to decay. Be sure to avoid throwing diseased plants and 

 weeds bearing ripe seeds on the pile. But do not burn your leaves 

 in the fall. Bury them on the compost heap and let them rot for 

 fertilizer. The compost heap should be built in alternate layers 

 of vegetable refuse and earth. Every six or eight inches of organic 

 matter should be covered with an inch or so of soil. The burying 

 helps to rot the vegetable matter. You will find it convenient to 

 make the heap not more than six feet square and about four feet 

 high. It is easier to make the sides of a small pile, such as, this, 

 perpendicular and to keep the top flat for the reception and reten- 

 tion of moisture to aid in rotting. If this is forked over once or 

 twice in the late fall and again in the early spring, decay will be 

 hastened. In the spring, spread it on the garden plot like manure 

 and spade it under. 



Heavy clay soil may need the addition of sifted ashes from which 

 all clinkers have been removed in order to loosen its texture. Soil 

 that has long been uncultivated or that has been devoted to lawn 

 is likely to be sour. The presence of plantain or sorrel generally 

 indicates sourness. Clay soil because of its compactness and poor 

 drainage is apt to be in this condition. To remedy this, a small 

 amount of some base to neutralize the acid is needed. Apply evenly 

 over the garden plot, when you are preparing the seed bed in the 

 spring, 1 pound of air-slaked lime, 2 pounds of ground limestone, or 

 2 pounds of unleached wood ashes 1 to every 30 square feet. Rake 

 this into the soil to the depth of 2 inches. Be sure to do this after 

 the spring fertilizer has been worked into the soil, not at the same 

 time. Liberal use of manure and compost helps to loosen clay soil 

 and to make it more workable. 



1 Wood ashes have notable manurial value because of potash salts 

 contained ; but lose most of this value if subjected to the action of water 

 (leached). 



