94 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Manure Pits. Manure pits if excavated with one sloping side 

 so carts can be readily backed in for filling, are cheaper than tanks 

 and if they have a clay subsoil for a floor or can be puddled with clay 

 on the concave bottom they will hold most of the liquid unless water 

 flushing of the stable is indulged in. A large grower of beets and 

 other roots for stock feeding in San Mateo county has for a num- 

 ber of years used this arrangement with satisfaction : 



I have a manure pit large enough to hold all the manure made in a 

 year. A hole about three feet deep is dug out of the side of a hill. A 

 sloping platform, up which all the manure is wheeled, raises it about 

 four feet above the ground on the upper side, which gives a drop for 

 the manure of about seven feet. When filled up to a. level with the end 

 of the platform, loose planks are laid as required on top of the manure. 

 Thus by continually wheeling each day's manure over the older manure, 

 its solidity is insured, and all the manure made on the farm has to go 

 up the said platform. After the cow stable is cleaned out, the lightest 

 of the manure from the horse stable, bull stalls, etc., or any other ab- 

 sorbent, is put behind the cows, taking up fluids, and thus insuring a 

 regular quality throughout the heap. Another important item added to 

 the general heap is the hen manure and ashes, the latter being kept in a 

 large tin, which, when full, is emptied into the fowl-house, and all goes 

 in the manure heap together. 



This use of absorbents prevents accumulation of excessive liquid 

 and there is consequently little loss by leaching. The compacting 

 of the mass prevents too free access of the air and fit conditions for 

 slowly breaking down the coarse manure are assured. 



Composting in Piles. The method usually followed by mar- 

 ket gardeners seems on the whole the most convenient and best 

 for this climate, where the winter rainfall is, as a rule, not so 

 heavy as to occasion much leaching, if the pile is of several feet in 

 depth. It involves some shoveling, but it facilitates rapid curing 

 of the manure and brings it into excellent condition for garden use. 

 Stack the fresh manure in a pile several feet high. Then give it 

 a thorough wetting from a hose and allow it to decompose for a 

 few weeks. Then chop it down with sharp spades, mix thoroughly 

 and stack it again; then wet it well once more, and after a few 

 weeks it will be ready to put upon the field. This process of com- 

 posting destroys all weed and other seeds, prevents the manure 

 from burning, as well as the escape of volatile parts, especially 

 when a loam or sand is intermixed when stacking it. Compost thus 

 made is suitable for the finest garden, at a moderate expense, and 

 the work necessary will pay a larger profit than any other farm 



