ARTIFICIAL MANURE. 229 



3 tons ofgreen straw, ferns, bean-stalks, pea-vines, potato- 

 tops, weeds, leaves, &c., 

 90 lbs. of ground plaster, 



2 " of common salt, 



3 " of saltpetre, 



2J bushels of house ashes, 



2J " of charcoal powder, 



5 " of night-soil. 



Make the pile of vegetable matter near a puddle of stag- 

 nant water, if possible; if this is not convenient, sink a pit 

 by the edge of the pile, fill it with common water, throw 

 into it the night-soil, mix it well by stirring, add the ashes, 

 then the charcoal, lastly the salts. 



With a bucket furnished with a long-pole handle, like a 

 tanner's scoop, water the pile several times daily with the 

 above mixture, taking care that the drainage runs into the 

 pit, to be again returned upon the pile. In two or three 

 weeks in warm weather the heap is sufficiently converted for 

 use. 



The yeast, as it may be termed in this process, is the 

 night-soil, and the putrescent matter in the stagnant water. 



Referring now to (100), it will be at once seen here is a 

 ready and cheap mode of producing geine, ammonia, nitrates, 

 which, with the salts already added, form a manure whose 

 efficacy and economy alike recommend its use to those who 

 have not peat or swamp-muck at command. 



There is a choice, if it may be exercised, in the kind of 

 straw best for such a compost as is above recommended. 

 The straw of beans, peas, and all pod or leguminous plants, 

 is richer in nitrogen than straws of grain, or cereal plants. 

 Pod-plant straw contains more vegetable matter, and a 

 greater quantity of potash salts, than grain straw ; the first 



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