NATURAL MANURES. 59 



Composts. — In addition to the yard manure, there 

 are about most farms wastes of considerable importance, 

 weeds, grasses, and coarse growths of any kind, which 

 all contain greater or less amounts of the manurial con- 

 stituents. These should be carefully utilized, and may 

 be profitably used as absorbents in the barnyard. When 

 this method is adopted, the weeds should be cut before 

 they have matured, or they furnish an excellent means 

 of transmitting foul seeds. These waste products may 

 also be used in making what are called "composts." 

 These, of course, differ according to the conditions of 

 the farmer. Where peat or muck is available, they 

 are more advantageous than where such products are 

 not at hand. The main object of the compost heap is 

 to cause a more rapid decay of such products, and without 

 the loss of essential constituents. 



A good compost heap may be made by placing a layer 

 of manure, then a layer of the weeds or waste products 

 of any kind, then a layer of lime or ashes, the whole 

 well moistened, and the order repeated until all of the 

 products are used. The manure starts fermentation, the 

 lime aids in the rotting, as well as to prevent acidity 

 and to keep the heap alkaline, and the moisture pre- 

 vents too hot fermentation. By careful management 

 destructive fermentation is prevented, the bulk is very 

 materially reduced, and the quality of the constituents 

 greatly improved. The chief difficulty in the making 

 of composts, as well as with other methods used in the 

 improvement of manures, is the expense of labor. 



It pays to take good care of, and to save, manurial 

 products, and to see to it that wastes are reduced, and 



