PRACTICAL GARDENING 



reached a height of two or three inches. By 

 August or September the soil may be mixed 

 and put in a place where it may be had be- 

 fore the frost and snows have passed. Do 

 not allow the compost heap to dry out but 

 never use dish water to wet it down. The lye 

 from the soap and the grease in the water are 

 both objectionable. Never mix garbage with 

 soil. It has a tendency to make it sour and 

 is also slow to decay. 



If the soil is a clay formation or a little 

 sour, as shown by the growth of moss on it, 

 add a little lime to the layers of soil but do 

 not add lime to the manure. 



Many gardeners who have only a small 

 space, construct a compost heap in the fall 

 and use it as a top dressing on the soil in the 

 early spring. Sometimes, when a load or two 

 of manure may be had in the fall and you 

 have no place to keep it, a compost heap is most 

 advisable. The fertilizers are retained in the 

 soil and a large per cent, of the gases set free 

 by decomposition is retained by the moisture. 



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