COMPOSTING. 181 



come exhausted as well as the surface. The 

 prudent farmer must anticipate this state of 

 things, by the application of other manures. 



Finally, we may remark that mere rest, with- 

 out plowing ; or the non-production of any vege- 

 table substances on a soil, does not benefit it. It 

 is growing vegetation that effects the needed 

 chemical changes in the soil. Hence the farmer 

 should endeavor by all means to promote the 

 growth of as many plants as possible, on the 

 land he intends to plow under for the production 

 of another crop. 



Liquid Manures are held in high repute in 

 some countries, on the principle that it is better 

 to manure the plant than the soil. It may be 

 employed advantageously in truck farming, but 

 is not at all suited to the general agriculture of 

 this country. If the farmer has a valuable liquid 

 or semi-liquid fertilizing substance, it is much 

 better to mix it with dried muck, or mould, and 

 apply it in as dry a state as possible ; thus di- 

 vesting its application of its disagreeable features, 

 and preventing the escape of the most valuable 

 portion of it the ammonia. 



Composting. This highly important operation 

 is too often neglected by our farmers. This ne- 

 glect very probably results from ignorance of the 

 great benefits that can be derived from it. The 

 reader has acquired a knowledge of the value of 



