BAD COMPOSTING. 191 



he waited until the mass is in the most efficient 

 condition. 



The practice of mixing up a mass of hetero- 

 geneous materials, and letting it stand three, 

 four, or six months, and then applying it to the 

 soil, will not pay for the labor and expense; 

 rather than compost in that manner, it would be 

 better to apply the materials at once to the soil. 

 This quick method of composting necessarily 

 followed by unsatisfactory results has brought 

 composting into discredit and disuse by many 

 farmers, who might derive great benefit if they 

 complied with the conditions necessary to suc- 

 cess. A still more reprehensible practice than 

 that above stated, is that of using quicklime in 

 compost heaps ; it should never be done. It has 

 the effect to dissipate the nitrogen and am- 

 monia ; besides, it absorbs the carbonic acid, 

 and leaves the organic substances in their ori- 

 ginal insoluble condition. 



It is very necessary that the farmer should 

 know the value of the compost, and the amount 

 that should be applied to an acre. In order to 

 know this, he should keep an account of the 

 loads of barn-yard manure and other substances 

 used; and then, the Tables we have given in 

 this book will enable him to approximate very 

 nearly to the value of the heap, and the amount 

 that should be applied to an acre to produce a 

 given crop. 



