18 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Sheep Manure is a very concentrated manure which heats 

 quite rapidly. It is one of the best farm manures. 



Mixing Manures. — It may often be a good plan to mix the 

 different kinds of animal manures for general application, as 

 in this way all seem to be improved. Hen manure is an ex- 

 ception and, as a rule, should be applied separately. Lime, 

 wood ashes or other material of an alkaline nature should 

 never be mixed with stable manure of any kind unless a con- 

 siderable amount of loam, peat or other material is added to 

 absorb the ammonia, which is always liberated when nitrogen- 

 ous and alkaline substances are thus mixed. It is a good 

 plan to mix ground bone, tankage and other slow acting fer- 

 tilizers with heating stable manure, as by so doing the plant 

 food they contain is made more available and the stable ma- 

 nure is greatly improved in quality. 



The Manure Pile — If early garden crops are to be grown, 

 it is necessary to have fine, well rotted manure, and this makes 

 the manure pile necessary. It should be placed so that as lit- 

 tle waste as possible will occur from leaching rains. When a 

 manure pile is to remain in one place for a considerable 

 time, it should always be made upon a bed of leaves, peat, loam, 

 rotted sods or other absorbent, about one foot in thickness, 

 which will catch and retain any fertilizing material that may 

 leach through the pile. If practicable, the pile should be 

 made where it will be protected from the sun and drying winds. 

 The height of the pile should depend somewhat on the kind of 

 manure and the season of the year when it is made. Manure 

 that will heat readily should be piled about six feet deep. 

 When the pile is quite warm, the manure should be turned 

 over. This operation should be performed, very thoroughly, 

 as often as the pile gets very hot. All the lumps should be 

 broken up, and the whole pile turned to the bottom of the bed 

 on which it is placed. The absorbents of the bed should be 

 mixed evenly throughout the pile and the cold manure from 

 the outside be put on the inside of the pile so that it may heat 

 the more rapidly. If the pile appears dry on the inside, water 

 or, what is better, the urine from the stable, should be added to 

 assist fermentation, as this cannot take place satisfactorily in 

 dry manure and the lack of water may result in serious loss. 

 The number of times a manure pile should be turned over will 



