36 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



preconceived preferences in favor of one manure, or prejudices 

 against the other. There are gardeners who claim every thing 

 for stable manure, and find no good in " fertilizers ; " and there 

 are others who put their whole reliance in the latter. As in 

 most other cases we will find the " golden mean " by far the 

 safest course to pursue. 



Stable manure is yet the favorite article with the masses of 

 gardeners. If reasonably free from weed-seeds and properly 

 handled, it is a perfectly safe and reliable fertilizer, and when 

 made from grain-fed animals, as most likely the case in city 

 stables, well worth ^2,00 per ton, if it can be drawn without in- 

 curring additional expense, or at a time when no other work is 

 pressing. One ton of ordinary, mixed, fresh farm or stable ma- 

 nure contains about 8 lbs. of nitrogen, 10 lbs. of potash and 4 lbs. 

 of phosphoric acid. At current retail rates for these plant-foods, 

 their chemical value would be about as follows, viz.: 



8 lbs. nitrogen at 16 cents, $1 28 



10 " potash at 5 cents, 50 



4 " phosphoric acid at 5 cents, 20 



Total, $1 98 



When thoroughly rotted this manure contains a still larger 

 percentage of the plant foods, hence is not only more valuable 

 for that reason but also on account of its readiness for applica- 

 tion, and immediate availability. When we further consider the 

 mechanical effect of this manure, the opening and loosening of 

 the soil, allowing air and warmth to enter it more freely — we 

 will not be apt to underrate its value. 



A different thing it would be, if in addition to first cost, we 

 were obliged to incur much extra expense in hauling it a consid- 

 erable distance ; if we were to employ teams, and hire men. I 

 think I would use good stable manure in moderate quantities if 

 the aggregate cost amounted to ;^2.oo, and very sparingly at a 

 higher figure. The manure account is a big item with the rank 

 and file of gardeners near the cities who use from 50 to 100 tons 

 of stable manure to the acre annually. As we shall see later on,, 

 the application of even the smaller amount is excessive, and often 

 a sinful and preventable waste. 



Composting Manure. — Raw manure is not in condition for 

 the market gardener's purposes, except in rare cases. It may do 

 for sweet corn, and comes in play for heating hot-beds, or raising 

 mushrooms ; but for general garden crops it must be composted, 

 and made as fine as possible. There need be no loss of fertilizing 

 materials or elements if the compost heap is properly made 

 as shown in illustration next page. Pile it up in a square heap 

 with perpendicular sides and flat top, four or five feet high, and 



