6 FORMATION OF KITCHEN GARDEN 



give stability to light hungry land incorporate with it 

 materials that contain plant food, such as road scrapings, 

 wood ashes, garden refuse, farmyard manure and dead 

 leaves. Both these and the materials recommended 

 for heavy land are best applied in the autumn ; spread 

 them over the land and thoroughly dig them in. There 

 is no better or more economical way of disposing of cab- 

 bage stumps or other greens that stand in the way of 

 preparing the ground for spring planting or sowing than 

 to bury them in trenches deep enough to make sure 

 that they will not come directly in contact with the 

 roots of growing crops. They will in due course decay, 

 and add much to the value of the soil, particularly if 

 light. 



The value of a refuse heap is often under estim- 

 ated by the kitchen gardener ; properly attended to, 

 it forms an excellent plant food. It is easily made, 

 and is undoubtedly of great help to the land, especially 

 to that wanting in retentiveness. The refuse heap may 

 consist of old soil, dead leaves, road scrapings, the stems 

 and leaves of pot plants or vegetables, lime, mortar 

 rubble, or in fact any garden refuse ; an occasional ap- 

 plication of soot or liquid manure is a great improve- 

 ment. Such a refuse heap should, from time to time, 

 be thoroughly turned, and valuable ashes will result 

 from the burning of dry portions. It must not be as- 

 sumed, however, that heavy land does not require 

 manure. It may be just as deficient in plant food as 

 that of quite a different nature, but even good land 

 must be manured to replace the nourishment taken 



