68 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



little, turn it over, adding a little of the salt and lime 

 mixture, and keep the whole inodorous by covering it 

 with rich mould or black earth from the woods. If the 

 heap is formed entirely of vegetable materials, ashes or 

 lime should be added; but if it contain animal matter, 

 they would do harm by setting free the ammonia. The 

 heap should not be deep, but, like all other manure heaps, 

 should be kept "always moist, but never leached," by the 

 addition of liquids from the house and kitchen. If this 

 compost be for a sandy soil, the addition of clay would be 

 very beneficial. 



Composting is the best way of rendering available all 

 sorts of refuse organic matter, but do not introduce those 

 antagonistic in their effects. For instance, never compost 

 lime with animal matters which, in their decomposition, 

 form ammonia. 



Special Composts are prepared for different species of 

 plants, and they are of great utility in floriculture. Com- 

 posts for plants in pots are made up of loam, leaf-mould, 

 sand, peat, and manure. The loam is the decomposed 

 turf from a rich, old pasture, which should not rest upon 

 clay, and the upper three inches only are taken. It 

 should lie one year before using. Leaf-mould is the dark 

 surface soil of the woods, formed from decayed leaves. 

 Sand should not be from roads: use fine surface or river 

 sand. The manure is unfit to use if less than a year old, 

 and improves by frequent turning, and lying two years. 

 Peat is the black soil from swamps, mingled with very 

 fine sand. It should be exposed a year and frequently 

 turned before using. Black woods earth, mingled with 

 one-third pure sand, is the best substitute. The propor- 

 tions of the most common composts are given in the fol- 

 lowing table: 



