26 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



valuable fertilizer is being lost ; this may be arrested by 

 mixing with the compost two or three bushels of land 

 plaster to a cart-load of material. If land plaster is not at 

 hand, two or three inches of moist soil thrown over the 

 pile will arrest the escaping ammonia. The decomposi- 

 tion of material may be hastened by adding night-soil or 

 undecomposed manure, but it should be distributed evenly 

 throughout the entire mass. 



By the proper use of fresh manure, a compost may be 

 prepared that will be ready for use in four or five weeks. 



If any one wishes to compost material rapidly, the 

 following general directions will be found of service: 

 Have on hand about four barrels of manure, such as hen 

 manure, cow manure, horse manure, or night-soil; and 

 about five bushels of land plaster. This will be found 

 enough to decompose a ton of dry matter, and about 

 eight tons of green matter. Place about six inches of 

 muck on the bottom of the compost shed and wet it down 

 thoroughly. On this put a layer of six or eight inches 

 of material to be decomposed ; add a thin layer of manure, 

 and so on, till the required amount of material has been 

 used. The body of the material should be made com- 

 pletely wet; if this is not done it is liable to "burn," 

 and lose one of the important elements of plant-food, — 

 nitrogen. Finally, mix the land plaster with enough 

 fresh earth or thoroughly decomposed muck to cover the 

 whole about eight inches thick. The muck in the bottom 

 will catch any surplus moisture and save a waste of soluble 

 fertilizer. The manure furnishes the germs that set up 

 decay, the water distributes these germs and gives them 

 the necessary moisture, while the land plaster arrests 



