THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
sod, old barn manure, lime or plaster, old heaps 
of weeds, and old everything. If you have ten 
acres, you will select, at convenient points, at least 
three places, where you will have compost piles. 
These should take in all I have named, and all 
the wood ashes and the anthracite coal ashes you 
can get possession of, with barn manure. 
In the fall add loads of fallen leaves. Such a 
heap should be left undisturbed until late October 
or November; then comminute it thoroughly with 
a fork, and apply to the gardens just before the 
winter sets in, or in the spring, very early. A 
good gardener never uses raw or half-fermented 
manures, for the waste runs from fifty to ninety 
per cent.—in fact, manures applied in mid- 
summer, broadcast, are sometimes absolutely 
thrown away, with the exception of a very little 
humus. Compost piles, if judiciously arranged, 
need not mar the beauty and good taste of your 
property. In spring prepare around the edges beds 
for lettuce, radishes, spinach, and parsley. Then 
plant on the top, and around the sides, hills of 
squashes. You will, with a little care, secure mag- 
nificent growth. Pumpkins will do just as well, 
only they should be grown on piles separate from 
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