II30 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



These results are a Strong argument for feeding fowls with 

 ground fresh bones ; and the data are further instructive as showing 

 that well-cared for manure from well-fed fowls may be of great 

 practical value to the gardener, being especially adapted for crops 

 that have to be forced into rapid growth early in the season. 

 When making up a hot-bed, it is a good plan to mix three or four 

 bushels of poultry manure with each load of stable manure. If 

 the heap is moist enough the former will greatly favour the 

 generation of heat and facilitate fermentation and nitrification of 

 the organic nitrogen. 



For many horticultural purposes also it may be well to turn 

 over the heap of poultry manure, or of compost made from the 

 same, many times and often, in order to provide delicate food 

 for some cherished plant. 



Manurial Drainings. 



The application of stable and house drainings to compost heaps 

 is highly to be recommended for garden purposes, since by this 

 means the drainings can be brought into a manageable form 

 without sustaining a loss of their fertilising properties. If in 

 collecting these heaps of compost all the refuse matters found in 

 a garden are made use of, whatever their appellation — sweepings, 

 lawn-grass, hedge and tree clippings, refuse vegetables, path 

 trimmings, leaves, coal-dust, ashes of all sorts, sawdust, &c. — and 

 the mass is kept moist by frequently pouring on urinous liquids 

 and house drainings, very considerable quantities of the latter may 

 be brought into a dry form, inasmuch as the watery portions of the 

 drainings by degrees evaporate, and the ammoniacal combinations 

 generated by its nitrification are firmly held and absorbed, partly 

 by the acids which are simultaneously formed in the humus matter 

 and partly by the soil. Moisture, we know, plays an important 

 part, not only in the growth and development of plants, but also 

 in changing the otherwise insoluble nitrogenous compounds into 

 nitrates. By occasionally turning over the compost heap the 

 process of decay is very essentially accelerated. Should a 

 pungent odour of ammonia be remarked, some soil or lime, or a 

 coating of ashes, should be added to the heap. 



Explanation of Nitrification. 



As the term nitrification frequently and necessarily occurs in 

 this chapter, it may be well, on account of the importance of the 

 subject, to give a brief explanation of its meaning and significance 

 in the garden. 



Nitrogen in the form of nitrates is generally regarded as the 

 best kind of nitrogenous food for plants of all descriptions. 

 Nitrates are compounds of nitric acid with mineral bases, as 

 potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate, and ammonium 

 nitrate. Plants obtain their nitric acid by absorbing the nitrates 



