Mar-lire for Hotbeds 



347 



come from highly-fed horses, and is practically of the same 

 age. As much as one-third or one-half of the whole ma- 

 terial may be of litter or straw that has heen used in the 

 bedding. If the mannre is very dense, it will not heat 

 well, and it should have bedding, litter or well-decayed 

 leaves mixed with it. 



The manure is accumulated in a long and shallow 

 square-topped pile, not more than four or five feet high 

 as a rule, and is then allowed to ferment. Better results 

 are generally obtained if the manure is piled under cover. 

 The manure should be moist, but not wet. If it is dry 

 when piled, moisten it throughout. If it is very wet, it 

 will usually remain cold until it begins to dry out. Some- 

 times the addition of a little hen manure to one part 

 of the pile will start the heating. If the weather is cold 

 and fermentation does not begin, wetting a part of the 

 pile with hot water may start it. 



The first fermentation is usually irregular, — it begins 

 unequally in several places in the pile. To make the 

 fermentation uniform, the pile may be turned, taking 

 care to break up all hard lumps and to distribute the hot 

 manure throughout the mass. It is sometimes necessary 

 to turn the pile five or six times before it is finally used, 

 although half this number of turnings is ordinarily suffi- 

 cient. When the pile is steaming uniformly through- 

 out, it is fit to be placed in the hotbed. From the first 

 piling of the manure until it is fit to put in the bed will 

 be a period, ordinarily, of two weeks. 



In some cases the material will not need to be turned 

 to induce fermentation, particularly when the manure is 

 from grain-fed horses. Sometimes the manure heats so 



