VEGETABLES DESCEIPTION AND CULTURE. 



253 



the fork, and build up the sides with a slight but regular 

 slope. Let the bed slope downwards towards the walk, 

 lay over it three inches of good clayey loam ; place anoth- 

 er layer ten or twelve inches thick of prepared dung, and 

 in the same manner continue until the bed is two and a 

 half or three feet thick. Cover the bed with clean litter, 

 to prevent drying and the escape of the gases, and let it 

 remain ten days, or until the temperature becomes mild and 

 regular ; about 60°, and certainly not less than 50°, is the 

 proper degree of warmth. Here skill and practice are most 

 required, for on the treatment at this precise point, the 

 success of the bed depends. If the manure has a brown color, 

 and is so loose and mellow that when pressed it will yield 

 no water, but has a fat, unctuous feel, without any smell 

 of fresh dung, the bed is in a right state. If it is dry and 

 hard, or sloppy and liquid, it is not in the proper condition. 

 In the first case moderate watering may restore it, but in 

 the latter the superabundance of water will probably spoil 

 it, and it is better to commence anew. When the bed is 

 ready, break the bricks of spawn into lumps the size of a 

 walnut, which plant regularly six inches apart over the 

 surface of the bed, including its sides and ends, just beneath 

 the surface of the manure. Level the surface by gently 

 smoothing with the back of the spade. Fine rich loam, 

 rather light than otherwise, is then put on two inches thick. 

 Lastly a covering of straw from six to twelve inches, ac- 

 cording to the temperature. If the bed gets too hot, take 

 off most of the covering. When the bed appears too dry, 

 sprinkle it gently with soft tepid water in the morning. 

 The water should be poured through the rose of a water- 

 ing-pot upon a thin layer of straw, laid on for the purpose, 

 and when the earth becomes a little moistened, the straw 

 should be removed, and the dry covering replaced. In 

 warm weather it will need frequent sprinkling, but in win- 

 ter very little. 



As cow-manure, though it contains less ammonia, retains 



