20 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



since if put in contact with the roots or stems of plants it is 

 very liable to burn them. It should be handled with great care 

 and be kept dry. If wet it ferments and parts with its nitrogen 

 in the form of ammonia gas, which is readily perceptible to 

 the nose. For the same reason it should not be mixed with 

 lime or wood ashes unless used at once. It acts very quickly 

 and on this account is valuable for early crops or to apply 

 during the growth of a crop when the available manure in the 

 land appears to have been exhausted. It may be composted with 

 dry peat or muck when it is more safely applied than if clear 

 and there is less danger of loss from heating. Twenty to 

 thirty bushels of hen manure is generally considered sufficient 

 for one acre when used with stable manure. 



Cow and Swine Manures are rather slow in action, conse- 

 quently they are not as desirable for early crops as horse 

 manure, while they are excellent for late crops. For this latter 

 purpose they are often better than horse manure. If they are 

 mixed with horse manure they ferment very rapidly. 



Sheep Manure is a very concentrated manure which heats 

 rapidly. It is one of the best farm manures. 



Mixing Manures. — It may often be a good plan to mix 

 the different kinds of animal manures for general application, 

 as in this way all seem to be improved. Hen manure is an ex- 

 ception and, as a rule, should be applied separately. Lime, wood 

 ashes or other material of an alkaline nature should never be 

 mixed with stable manure of any kind unless a considerable 

 amount of loam, peat or other material is added to absorb the 

 ammonia, which is always liberated when nitrogenous and alka- 

 line substances are thus mixed. It is a good plan to mix 

 ground bone, tankage and other slow acting fertilizers with 

 heating stable manure, as by so doing the plant food they 

 contain is made more available and the stable manure is 

 greatly improved in quality. 



The Manure Pile. — If early garden crops are to be grown, 

 it is necessary to have fine, well rotted manure, and this makes 

 the manure pile necessary. It should be placed so that as little 

 waste as possible will occur from leaching by rains. When a 

 manure pile is to remain in one place for a considerable time 

 it should be made upon a bed of leaves, peat, loam, rotted sods 



