THE GREEN-HOUSE. 



135 



Thie first is the mould of horse or stable dung, or 

 that procured from old hot-beds ; this is reckoned the 

 strongest, and when added to earths is commonly 

 looked on as a manure or enricher more than as an 

 earthy ingredient. 



The second is the mould of cow-dung, which as a 

 manure is very weak, and is deemed excellent for 

 entering into composts preparing for bulbous roots, 

 and even in many cases as substitutes for peat earth. 



The third is the mould of rotten straw, such as 

 thatch, packing refuse, cleanings up of rick-yards, 

 coverings of beds, borders, or mushroom ridges, or 

 in short any straw that has not been mixed in any 

 way with animal matters, as urine, excrement, &c. 

 This forms the best substitute for peat earth ; and 

 for the great majority of purposes for which that earth 

 is used, this mixed with a proper proportion of sand 

 will be found eligible ; mixed with finely-sifted rotten 

 tan, sand, and a little loam, it forms a soil for hardy 

 American plants, in which they thrive as well as in 

 peat or bog earth. 



A sort of vegetable mould, which we have seen 

 collected and used with the greatest success, is the 

 following : — Form a large heap of spray of trees, as 

 clippings and cuttings of hedges, old pea- sticks, prun- 

 ings of trees and shrubs, and any other small shoots or 

 branches, chopped into lengths not exceeding a foot or 

 eighteen inches ; add whatever of saw-dust and rotten 

 tan can be got, and if circumstances are favourable, pea, 

 bean, and other haulm, stems of cabbages and brocoli. 



