On maJcing Compost Heaps. 



137 



for one carriage — mine hold upwards of a ton each; 6 tons of 

 this manure in compost with peat, or, if that is not convenient, any 

 other matters, such as ditch scourings, or high headlands which 

 have been properly prepared and laid dry in a heap for some time^ 

 would be amply sufficient for an acre of turnips or mangold. This 

 manure is by far the most invigorating of any I have ever yet 

 tried ; bones in any state will bear no comparison with it for any 

 crop ; but it must be remembered that I write on the supposition 

 that it has not been reduced in strength before it is fetched. 



Convenience frequently suggests that compost heaps should be 

 raised on different parts of a farm ; but, unless in particular instances, 

 it is well to have them in the yard : in the farm-yard all the urine 

 from the cattle-stalls may be employed with the greatest economy; 

 and be it remarked that the urine from animals, in given weights, 

 is more powerful than their solid excrements,* How important 

 then must it not be to the farmer to make the most extensive and 

 the most careful use of this liquid ! It is sometimes carted on the 

 land, but that practice will not bear a comparison with making it 

 into composts in the manner here recommended. Great waste is 

 often made in putrescent manures after they are carted on the land ; 

 instead of being immediately covered or incorporated with the soil, 

 we not unfrequently see them exposed for days together in the hot 

 rays of a scorching sun, or to the injurious influences of a dry 

 wind. I have before stated that compost heaps should on many 

 considerations be raised in the farm -yard ; still circumstances are 

 frequently such that it is more proper to make them at some dis- 

 tance in the fields ; if a headland becomes too high by frequent 

 ploughings or working of the land, in that case it should be 

 ploughed at the time when clover or mixed grass seeds are sown 

 with a white crop, for instance, barley or oats, and clover for the 

 year following : a headland might then be ploughed, and a 

 number of cart-loads of some manure heaped from one end to the 

 other. Immediately after this it should be trenched with the spade 

 (or what is sometimes called digging), and ridged high, in order 

 that an action should take place between the soil and manure ; by 

 this means the mass would soon be in a condition for turning 

 over, and any ditch scourings, or other matters which had not in 

 the first instance been used, might now be added to the mixture. 

 The heap should then be allowed to remain closed for a few 

 weeks, then turned over again; at this turning in all probability 

 the mass would be much reduced ; if sufficiently reduced, raise 

 the ridge of compost well on both sides, but, instead of its top 



* This must be taken with some limitations, for urine contains 90 to 95 per 

 cent, of %Yater ; and unmixed dung contains all the salts of urine, besides 

 much mucus and other substances. — \V. L. Rham. 



