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General Garden Advice (Rotted manure afterward)

rotted manure, afterward filling in the bed with compost to which is added a little leaf mold. A plentiful supply of compost and leaf mold ready for use whenever it is needed is both a convenience and an asset. Leaf mold is made by allowing a pile of leaves to remain until, by decomposition, they gradually turn into a rich, black soil known as leaf mold. About two years are required for its formation, some leaves as, for example, oak and beech decompose more slowly than others.

Good compost on many places is made by compositing together a mixture of leaves, litter, hedge trimmings and any garden refuse such as weeds, plants and trimmings. A better and much richer soil can be made by building up large flat heaps using alternate layers of the following materials. Sod, fresh cow manure, leaves and soil. Sod can often be secured from a pasture or meadow, seeding down the bare ground the next spring. Any top soil obtainable will answer the purpose such as that from a field, or spent earth removed from a greenhouse or hot bed. Two years are needed for the thorough decomposition of the compost pile, but if during the first summer the pile is forked over a few times the various ingredients will become better mixed and decomposition will be hastened. If this is done the chances are that it will be posible to use the [183] compost after it has stood a year. In the spring when the pile is turned, a little slacked lime dusted over the surface of each layer as it is re-stacked will counteract any acidity. [184]