Vegetable Refuse
After being made up into a compost, and allowed to ferment for some time, Vegetable Refuse of all kinds can be most advantageously employed as manure. This treatment is especially advisable when the Refuse contains a fair proportion of woody substance, as the latter can scarcely serve as manure for plants until it has undergone chemical decomposition to some extent. When the proportion of woody substance is large, it is well to burn the Refuse slowly, in a covered heap, in which the fire is kept smouldering, but is never allowed to burst into flame. Other kinds of Refuse should be made up with layers of earth and quicklime. The latter destroys the weeds, and hastens their decay. Another good method of forming a compost is to mix the Refuse with earth, and occasionally drench the heap with liquid manure. This promotes the formation of Ammonia; and gypsum should be mixed with the earth to form Sulphate of Ammonium, which prevents the loss of the alkali, and adds much to the value of the compost. Quicklime must not be mixed with the earth, as it sets free Ammonia, which escapes as a gas into the atmosphere, and is lost. Both of these composts are excellent garden manures.