Page:Farmers of forty centuries.djvu/230

212

Fig. 116.—Section of chart issued by the Nara Experiment Station, illustrating construction of compost house; upper section shows elevation; middle portion is a cross section and the lower shows floor plan.

This compost house is designed to serve two and a half acres. Its floor is twelve by eighteen feet, rendered watertight by a mixture of clay, lime and sand. The walls are of earth, one foot thick, and the roof is thatched with straw. Its capacity is sixteen to twenty tons, having a cash value of 60 yen, or $30. In preparing the stack, materials are brought daily and spread over one side of the compost floor until the pile has attained a hight of five feet. After one foot in depth has been laid and firmed, 1.2 inches of soil or mud is spread over the surface and the process repeated until full hight has been attained. Water is added sufficient to keep the whole saturated and