Page:The Garden Mushroom.pdf/25



NO dung answers the purpose so well as that of the horse, the dung and urine of this animal, together with the wet straw litter of the stalls in the stables, being of a hot quality, ferments, and acquires a strong degree of heat of long duration; but as this heat generally proves too violent at first for the growth of vegetables, the dung should always be previously reduced to a proper temperature, by casting it up in an heap, and turning it once or twice, in order to evaporate the rank burning steam before its fermentation. A quantity, in proportion to the size or extent of the intended bed must be procured. For a bed of twenty feet long, three or four large cart-loads will be necessary; and so in proportion to any length intended; as a bed may be made of almost any extent,