Excerpt from The Beginner's Gardening BookSoot which has been exposed to the air, though protected from rain, for two or three months is also useful for getting rid of ground pests, and is valuable as a manure. Wood ashes form a valuable fertiliser, and ought now to be care fully preserved, for kainit is scarce and dear, they may be scattered freely on the ground in spring and forked in. Wood ashes must be kept dry until used. Artificial manures have increased in price very considerably during recent years, and amateurs ought to rely largely upon the com post heap. Fallen leaves, the dead stems of herbaceous plants, weeds, turf edgings, and vege table refuse should be preserved and thrown into a heap or pit dug in the ground, if it is sprinkled occasionally with lime and soot and household slops are poured over it, a valuable heap will be available in the course of a few months.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.