Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-27

Making compost pile. however. is
the disposal Of fallen leaves which ap-
peals most to the intellect. and hence 70
the sense OF thrfftineSs which besetS
all mankind at times
Good manures OF the old-tin1e sort
are difficult to get. and expensive, They
contain weed seeos, and often are dis
agreeable in actual usage.
HumuS is the basis of all fertilizers.
TIE dictionary defines humus as fol-
lows:
"A brown or black material formed
By the partial decomposition OF vege-
table or animal matter
It is an important constituent CT all
good soll-thaI is, What human beings
call good SOL. Nature has no names
for anything, and especially no quail
flying adjectlyes.
We should keep in mind that humuS
Is only one constituent Of a good soil.
In thus respect it does not come up TO
the Latin, where it was born. In Latin,
'hunus' means earth, soil, ground.
In English, humus Is not interchange
able with soil, but is only part of
soil. 1t may be bought, and in its
simplest form consists of disintegrated
vegetable matter flshed up from the
bottom Of century-o drieo-up lakes.
In this form 1t is a woody, soft mate
rial, about the color of dried coffee
grounds. Offhand one might think
coffee grounds would make a good hui
mus, and no doubt they would II they
were exposed to the air for a season
and permitted to weather"
The average family might use as
much as SO pounds, more or less, of
coffee year. Now so pounds of ferti-
lizing material, in any form, is only q
beginning. With humus and fertilizers
not the same, in some ways, but re-
markedly alike in others-Snost home
owners tend 70 economic to the point
of useleSSneSs.
Too little Of these materials is used,
rather than too much, primarily be-
cause they are expensive, and also be-
cause the average gardener of the anna
teur variety does not see their use.
X y
AS to the latter point, it must be
admitted that great deal of horticul-
tural data, as in every other walk of
life and activity, must be taken on
faith.
Various experts declare that so and
so is good for our plants, that certain
mulches are Just the thing for broad
leaved evergreens, that certain fertil-
lzers do this, and certain others do that
The homeowner, who is not an expert
In any sense, must be content to fol-
low the advice of those who claim that
they are
Not always viii he be able to prove
their assertions, either That is one of
the stumbling blocks of home horti-
culture. One puts in a plant, treats
1t according to the best advice, and
gets no results. Whose fault is 1t?
Or Is there any fault at all?
The home gardener does not know.
and he is foolish If he worries about Ii.
One thing that he can repose con-
fdence in, is the oft-repeated state
ment which he meets everywhere in
garden literature, that hunls, or the
organic portion of the, soil, is essential.
1t ought to be in the earth one hap
pens to dig, and aften enough it is
not there in sufficient quantities to
absorb the moisture and ammonia from
the air, which action constitutes one
Of its chief functions.
Another Is the so-called amelioriza-
ton of the soil, or breaking it UP
bodily, by the intrusion of its softer
particles into the mass of the harder
stony bits Of soil or compacted clay
particles.
Now if leaves make the best hun1us.
and If one has a whole yard full of
then-weil, isn't it sheer waste, as well
as rather silly, to send them I'D in
smoke, just to get rid of them?