MAKING A COMPOST HEAP

Chronicle (Levin), 7 August 1946, Page 4

MAKING A COMPOST HEAP

DEMONSTRATION IN LEVIN An interesting and instructive talk and demonstration on the making of a compost heap was given at the Levin Public School yesterday by Mr. E. T. Petty, of New Piymouth, who is vice-presi-dent of the New Zealand Humic Compost Club. Mr. Petty, who was introduced by Miss H. E. Bowen, president of the Levin Horticultural Society, said that every school in Taranaki had a compost heap and that there was a cup given each year, to the school with the best heao.

The compost heap should be in a sheltered position and the best heaps were those enclosed in a box or- a bin, as it kept the material together and retai'ned the heat generated by the fermentation of the material. An air pit should be dug first and covered with wire netting or any other material that would prevent the air pit from being filled up, and at the same time ,let the air through. He recommended that the size of the grating be two-thirds to threequarters the area of the bottom of the bin. The greater the variety of ingredients in a compost heap the better. The heap should start off with a layer of vegeta'ole matter followed by a layer of manure, then earth, vegetable matter, manure, earth and so on until the pit was filled. The fertility of the soil and the farmers were the backbone of the couhtry. Ifi New Zealand there -were the same diseases as they 'had in ever.y other country, and the soil was kept in existence by the use of 'chemical science. Mr. Petty pointed out that nothing would grow in real humus; there had to be a mixture of soil with it. Worms were the greatest animals in the world and should never be destroyed. Chick weed was one of the best plants ior encouraging worms, which should never be moved without some of the surrounding soil. The compost bin should be covered practically all the time as too much water would allow the material to rot. The bin should never be open at the sides as 'this allowed the draught to get through the sides instead of being sucked up through the air pit. In conclusion Mr. Petty said that after about four or five weeks the heap should be turned, and then covered and left for another eight weeks. By that time the material would be ready for the garden or wherever it was needed.