l which was separated from the manure
at the first sorting, this without any mixture of soil is placed in the
bottom of the bed, and then the manure and soil is used for the bulk of
the bed above. This coarser material, however, is not always at hand,
and in such cases the beds are built up from the bottom with the mixture
of manure and soil. The depth of the material in the beds in these
houses varies according to the experience of the operator. Some make the
beds about eighteen inches in depth, while others do not make the beds
more than eight or ten or twelve inches in depth. Where there are tiers
of beds, that is, one bed above the other, very often the lowest bed,
the one which rests directly upon the ground, is made deeper than the
others.

While it is the general custom to use material consisting of an
admixture of manure and soil in the proportions described, this custom
is not always followed. In the case of the beds which are made up in the
summer for the fall and early winter crop, soil, being easily obtained
at that season of the year, is mixed with the manure. Some growers,
however, in making the beds in midwinter for the spring crop, do not use
any soil since it is more difficult to obtain it at that season. In such
cases the beds are made up of manure alone. The experience in some cases
shows that the crop resulting from this method is equally as good as
that grown where soil has been added. In the experience of some other
growers a bin of soil is collected during the summer or autumn which can
be used in the winter for mixing in with the manure and making the beds
for the spring crop. Where sod is used this is collected in pastures or
fence rows in June, piled, and allowed to rot during the summer.

In distributing the material in the beds, the methods of packing it vary
according to the wishes or experience of the grower. It is often
recommended to pack the material very firmly. The feeling that this must
be packed very thinly has led to the disuse of beds in tiers by some,
because it is rather difficult to pack the material down very firmly
where one bed lies so closely above another. Where the practice is
followed of packing the material very firmly in the bed, some
instrument in the form of a maul is used to tamp it down. Where there
are tiers of beds an instrument of this kind cannot well be used. Here a
brick or a similar heavy and small instrument is used in the hand, and
the bed is thus pounded