"
And because he actually lived on a farm, Howard especially
emphasized that composting must be sanitary and odorless and that
flies must not be allowed to breed in the compost or around the work
cattle. Country life can be quite idyllic--without flies.
The Indore Compost Factory
At Indore, Howard built a covered, open-sided, compost-making
factory that sheltered shallow pits, each 30 feet long by 14 feet
wide by 2 feet deep with sloping sides. The pits were sufficiently
spaced to allow loaded carts to have access to all sides of any of
them and a system of pipes brought water near every one. The
materials to be composted were all stored adjacent to the factory.
Howard's work oxen were conveniently housed in the next building.
Soil and Urine Earth
Howard had been raised on an English farm and from childhood he had
learned the ways of work animals and how to make them comfortable.
So, for the ease of their feet, the cattle shed and its attached,
roofed loafing pen had earth floors. All soil removed from the
silage pits, dusty sweepings from the threshing floors, and silt
from the irrigation ditches were stored near the cattle shed and
used to absorb urine from the work cattle. This soil was spread
about six inches deep in the cattle stalls and loafing pen. About
three times a year it was scraped up and replaced with fresh soil,
the urine-saturated earth then was dried and stored in a special
covered enclosure to be used for making compost.
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