Agriculture Report.Compost is a dark,rich material added to soilto improve it.Compost is produced when bacteriaand fungi break down organic matter,aided by insects,earthworms and other organisms.This natural recyclingreturns nutrients to the soil.Some experts adviseadding five centimeters of compostfor every fifteen centimeters of turned soil.More and more peopleare making their own compost at home.Composting can reducethe amount of garden and cooking wastethat would otherwise go into public landfills.Monica David from the Universityof Illinois Extensionoversees the master gardeners programin her state.She explainsthat you can make a compost pileor dig a pit or use a waste containerwith holes cut in the side.There are different methods of composting.Some take more work.Others take almost no workbut may require waiting up to a year.Advice about compostingcan be found from extension services,at garden centers,in books and on the Internet.For example,the New York State Departmentof Environmental Conservationlists some dos and don'ts of compostingon its Web site: Do add lime,small amounts of wood ashesor crushed eggshells to the compost pile.This will neutralize acids which may formand cause a bad smell.Do mix grass cuttings with other wastesto loosen them up.And do keep the compost pile damp,especially during dry periods.Do not use unfinished compost.It will rob plants of nitrogeninstead of acting as a fertilizer.Do not compost weedy plantswith lots of seeds.Some seeds will not be killedduring the natural heating processin composting.Do not add meat,fish bones or fatty food wastesto the compost mixture.Protein materials do not readily decomposeand they will bring animals.And,finally,do not add diseasedvegetable plants to the pileif the compost will be usedon a vegetable garden.Disease organisms may reappear if you do.Compost differs from mulchbut it can be used as mulch.Mulch is placed on top of soilto protect it.Mulch is generally usedto a height of about ten centimeters.But finer materialssuch as compostshould only be two and a halfto seven and a half centimeters high.Too much mulch can restrictoxygen and water flow.And that's the VOA Special EnglishAgriculture Report,written by Jerilyn Watson.For composting links,go to www.51voa.com.