EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 343 



MANAGEMENT OF SWAMPS. 



MUCK AND MARL. 



R. C. KEDZIE. 



Bulletin No. 115. 



The large number of muck swamps and deposits of marl in Michigan, 

 and the numerous letters asking for information about the treatment of 

 these materials, seem to justify a bulletin on this subject. 



Swamp muck is formed by the imperfect decomposition of vegetable 

 matter, consisting of the more or less decomposed remains of marshy 

 plants, together with the materials which have been blown in or washed 

 in from the surrounding land. These materials when covered by stagnant 

 water undergo a slow and incomplete decomposition, forming what is 

 known as peat in Europe and muck in America. In cool and moist 

 climates it is more abundant than in warm and dry climates where vege- 

 table decomposition is more rapid. It is more common in the central and 

 northern parts of this state than in the southern counties. 



KINDS OF MUCK. 



There are two varieties of muck, which differ in their properties and 

 uses. 



1. Powdery muck, found on the surface of the muck bed, which is of 

 a deep brown color, does not stick to the fingers, has no acid property, 

 and closely resembles the mould or organic matter of the soil. If pressed 

 upon moist blue-litmus paper it does not redden the paper, thus showing 

 the absence of acids. 



2. Under this superficial layer of powdery muck is a variable depth of 

 a nearly black, sticky, adhesive mass that cuts like cheese and soils the 

 fingers when handled. It is usually quite acid, and when a slip of blue- 

 litmus paper is pressed against it for a time the paper is reddened, reveal- 

 ing the presence of an acid. This cheesy muck contains a large amount 

 of water, from 50 to 80 per cent., and if rapidly dried it shrinks and 

 cracks and forms a peaty mass that is fit only for the fire. This is the 

 coaly humus of European writers and is as useless for the land as so much 

 stone coal. It may remain for years a useless encumbrance on the 

 ground. 



