EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 345 



II. RECLAIMING A MUCK S\YAMr. 



Serious mistakes have been made by the attempt to break up and culti- 

 vate a muck bed and putting in ordinary farm crops. The first step in 

 reclaiming such swamp is to thoroughly drain it to the depth of three feet, 

 removing surplus water and causing the muck to settle and consolidate, 

 changing its spongy texture and making a firm soil. In this way it 

 becomes capable of holding moisture, and loses its "frostiness" by becom- 

 ing a better conductor of heat from the subsoil. This drainage and con- 

 solidation of mucky lands are necessary conditions for reclaiming and pre- 

 paring for successful cultivation. The evidence of improvement is seen 

 in the settling of the soil, the gradual disappearance of wild grasses and 

 sedges, and the appearance of boneset and red-top and June grass. These 

 changes are promoted by a top dressing of wood ashes; even leached ashes 

 if applied in liberal doses will make a great improvement. Sometimes by 

 sowing seed of red-top on the surface of such consolidated swamp, and 

 lightly scatching it in with a light harrow, a good meadow may be secured, 

 giving a fair crop of hay for a number of years. 



When it is decided to plow up a partially reclaimed muck swamp, this 

 should be done late in the fall, and only a thin slice of the cheesy muck 

 brought to the surface; thirty bushels of slaked lime should be scattered 

 over each acre and this incorporated with the soil by harrowing. 



KIND OF CROP. 



It is a matter of importance what kind of crop to raise on such land at 

 the outset. The truck crops, cabbages, onions, white turnips, and potatoes 

 usually succeed well; also beets and mangols; corn often does well, but 

 oats and wheat often give a large growth of straw but very small crop of 

 grain. The hay crop — timothy and red-top — -ofteo gives large returns, 

 and some farmers have grown rich by raising timothy hay on reclaimed 

 tamarack swamps. The meadow often prepares the ground for grain 

 crops. If the muck is not very deep, the time required for bringing such 

 soils into condition for raising rain is much shorter. In fact, the applica- 

 tion of one or two inches of any kind of soil to the surface of a muck 

 swamp will greatly increase its productive capacity. 



Special crops, such as celery, cranberries, and peppermint have given 

 the largest profit in muck farming. I have no experience in these special 

 crops and must refer inquirers to those who devote special attention to 

 these crops. One fact has aroused my attention, viz. : that peppermint 

 farmers place little value on their peppermint hay or the material remain- 

 ing after the peppermint oil has been distilled, whereas, analysis of 

 peppermint hay shows it is nearly as valuable as timothy for stock food. 



MARL. 



The term marl is applied in this state to a whitish deposit found at the 

 bottom of shallow lakes and ponds and often in a layer below the muck in 

 many swamps. There are numerous deposits of this material in this state, 

 and it differs so much in appearance from the neighboring soil that many 

 farmers have sent specimens to the college to "find out what it is and 

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