130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tion, we had almost come to believe that here was the great 

 panacea — and many of us have talked and acted accordingly. 

 But right here and now while we are in this contented mood 

 comes in a bold champion, the Scientific Farmer, and with 

 inoclastic stroke would demolish all our ideas by an article 

 under the caption, " Is muck useful ?" And after this satirical 

 query, it goes on to assert in effect that the plant-food contained 

 in a ton of dry muck is worth one dollar, and if the muck is 

 moist as when it is dug, it is worth about three cents per ton, 

 and the inference is that ordinary muck cannot be used 

 profitably as a source of supply for plant-food, as the labor 

 expended in its preparation would purchase far more plant- 

 food in the fertilizer market. And again, though it is recom- 

 mended as an absorbent where an absorbent is required, it is 

 further recommended to haul it from the bed to the field, 

 rather than to the barn for comi^osting, if it is desired to use 

 it to change the physical character of the soil. 



Now if these opinions and ideas are true we are all afloat 

 'again, for who can afford to spend his time digging, hauling 

 and preparing muck, if it is worth only three cents per ton 

 raw and one dollar per ton dry. But it occurs to me that 

 there is a main idea and fact in connection with the subject 

 which has been overlooked. Just as in society there are 

 men and men, so in the list of deposits there is muck and 

 muck^ and what one farmer carts into his fields or his barn- 

 yard as muck may be a very different material from what his 

 neighbor or brother farmer in a distant part of the State 

 obtains for the same purpose. There is liable to be a great 

 difference in its quality and value, and I have no hesitation 

 in saying that some muck, or so-called muck, is not worth 

 the handling. Hence it seems to me here is one main cause 

 of our disagreement and the different opinions of writers as 

 to the value of muck for a fertilizer. Muck is a deposit of 

 decaying or decayed vegetable matter, usually found partially 

 or wholly under water, but its intrinsic value must depend 

 largely upon its location or time of deposit and the elements 

 which enter into its composition. None of us would be at a 



