254 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



4 GEORGE V., A. 1914 



MARSH MUDS FROM CORXWALLIS., KLVGS CO., N.S. 



Laboratory No. 1327 k- — This is from the bank of a creek, taken below the level 

 of the grass-producing mud. It dries on exposure into masses or lumps of a dull red 

 colour which, though hard, are fairly friable. Examination indicates that the mineral 

 or rock constituents are very finely ground; there is neither coarse sand nor gravel 

 present. Although there is sufficient silt and clay present to give tenacity to the 

 Iried material, it would appear that the chief component is fine and -very fine sand. 

 There are no visible evidences of organic debris. 



Laboratory No. 13275. — From the land upon which the salt grass grows. In 

 aeneral appearance and nature this mud bears a strong resemblance to the preceding 

 -ample. Closer examination, however, shows it is not as homogeneous, that many of 

 the lumps are, save on the outside, greyish, and the dried masses are somewhat ten- 

 acious and refractory, possibly due to the presence of a little more clay. It is free 

 from gravel and coarse sand and under the microscope has much the same appear- 

 ance as No. 13274. 



Laboratory No. 13276. — This was designated as 'blue marsh mud,' underlying 

 the red marsh mud, Laboratory No. 13274, to a depth of six inches to six feet. This, 

 in the air-dried condition, is grey and forms rather tough masses. Except in colour 

 it is not unlike the two preceding samples, though possibly somewhat richer in clay. 



Analysis of (Air-dried) Muds. 



These data are in fair accord with those previously obtained in the Farm labor- 

 atories from the examination of tidal deposits of the bay of Fundy, and very clearly, 

 in our opinion, indicate the general nature of these muds. They are amendments 

 rather than fertilizers, that is, they may be used to generally improve or recuperate 

 soils (and more particularly so when applied liberally and for the first time on worn 

 soils) rather than to furnish notable amounts of available nitrogen, phosphoric aeid 

 and potash, which is the special function of commercial or chemical fertilizers. The 

 amounts present in these tidal deposits of the more essential elements of plant food 

 do not, as a rule, exceed those in soils of average quality, nor are these muds rich in 

 organic matter which would make them of value in increasing the soil's store of 

 humus-forming material. Nevertheless, they have a value for occasional use, as 

 renovators, probably benefiting the land as much from the phy.- il as from the chem- 

 ical standpoint. 



While the amounts of the fertilizing constituents in these marsh muds are not 

 large, such plant food as is present, exists in a comparatively high state of avail- 

 ability and to this fact, apart from their physical influence on the soil, undoubtedly 

 these muds very largely owe their value. This p 1 iase of the subject — the availability 



