FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 325 



all the physical defects of every soil ; but I cTo claim that it will greatly increase 

 the value of other manures, and will ameliorate the physical defects in many 

 soils. 



ORIGIN OF SWAMP MUCK. 



Swamp muck is formed by the imperfect decomposition of vegetable matter. 

 It consists of the more or less completely decomposed remains of countless gen- 

 erations of marshy plants, mosses, grasses and sedges, together with the mate- 

 rials which have been washed in, or blown in, from the surrounding land. The 

 mosses and marshy grasses, especially when covered by stagnant water, undergo 

 a slow and incomplete decomposition, becoming converted into a material 

 known as peat, in Euroj^e, and muck, in America. It is the product of cool and 

 moist situations. In moist and cool climates the decomposition of vegetable 

 materials is slow, "while the growth of the plants furnishing this material is 

 rapid ; and hence the rapidity with which it accumulates in the British Islands 

 and in Northern Europe, and the slowness with which it forms in our Southern 

 States, In tropical countries, in consequence of the rapidity of decomposition 

 of vegetal)le matter, no deposit of peat occurs except in cool mountainous 

 elevations. 



In countries where there is a tendency to excessive accumulation of peaty 

 matter, and where its natural decomposition is very tardy, we find that but little 

 importance is attached to it as a manural substance, but the effort is rather to 

 get rid of the material altogether. Thus in Great Britain they resort to the 

 l^rocess of "Sparing and burning," cutting the surface into thin slices to dry it. 

 and then burning the dried mass and scattering the ashes on the nnburned 

 portion. 



VARIETIES OF MUCK. 



In consequence of the varying conditions nnder Avhicli this vegetable decom- 

 position may proceed, we may find in the same bed three Avell marked varieties 

 of muck : First, we find mossy materials which have undergone little change, 

 having the original plant structure very perfectly preserved, of a brown color, 

 and when dry very light and spongy, like compressed hay. Here is a specimen 

 in which the mossy stems arc beautifully preserved. This substance is of no 

 value as a manure, not having reached such a stage of decomposition as to 

 develoj) any valuable qualities. It might be used for mulching, or it might be 

 burned, and the ashes used as manure. Second, we have material which has 

 decomposed so completely that only traces of the original vegetable structure 

 can be detected. The material is a solid, unctuous mass, which cuts like soft 

 clay or old cheese, and I have called it cheesy mnck. It is of a dark brown or 

 black color, and usually the darker the color the better the quality, because this 

 darker color shows that it has combined -with some alkaline substance by which 

 its quality is improved. To exhibit this change I took a lump of brown muck 

 and divided it into two parts. One is dried in its natural state, and the other 

 was first drenched with ammonia water and then dried. Here are specimens of 

 both kinds, and you will observe the darker color of the ammoniated muck. 



This cheesy muck is usually formed by decomposition of vegetable matter 

 under water. It often has a distinctly acid reaction, and is then literally "sour 

 muck." I show you some blue litmus paper which has been pressed on a piece 

 of this sour muck, and the red color shows that it is acid. While in this acid 

 condition it is unfit for use as manure. No acid soil will produce valuable crojis. 

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