FAKMEES' INSTITUTES. 227 



accomplish. But while the frost is thus grinding it to dust, the air is also act- 

 ing upon it. The muck is eagerly absorbing the ammonia of the air, neutral- 

 izing its acid properties, and when spring comes, we find its acid properties all 

 gone. The oxygen of the air has also been at work in ripening the muck, con- 

 verting the inert materials into more active forms. 



I consider this action of the frost and weather as almost indisjiensable for the 

 successful use of muck as a manure, and I think that the failures which have 

 occurred in the use of this material have arisen from the want of this amelior- 

 ating action of the Aveather, or else from selection of the wrong kind of muck. 



We may sum up the advantages of weathering muck under four heads : 



1st. We get rid of a large amount of water when thrown up in piles, and 

 thus save about one-half of the expense and labor of handling. 



2d, The muck acquires ammonia from air when freely exposed to its action. 

 It thus loses its acid properties and may become as valuable as well rotted 

 manure so far as furnishing ammoliia to the crops is concerned. 



3d. The muck becomes rii^ened by exposure to the air : the insoluble and 

 inert humin becoming oxidized to the more active form of humic acid. 



4th. By the action of frost it becomes a soft and powdery mass like leaf mold. 



Unless a farmer is going to comjiost his muck with fermenting manures and 

 thus secure by active fermentation of the muck many of the changes secured 

 by weathering, he should not fail to grind his muck with this mill of frost. 



COMPOSITION OF MUCK. 



Muck consists of a combustible, and an incombustible material. If we heat 

 a quantity of muck very intensely in the air, it burns, the combustible material 

 escapes, leaving an incombustible material or ash. This mineral matter or ash 

 varies greatly in different specimens of muck both in its relative quantity and 

 in its chemical composition. If sand and clay are washed or blown into the swamp 

 and mixed with the muck, they will remain in the ash when the muck is burned 

 and the ash may then form a large percentage of the weiglit of the muck. If 

 no soil has thus been mixed with the muck, the ash will form about five per 

 cent of the weight of the muck, and the combustible or organic material will 

 form about 95 per cent. 



The chemical composition of the ash may also vary greatly. If the swamp 

 has sufiicient drainage, much of the potash, soda, lime, etc. will be carried off 

 in the drainage water, and the ash of such muck will be proportionally jDoorer 

 in these materials. If the swamp is without natural drainage, these materials 

 may accumulate by being carried in solution in surface Avater Avhich flows into 

 such swamp, and these are left there wlien the water evaporates. It is not 

 very unusual to find a deposit of the carbonates of lime and magnesia at the bot- 

 tom of such muck bed, constituting a bed of marl. 



COMPOSITION OF ASH OF MUCK. 



I have analyzed the ash from a muck found at the Agricultural College, and 

 find the following results. The muck gave twelve per cent of ash, having the 

 following composition : 



Sand and clay !.-- 58.60 



Carbonate of lime 8.39 



Sulphate of lime (gypsum) 5. 50 



Phosphate of lime 1.33 



Carbonate of magnesia 1. 50 



