FAEMEES' INSTITUTES. 235 



manures. It is not enough to tell us that in the heat of the summer's glow 

 there will be enough nitrates for the use of the crop. The plant needs a supply- 

 earlier in the season, before the flush of the nitrates sets in. These facts give 

 us food for profitable thought on the subject of manuring. 



But one point that I wish to especially call to your attention is that in a soil 

 destitute of organic matter, no nitrates are formed. If your fields are deficient 

 in organic matter, i. c, if they have less than the soil can proj^erly use, in that 

 proportion your fields are crippled in this important process, and your croj)s pay 

 the penalty in diminished yield. Nature keeps an open account with us for a 

 time, but she balances her books after a time, and from her final balance sheet 

 the farmer appeals in vain. 



The question how we may unlock the vast accumulation of inert nitrogen 

 found in muck, is one of the most important subjects now before agricultural 

 chemists. That a portion is made active when muck is mingled with the soil, 

 and that soil fertility is thus largely preserved, I have already stated ; but a 

 large part never passes into the active form. The more thoroughly we can effect 

 this conversion, the more will we add to the productiveness of our soils, and the 

 more completely may we counterbalance the enormous drain on our fields by 

 nitrates yearly Avashed away and finally lost in the all-devouring sea. We can 

 consider agriculture placed on its proper vantage ground only wlien we can util- 

 ize ail the waste materials now locked up in swamp muck. 



But even with our present knowledge of this material and its properties, the 

 farmer may greatly improve his agriculture by a wise use of this abundant mate- 

 rial. The use of this substance in composting, by which the farmer may triple 

 or quadruple his manure without any diminution of its value — the increased 

 warmth of soil and capacity to withstand drought which muck imparts to every 

 soil deficient in vegetable matter — the capacity of this material to furnish a 

 certain amount of active nitrogen, the most precious and costly of all manural 

 matter — these are facts which the thoughtful farmer will not let lightly slip 

 through his fingers. Little as we know of this singular substance I have said 

 enough to justify me to close as I began by quoting the words of Hon. John. 

 Dow, " I believe there is untold wealth in swamp muck." 



DISCUSSION AT ALLEGAN. 



Mr. Tomlinson. — Would it not do as well to grind swamp muck by machinery 

 as to leave it to the action of the frost? 



Dr. Kedzie. — It would not pay to grind it with machinery. The easiest and 

 cheapest way is to let the frost mill do this work. 



Spencer Marsh, Allegan. — Does soil ever lose its substance by leaching? 



Dr. Kedzie. — When soils have no impervious strata, and are deficient in 

 materials which will hold substances necessary for the crops, leaching may take 

 place. 



L. B. Phillips, Allegan. — Is tliere any great value in liquid manure? 



Dr. Kedzie. — It is the currency of agriculture, for it contains most valuable 

 manural elements, such as urea and the phosphates. 



Jonathan Butler, Otsego. — Is this marl wliich is found in marshes good to 

 put on land as manure? 



Dr. Kedzie. — It is if your land is deficient in lime and magnesia. 



H. E. Blackman, Trowbridge. — Is muck a better deodorizer than dry clay? 



Dr. Kedzie. — As far as my experience goes it is better than dry earth. 



Spencer March, Allegan. — In what consists the value of gypsum? 



Dr. Kedzie. — That question is not under discussion. 



