EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 275 



MUCK EXPERIMENTS. 



It is estimated in the State of Michigan that about one-seventh of its area is swamp 

 or muck land. These muck deposits are distributed quite generally throughout the 

 State, so much so that it is seldom tluit we find a farm of one hundred acres on which 

 there is not a few acres of this kind of soil. The College farm has several such 

 areas. These muck (iolds are usually so surrounded by higher land that the approach 

 of cold weatlier in the fall attacks these areas first. The cold atmosphere Hows down 

 the hills and unless the air drainage leads towards a river or lake the swamp lands 

 ■will be the first in the locality to be attacked by frosts. Our experiments in connec- 

 tion with muck soils were begun on a portion of field No. 13 of the College farm, which 

 was in corn during the summer of 1898. A killing frost on July 10th ot that year 

 settled on this muck area, and completely destroyed about two acres of tlie corn. Im- 

 mediately following the visit of this remarkable frost the ground was plowed, and 

 laid off into plots of one-tenth acre each, the dimensions being 22 feet by 198 feet, 

 witli three-foot paths between. Eight plots were this year devoted to the experiment. 

 Plot 1 received leached ashes from an ashery near Lansing, where the ashes are allowed 

 to accumulate in large quantity. The owner charges the nominal sum of ten cents a 

 wagon load for them, and yet hundreds of loads are left there without a purchaser. 

 Analysis of these ashes showed .36 per cent potassium oxide, 1.43 per cent phosphoric 

 acid and 26.92 per cent calcium oxide. According to commercial valuation the phos- 

 phoric acid and the potash in these ashes are alone worth $1.65 per ton. 



Plot 2 received a coating of sand from the College gravel pit equal to one inch in 

 depth ; this required fourteen wagon loads on the tenth acre. 



Plot 3 was left untreated. 



Plot 4 received air-shiked lime (60.70 per cent CaO) at the rate of two tons per acre, 

 applied on the plowed surface and thoroughly harrowed in. 



Plot 5 received Homestead Bone Black Fertilizer, at the rate of 400 pounds per 

 acre (2.53 per cent ammonia, 11.24 per cent available and .26 per cent insoluble phos- 

 phoric acid and 1.61 per cent potash). 



Plot 6 received a mixture per acre as follows: 290 pounds dissolved Bone Black, 

 53 pounds nitrate of soda, and 12.2 pounds sulphate of potash. This mixture was 

 prepared to furnish fertilizing elements equal to that which was applied in the Home- 

 stead Bone Black Fertilizer. 



Plot 7 receiA'ed two good loads of well rotted barn yard manure, which had lain 

 three or four months in the compost heap. 



Plot 8 received no fertilizer, but was thoroughly rolled. A heavy iron roller was 

 well loaded and drawn over the plot six times. 



The first year's crops, which were sown about July 23, were duplicated on each half 

 of the ground, and were as follows: 



Crimson cloAcr. turnips, corn, peas, buckwheat, rape, barley, oats. Hungarian grass, 

 millet, radishes and cabbage. As the planting was very late and the season somewhat 

 dry, no definite results were obtained the first year. In every case the fertilizers in- 

 creased the yield, and the barnyard manure gave the best results. Radishes made a 

 good growth on all jdots. l)ut were very strong in flavor. Another killing frost on 

 September 13 practically terminated the experiments for the year. We were surprised 

 to note, however, the very slight effect of the application of air-slaked lime on this 

 soil. However, the drought that occurred during that period may account for the 

 slight effects of this and all the other fertilizers. 



In 189!) the work was resumed, adding nine new plots, and giving air-slaked lime a 

 more thorougli trial by applying it at the rate of one ton per acre on one-half of all 

 the new plots except the unleadied wood ashes. We were limited in area, and were 

 obliged to use luit one-twentieth of an acre for each of the plots added to the experiment 

 this year. Tlio following' ])hin yives the arrangement of the plots, their dimensions and 

 ilie kind and amount of fertilizers applionl: 



