NATURE OF SWAMP-MUCK. 



133 



NITROGEN IN MUCK. 



As regards the other forms of valuable plant-food con- 

 tained in muck, I have only to consider nitrogen. All analy- 

 ses prove the presence of potential nitrogen in mucks, and 

 in some it is found in considerable quantities. The form in 

 which it exists is in combination with organic acids, — the 

 humic, ulmic, crenic, and apocrenic. It has been alleged that 

 free ammonia has been found in some bogs ; but I have failed 

 to detect it in any specimens coming under notice, and no 

 reliable chemist so far as I can learn, has declared its pres- 

 ence. Nitrogen is the most costly, and, indeed, the most 

 valuable, of all forms of nutriment needed by plants ; and 

 the question of its value as found in mucks is one of high 

 importance in this discussion. 



ANALYSIS OF MUCKS. 



In the table of analysis presented below, a clear view is 

 given of the amount found in three typical specimens of 

 muck; one of which is from a bog on my farm at Win- 

 nekeni, one from a remarkable deposit in Boxford, Mass., 

 the other from a well-known bog at Plaistow, N.H. The 

 equivalent in ammonia (NH3) is also presented. 



The above is as found in the wet condition, 

 free state it stands as follows : — 



In the water- 



Nitrogen. 



Ammonia. 



"Winnekeni Farm 

 Plaistow, N.H. . 

 Boxford, Mass. . 



Per Cent. 



2.47 

 2 13 

 2.12 



Per Cent. 

 300 

 2.55 



2.59 



The average of fifteen determinations of nitrogen in wet mucks, Per Cent. 



by Professor Johnson, is 42 



Water-free 2.31 



