138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



urae. In this paper a brief outline or summary is presented. 

 In trials of muck upon the farm, a systematic plan has been 

 adopted, with the view of securing reliable results ; and these 

 show that muck is not manure in any proper sense in which 

 that term is used. They further show, that the substance 

 cannot be made into manure without an expenditure for 

 added materials, and at a cost of time and labor which do 

 not comport, under usual conditions, with proper farm econ- 

 omy. The simple mixing of lime with muck betters its con- 

 dition, but it does not change it into manure. 



If muck in its partially-dried condition is to be changed 

 into a mass corresponding in some particulars with manure, 

 not only lime, but nitrogenous salts, potash, soda, soluble 

 phosphoric acid, and other less valuable forms of plant-food, 

 must be added. I have succeeded in forming artificial ma- 

 nures at the farm, using muck as a bulk basis and absorbent, 

 which afforded very gratifying results when applied to grow- 

 ing crops ; but the cost rose, in all cases, in due proportion 

 to its value. 



In these experiments the material in hand to begin with 

 (muck) had a certain known value, and it would be manifest- 

 ly empirical to expect from the use of that material benefits 

 which it had not the power to bestow. In trials upon fields, 

 in most instances, I have not learned that the raw material, 

 air-dried or wet, gave results in increased fertility corre- 

 sponding with expenditures incurred in its application. On 

 dry silicious soils it has not supplied the place or served the 

 purpose of natural upland humus. On medium low lands it 

 has rarely indicated, through successive seasons, any influence 

 for good. 



MUCK-MEADOW EXPERIMENTS. 



A portion of the farm-meadow from which muck has been 

 taken was reclaimed and drained a dozen years ago, and 

 nearly a thousand loads of sand carted upon it. This af- 

 forded, for several years, heavy crops of upland grasses ; but, 

 like all muck-meadows, it requires applications of fertilizers 

 to maintain fertility. The surface-soil of a muck-meadow is, 

 from obvious reasons, better adapted for plant-sustentation 

 than the contents deeper down. Portions of the bog were 

 turned up to light and air from depths of a foot or more ; and 



