396 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
sawmills have but little faith in ashes. As arule, the ashes from 
sawmills, excepting where hard wood is burned, are quite poor in 
quality. The fuel is burned with such a strong draft that only a 
small amount of the heavy sandy portions of the ash is left, and 
then after these ashes have been exposed to a few leaching rains 
there is not much of any value left in the ashes. Samples of such 
saw-mill ashes are frequently sent to the chemical laboratory of the 
experiment station for analysis. The analysis of one of these sam- 
ples, which represents about their average, showed: 
Potash, 1.20 per cent. 
Phosphoric acid, 1.10 per cent. 
This is about ten times less potash than isusually foundin good 
wood ashes. 
In deciding between the use of wood, coal or gasoline, the fertili- 
zer value of the wood ashes should be kept in mind. 
The ashes from marshes which have burned over in the summer 
are sometimes quite valuable, especially when the ashes are from 
small timber trees. When the ashes are mainly of sedges and swale 
grass they possess but little value. 
Another source of fertility which can be drawn upon in time of 
need is the large deposit of muck and marlin thestate. In the “old 
lake bottoms” there is a large amount of reserve plant food which 
can be utilized at little expense. Every hundred pounds of ordi- 
nary black muck contains from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of nitrogen, with 
smaller amounts of phosphates and lime. These muck beds, when 
they are cured by thorough rotting and airing, are valuable fertili- 
zers. Incase the muck tastes a little sour, lime in the form of land 
plaster should be mixed with it,so as to correct the acid aad make 
the muck decompose more rapidly. Muck will work well on our 
sandy loam soils, because there is sufficient lime in the soils to pre- 
vent the formation of sour mould. 
When there is a large amount of coarse sand in a soil, a dressing 
of marl, which is quite common in many parts of the state, will be 
very beneficial. The mixed marl and muck will go well together. 
The use of city garbage and refuse matter has been advocated for 
fertilizer purposes. The richstable manures, wood ashes and bones 
are very valuable, but the bulky refuse matter, containing a large 
amount of grease, possesses little value, and in many cases they 
are a positive damage to the land. 
The indiscriminate use of raw city refuse matters, excepting 
stable manures, bones and wood ashes, has never proved a wise,sat- 
isfactory or economical method of fertilizing. 
4. How do the commercial fertilizers compare in value with ordi- 
nary manures, as well as topic5, “What kinds of commercial fer- 
tilizers are best adapted for certain crops,’ can not at present be 
satisfactorily answered on account of the absence of extended expe- 
riments upon these lines. So far as our limited knowledge goes, 
commercial fertilizers have not proved to be particularly valuable 
and beneficial under the horticultural and agricultural conditions 
of this state. 
In short, the use of the expensive commercial fertilizers can be 
put off and even entirely avoided by a judicious use of: (1), farm 
