22 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



from one quarter had felled them, but usually they lie pointing in every direction, and when, 

 as occasionally happens, the wet soil sinks or dries, the mighty trunks are seen piled upon 

 each other as in a Maine log-jam. What are seen, too, are but the uppermost strata of piles 

 upon piles unseen below.&quot; 



The time required to form a muck-bed cannot be estimated, the stage of decay of the 

 materials composing it not always indicating the lapse of time. Hundreds of centuries must 

 have been required for the formation of the deposits in the swamp previously referred to, and 

 human computation fails in arriving at any definite conclusion. 



Muck differs very materially in texture and color, according to its origin and the degree 

 of change reached by the material of which it is composed. It is generally regarded by 

 chemists and agriculturists as most valuable for agricultural purposes when dried and used 

 as an absorbent of liquid manures, its application alone to soils of any kind not being consid 

 ered generally of sufficient value to warrant a recommendation of its use for this purpose. 



Peaty Soils and their Cultivation. Peaty soils are frequently called vegetable 

 soils, because they consist mostly of vegetable matter, with but little of the mineral element. 

 T*hey are usually found in low swampy localities, but sometimes on declivities where the 

 water is obstructed in its course by basin-shaped cavities. They are formed mostly by the 

 growth and decay of aquatic vegetation. In many swamps the peat is found to be of great 

 depth, sometimes reaching to that of from thirty to fifty feet. In such cases the locality is 

 supposed to have formerly been a lake which was gradually filled up with peat. &quot;When peaty 

 swamps are overflowed from time to time by a river that deposits sand or clay, some of the 

 most productive soils will frequently thus be formed. The rich lands of Holland, which 

 support such a dense population, consist of a soil of this character. The islands near the junc 

 tion of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in California are well-known examples in this 

 country. 



Prof. Brewer says: &quot;Peaty soils may shrink on drying even more than clays. This is 

 due to two causes, first, the actual shrinkage of the dried material, and second, its oxidation 

 or decay. When such lands are dried and brought into cultivation, the vegetable matter 

 decays. When the Holland peat-bogs have been drained, they have sometimes sunk several 

 feet in the course of years, by such decay, and the same is true of the drained marshes in 

 New Jersey. We have a similar case in New Haven, where the salt water was shut off from 

 .a salt marsh over a century ago, and it has since been used for pasture; the embankment 

 was broken last year, and the tides now cover it like a lake; the land has sunk away from a 

 !few inches near the edges to more than two feet in the more peaty portions.&quot; 



When drained and exposed to the air sufficient to become dry, peat in its natural state 

 is often used for fuel, as is the case in Ireland. It is valuable as an absorbent of liquid 

 manures; also as a fertilizer when applied alone to a dry, gravelly or sandy soil. 



In England, charred peat has been used as a manure, both when applied alone and when 

 combined with night-soil, liquid manure, sewage, water, etc., which it dries and deodorizes. 

 So great at one time were the expectations of an enormous demand for it, besides the bene 

 fits to result to Ireland by thus disposing of her bogs, that a royal charter was granted to a 

 company for its manufacture. It is not at present, however, used in that form as extensively 

 as that which is merely dried, the latter being a better absorber and retainer of ammonia 

 than that which is charred. Peaty soils, being naturally wet, should be well drained of sur 

 plus water and moisture, in order to be successfully cultivated. 



It is a good practice to cut up the hummocks or bogs after draining, throwing them 

 into heaps, and after they are sufficiently dried, to burn them and scatter the ashes over the 

 land thus drained. Wood ashes and gypsum are valuable fertilizers for peaty soils. 



Subsoils. The character of the stratum or bed of earth lying immediately beneath 

 the surface soil, called subsoil, affects very materially the efficiency of soils in their produc- 



