104 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tion — " but too much lime applied to a heap may cause a burning of 

 the material and make it but little better than charcoal." 



If lime is used at all, it should be applied in such moderate quan- 

 tities that its mixture with fresh peat will generate a degree of heat 

 so slight as not to prevent the absorption of the fertilizing acids 

 and gases generated in the pile. But it is safer and better in all 

 cases to employ the alkaline salts instead of lime. 



To conclude : Peat, decomposed with animal manures, is un- 

 doubtedly an admirable manure ; especially for high lands, or sandy, 

 gravelly, or loamy soils. In fact, it is good on an}' soil. 



It is valuable, as a great absorber of water and gases : 



It is valuable, as a great retainer and feeder of these : 



It is valuable, as a constant collector and renewer of supplies, 

 and as a gi-eat assimilator of plant food. 



For fruit trees and grass, it is exceedingly^ efficacious. 



If it is objected that its black color attracts heat to such an ex- 

 tent as to burn the grass over which it is spread, we may reply, 

 "if it heats more quickly, so it cools more quickly ;" and if in hot 

 weather it becomes quickly heated at mid-day, so it cools quickly 

 towards evening and will for an hour or two longer than other- 

 wise, bring down and hold the refreshing dews of the season. Its 

 humus, by constant decay, keeps up a needful aid, and the naturally- 

 inert material, by proper admixture, becomes an efficient power. 

 The old saying may still be true, " Muck makes the meal-chest." 



Discussion. 



The Chairman said that this most suggestive essay opened up 

 another phase of the fertilizer question, which had been discussed 

 here this winter, and called on members present to give their views 

 on the subject. 



Benjamin P. Ware said that he had had a good deal of experi- 

 ence with meadow muck, and the opinions which he had formed 

 varied much from those of some others of equal experience. This 

 appeared very strange, and he could account for this difference only 

 on the supposition of a ditference in the quality of the muck. He 

 thought the subject had been fairly presented, and the views of the 

 essayist were very much in accordance with his own. He lives on 

 the sea-shore and obtains much manure from the sea — mainly kelp. 



