WINTER WORK. 305 



sold it because (as he supposed) it was destitute of 

 this basis of extensive fertilization. " Seek, and ye 

 shall find," implies that those who do not seek will 

 rarely find ; and such is the fact. Where rock 

 abounds, Muck is rarely wanting. It covers many 

 thousand acres of Jersey sands, where rock is un- 

 known ; but show me a region ridged or ribbed with 

 rock, and I shall confidently expect to find Muck on 

 it, though none has been known or supposed to exist 

 there. And he who either has or can buy a bed of 

 Muck within half a mile of his barn, his sty, his hen- 

 house, may dig and draw from it all Winter with a 

 moral certainty that it will generously reward his out- 

 lay. Begin as soon after haying as you can spare the 

 time, and cut an outlet so deep that you may there- 

 after work dryshod ; thenceforth, dig and pile on the 

 nearest accessible spot of dry ground, to be drawn 

 away to the barn-yard and out-houses as opportunity 

 presents itself. But, even though you have done 

 nothing till the ground freezes, do not say it is now 

 too late, but set to work. You can often team in 

 Winter where you could not at any other season ; 

 and, in digging Muck from a swamp or bog well fro- 

 zen over, you are not apt to be troubled with water. 

 Draw all you can ; but dig much more ; for no mon- 

 ey at lawful interest pays so well as Muck left to dry 

 and cure for months before you draw it. I think I 

 do not over-estimate the average value of a cubic yard 

 of Muck, well cured and mixed with warmer fertili- 

 zers before application to the soil, at one dollar ; and 



