O & A G K I C U L T U R E f . 47 



the soil by the development of carbonic acid; it 

 possesses the power of attracting moisture from the 

 air and of retaining it for a long time ; and by means' 

 of the acids which it contains, it is able to abstract 

 ammonia from, the air and also from manure ; hence 

 its value in the compost heap. 



The way in which "muck,"' or vegetable mold, is 

 most commonly used in Virginia and the Northern 

 States is, to collect and store in a dry state, in some 

 convenient place near to the droppings of the stalls, 

 and theii, from day to day, to spread upon these" 

 droppings twice their bulk in muck. This mode of 

 preparation requires no special skill, and commends 

 itself to the practice of all. Any common laborer of 

 the farm can manipulate it; and it needs no adjuncts 

 from chemistry, nor from what are called "specific 

 manures." 



Next to a compost of muck and barn manures, a 

 mixture of muck and ashes is the most common, and 

 by experienced persons is considered the most profit- 

 able. It is certainly one of the most convenient 

 mixtures, as ashes may be transported a considerable 

 distance with little expense. The farmer who does 

 not understand what the precise elements of ashes 

 are, generally accords to them the great merit as a 

 fertilizer, when really the small quantity used would 

 have but little effect if it did not act upon the 

 mold, or muck and render it available as food for 

 lants. The value of ashes to be used as muck is 

 often estimated as high as fifty cents a bushel, in 

 an imbleacbed state. About two bushels of good 

 unbleached ashes to the forty bushels of muck, is a 

 fair proportion. A compost of muck and oyster- 



