4 VALUE OF SWAMP LANDS. 



plant food. The mistake in the theory has made both 

 methods disappointing. One plan is to dig out the muck, 

 leave it for a time to "sweeten", and then spread it on the 

 upper fields of the farm like manure. But in all cases 

 where muck is used alone for fertilizing other fields, the 

 final result is disappointing. Somehow the muck does not 

 "hold out" or continue to give good crops. 



Another well known method is to drain the swamp 

 either with open ditches or tile, and thus reduce the level 

 at which water stands. When this is done the soil can be 

 worked with horse tools and planted with ordinary crops. 

 Thus in one case the swamp is carried to crops in higher 

 fields, while in the other the swamp is dried and the crops 

 are brought to it. It is noticed that when grass is seeded 

 in these drained swamps it usually makes a good growth 

 for a few vears. Small grain also does fairly well, though 

 inclined to lodge or fall down. In many swamps, corn, 

 while making a fair stalk, refuses to ear well; and potatoes 

 make heavy vines but produce poor tubers. Farmers 

 have often observed these facts about black soil or muck 

 and have wondered why this apparently rich soil fails. In 

 theory it ought to be nearly as rich as manure, yet it is true 

 that swamp lands seldom give permanent satisfaction with- 

 out the addition of some form of fertilizer. 



What is the matter with the soils ? 



The answer, by chemical analysis and practical ex- 

 perience alike, is that they lack available potash. In 

 Indiana analyses were made of many such soils and in 



