USE OF MUCK. 181 



looked upon as so much waste, and dreaded as the hot-beds 

 of miasma ; but by draining they have not only been clotlied 

 with sweet herbage themselves, but have been made to con- 

 tribute to the beauty and fertility of the uplands. As a basis 

 for the compost heap we have never found anything equal to 

 muck. In a dry state it is exceeding porous, and consequently 

 a great absorbent of gases. A dead horse buried in it gives 

 forth no effluvia, and shovelled over at the expiration of a year 

 ■will give half a dozen loads of fertilizing material, rich in 

 ammonia and all the elements of vegetable life. " We speak of 

 what we know, and testify to what we have seen." For a quarter 

 of a century we have used more or less muck every year ; and 

 although keeping little stock, the farm has steadily increased in 

 fertility. We would not recommend applying it directly to the 

 soil, unless of a sandy or gravelly nature. Muck is a greal 

 absorbent of moisture, and is therefore naturally cold, and 

 should not be applied to moist clay or loam lands till it has 

 been chemically changed by coming in contact with ashes or 

 fermenting manure. If raised from its wet bed in the swamp 

 and exposed to the air, it gradually loses its cold, sour nature, 

 and may be applied without composting, and witli benefit to 

 almost any soil not already abounding in vegetable matter. In 

 this state it is very similar and acts very similarly to chip 

 manure. To get the quickest returns from muck, however, it 

 should be placed in the pig-pen, barn cellar, yard or compost 

 heap.* The catalytic influence of the fermenting manure upon 

 the muck is wonderful. It is much like the influence of leaven 

 in a mass of meal. As with a proper degree of heat and mois- 

 ture all the meal is leavened, so, with the appropriate adjuncts, 

 the muck undergoes speedy fermentation and decay, and 

 becomes fit food for the growing vegetation. Thus the round 

 of nature from death to life and life to death is accelerated. 

 No definite rule can be laid down for the proportions of a com- 

 post heap. The more manure, the quicker is the fermentation. 

 As a general rule, two-thirds muck to one-third manure we have 

 found a good 'ratio. If ashes are used instead of manure to 

 cook the muck, one bushel of unleached or two bushels of 



♦ An occasional layer of muck on the pile of horse manure to prevent fire- 

 fanging and add to the amount and value of the pile, cannot be too highly 

 recommended. 



