1886.] 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 



115 



Material taken from a Ditch in a Diked Marsh at East 

 Salisbury, Mass. 



[Sent on for examination] 



Per cent. 



Moisture at 100° C, . 33.40 



Organic and volatile matter, 92.15 



Ash, 7.85 



Ash soluble, 4.20 



Ash insoluble, 3.65 



Nitrogen (in organic matter), 1.64 



Phosphoric acid, .13 



Potassium oxide, .26 



Calcium oxide, 1.24 



This material is quite rich in manurial substances, and is 

 equal, in that respect, to the better quality of peat. 



Muck. 



[Three Samples of Muck sent on for examination from Goshen, Mass.] 



Sample No. I. consisted of a solid, unbroken, turfy mass, 

 with but little change in the original vegetable structure. It 

 contained some lime, with traces of phosphoric acid, as more 

 noteworthy mineral constituents. The nitrogen of the vege- 

 table matter is that of a fair quality of its kind, considering 

 the total amount of earthy material present. 



Sample No. II. consisted of a black-brown, somewhat pul- 

 verulent mass, with rootlets here and there interspersed ; it 

 contained more lime and phosphoric acid than No. I., but less 

 earthy matter. The smaller percentage of mineral matter 

 accounts sufficiently for an increased amount of nitrogen as 

 compared with No. I. 



Sample No. III. consisted mainly of a material similar to 



