CORRESPONDENCE— SWAMP MUCK. 



209 



nure. A little frost will not hurt black seed, so that 

 you should sow as soon as the ground is open in 

 spring. Put out your manure, and level it all over 

 the ground about two inches thick ; then take a shovel 

 and turn the manure under, with about one inch of 

 soil on the top of it. Take a line and make a mark 

 or furrow, from half an inch to an inch deep. All 

 vegetables shoald be sowed in drills or rows. Sow 

 the seed in the furrows and cover it lightly with the 

 hand or back of the shovel. When lumber can be 

 conveniently procured, it should be used, as great 

 advantages result from keeping the ground moist, and 

 retaining in the soil all the strength of the manure. 

 In planting with the aid of lumber, the following in- 

 structions should be observed: — The boards should 

 be about twelve inches wide; lay them two inches 

 apart, and make the mark or farrow between them, 

 ■which can be done without the aid of the line, as be- 

 fore mentioned; then sow your seed, and cover as be- 

 fore; let the boards remain until the onions have 

 grown .OS large as the stem of a tobacco pipe, then 

 take off the lumber. By this means, all the manure 

 will be preserved; neither will there be any weeds to 

 prevent the growth of the onions, which will be now 

 rapidly shooting up, and shade the ground. A child 

 of eleven or twelve years of age can keep a quarter 

 of an acre clean per day. If no lumber be used, at 

 least sis times the amount of labor will be required 

 to keep your onion patch free from weeds. The on- 

 ions should be left from two to four in a bunch. 

 Single onions frequently grow what are called " thick 

 necks," in this country. If there should be a long 

 continued drouth during the summer, causing your 

 onions to fail and become yellow on the top, immedi- 

 ately it comes on to rain, in the latter part of June, 

 or in July, sprinkle or strew salt over the onions in 

 the midst of the rain, at the rate of four bushels to 

 the acre; but be careful not to sow salt too thick, lest 

 you should thereby destroy the crop; for although salt 

 is most excellent for this, and various other agricul- 

 tural purposes, it not unfrequently does much harm' 

 when injudiciously applied. By following this plan, I 

 have succeeded admirably in raising onions, both in 

 England and America; indeed, I have grown onions 

 by the ton, while many others could not secure even 

 a very moderate crop. 



Mr. EniTon: — Ffaving seen several. statements in 

 the different papers of the day, respecting the pro- 

 ceeds of a single acre, and being out of health and 

 not able to attend to my farm, I will devote a few 

 moments to inform you of my success in farming. 

 Last year I planted one acre of black potatoes ; I 

 have sold from that acre §80 worth of potatoes, and 

 have about twenty bushels left for seed — worth here 

 S15. I also planted one acre of long red potatoes, 

 called by some merinoes; I have sold from that acre 

 $101 worth of potatoes, have used them freely in my 

 family through the winter, and have twelve bushels 

 left for seed — worth here $8. You will remember 

 the season was dry, and but a small crop rai=ed. I 

 plowed deep and planted deep, and used about five 

 cords of stable manure per acre. A. Subsckiber. 



BooxE Co., 111. 



To Destroy Caterpillars. — To kill caterpillars, 

 take a small sponge, tie it to the end of a pole, dip 

 it in spirits of turpentine, thrust into the middle of 

 the nest, turning it well in the hand, so that the spir- 

 its may touch each individual. — JVew England Far- 



To Preserve Meat from Insects. — Make a solu- 

 tion of black pepper and molasses, and rub it well 

 on the meat; then hang it up and smoke ag.ain. The 

 bugs will not even crawl over it. A tea-cup full o 

 pepper, finely ground, and thoroughly mixed with one 

 gallon of molasses, will preserve over one thousand 

 pounds of meat. M. 



SWAMP KTJCK. 



Among the many valuable papers to be found in 

 the report of the Massachusetts Board of Agricul- 

 ture, bearing date 1855, and from the pen of its in- 

 dustrious and talented Secretary, C. L. Flint, Esq.> 

 may be found the following instructive remarks on 

 swamp muck: 



The term mxick is generally applied by New Eng- 

 land farmers to the mass of vegetable matter usually 

 found in peat swamps in a state of partial decompo- 

 sition ; by English farmers, to rotting straw, &c.; 

 and by the Scotch, to barn-yard manure. I use the 

 word in its common signification in this country, and 

 mean by it the dead vegetable substances described. 

 These are the remains of trees and plants, some of 

 which must have lived ages ago, more or less per- 

 fectly decomposed, and sometimes extending to a 

 depth of many feet. I'his substance is made up of 

 different constituents in different localities, and its 

 quality is therefore very variable. Hence we find a 

 great variety of opinions as to the value of swamp 

 muck as a manure. The various estimates of the 

 value of swamp muck range from 33 cents to $3 per 

 cord, and give an average of §1.27; and a.s there is 

 no reason to suppose that the estimated value is not 

 the real value in each locality, it follows that no gen- 

 eral real value can be definitely fixed. This depends 

 on its quality. 



Swamp muck is often cold and sour, and requires 



