850 



THE GEKESEE FAEMER. 



mode of best using it is of great interest to the 

 fanninjT and fruit-growing coniinnnity. Thinks it 

 bettor tor tlie thoroiigli action of tlio frost tlirough 

 it. Tlirow it up in lieaps, in tlie fall, to be frozen, 

 and use it next spring and sunnner. In many parts 

 of the country, where other uiauures are becoming 

 scarce and highly valuable, we can not get along 

 Avithout this muck. "Where manure is plenty, it is 

 greatly improved by mixing oue part muck with 

 tAvo parts manure, and turning over two or three 

 times, at intervals, until the compost is thoroughly 

 mixed. This compost is capital applied as a mulch- 

 ing to fruit trees. It is also a most excellent prep- 

 aratit>u for strawberry plants. It should be plowed 

 in thoroughly into the soil before the plants are set 

 out. "Where the land has thus been prepared with 

 muck, the plants set out liave made twice as many 

 runners and the fruit is twice as good as where no 

 manure is used. There is no doubt but that lime 

 in connection with the muck, or mingled in the 

 compost will be of great value. 



Benv. Fish, of Monroe, had a knoll from whicli 

 all the surface soil had been scraped olf, and the 

 using of the subsoil as farming land seemed almost 

 hopeless; but by the application of a muck com- 

 post the corn produced upon that otherwise barren 

 subsoil was the best on the farm. 



ifr. Penfield ai)plied at the rate of 120 loads to 

 the acre, and plowed it under. On light soils had 

 found it particularly good. Highly approved the 

 composting with other enriching agents. 



Mr. Bristol — "When live years ago we com- 

 menced to manage a vineyard, we visited Dr. Un- 

 DEiaiiLL's celebrated vineyard at Croton Point, near 

 New York, and h-e attributed his success in grape- 

 culture to the use of nmck in liberal quantities. 

 One-half of the forty acres .we were about planting 

 with vines, was a very .stiff clay soil. To this soil 

 we applied about one hundred cords of muck, 

 which in piles had been submitted to the action of 

 the elements during one summer and winter. "We 

 ai)i)lied it in the spring, and I never saw any thing 

 equal this muck as a fertilizer. 



B. Hodge had been in the habit for ten or fifteen 

 years, of applying large quantities of muck to his 

 land. Drew it out in the winter, and placed in 

 piles not very deep, and after mixing it with a pro- 

 portion of manure, added some lime and aslies, and 

 submitted it to the action of the elements for the 

 ensuing summer and winter, applying it to the land 

 the sjjring after. During the summer it was thus 

 exposed, it was turned over three or four times, 

 until thoroughly pulverized and the compost com- 

 pletely mixed. Had great success m planting or- 

 chards where this compost was put under and 

 around the trees. It seems to sui)])ly invigorating 

 elements without the stimulating effects of manure. 

 Had rather have this compost tiian any equal quan- 

 tity of barn-yard manure. Peat beds must not t)e 

 confounded with muck. Peat is of a yellowish 

 color and is valuless as a manure, while muck is 

 black. We nmst carefully discriminate between 

 the two. 



P. Barry— Xearly all the muck we have in tins 

 country is the residuum of a kind of marsh i>lant, 

 and of its value there is no more doubt than as to 

 that of stable manure. As a fertilizing agent, 

 however, this nmck must be managed properly. 

 It should be mixed with other fertilizers in the 



compost heap; freely exposed to the ek 

 turned over and over and over again. Th 

 post is valuable for any trees — valuable 

 kind of crops — at any rate, I've never seei 

 ^[r. Kelly, of Cincinnati, remarked u; 

 value in Southern Ohio, and the great u: 

 being made of it there. Thinks it is the p 

 of oxide of iron which gives peat its blacl 

 In order to develop its greatest enriching ] 

 it requires exiK)sure to the air, as the gei. 

 have stated. A little lime mixed with the c 

 seems to awaken energies otherwise latoi 

 makes it much more active as a fertilizer. 



The interesting discussions, of which w 

 given the above brief abstract, were prolon 

 late in the evening. The Society adjour 

 hold the annual meeting in Eochester in J; 

 at the call of the Council. 



THE MIGNONETTE. 



The Mignonette {Reseda odorata), the I \ 

 man's little darling, was not introduced int \ 

 land until the middle of the 17th century . 

 Mignonette, or Sweet Reseda, was once su i 

 capable of assauging pain, and of ridding n 

 many of the ills that flesh is heir to. It v 

 plied with an incantation. This flower has f 

 place in the armorial bearings of an illustriot 

 ily of Saxony. I must tell the story: — The 

 of "Walsthim loved the fair and sprightly Am 

 Nordbourg. She was a spoiled child and a coi 

 She had an humble companion whose ch 

 name was Charlotte. One evening at a pai 

 the ladies were called upon to choose a flo\vei 

 and the gentlemen were to make verses c 

 selections. Amelia fixed upon the flaunting 

 Charlotte the modest Mignonette. In the ■ 

 of the evening, Amelia cocjuetted so despe 

 with a dashing Colonel that the Count cou 

 suppress his vexation. On this he wrote a 

 for the Rose : 



Ello ne vit qu'un jour, et ne plait qu'iin moment. 

 (She lives bul for a day, and pleases but for a momen 



He then presented the following line o: 

 Mignonette to the gentle Charlotte : 



" Ses qualities surpassent ses charmes." 



The Count transferred his affections to Chai 

 and when he married her, added a branch c 

 Sweet Reseda to the ancient arms of his ft 

 with the motto of 



Your qualities surpass your charms. 



— RicliardsotCs Flowers and Floicer Gardens. 



Whex pears are just arriving at perfection, 

 may be greatly improved in flavor by being p 

 in a warm room for a few days before the, 

 eaten. The increased temperature promotes 

 rapidly and perfectly the transposition of the , 

 into the sacharine state. 



The man who plants a row of beautiful tre 

 his dwelling, raises monuments to his taste, 

 will endure fresh and green, yielding shade 

 shelter when the most costly mansion he can 

 shall have crumbled to dust and been forgotte; 



