PREPARING AtfD HANDLING tfEIlilLlZERS. 157 

 MUCK AND PEAT. 



Fresh muck contains valuable plant-food, but usually 

 in an unavailable form. There are many instances where 

 muck, applied to land, has proved positively injurious. 

 Muck needs to be exposed to the action of the frost, rain 

 and sun, or, as it is termed, " weathered," for a season, 

 before it is fit to be used as a fertilizer. Even after it 

 has thus been subjected to the elements, it is usually 

 best to employ the finely divided muck as an absorbent 

 of liquid manure in the stable or shed, or even the barn- 

 yard. In this way the food elements are brought into a 

 better state for the plants to feed upon. If the 

 " weathered" muck and manure can be composted to- 

 gether for a time, a still more valuable fertilizer is ob- 

 tained. 



When one has peat or muck in any form upon his 

 farm, it should, of course, be dug when the water is low 

 in the swamps, and the task of getting out muck may 



Fig. 189. A BOAT FOR GETTING OUT MUCK. 



aid essentially the work of reclaiming the swamps. Thus 

 the main ditch may be dug the width of a cart track. 

 By making a narrow preliminary ditch to carry off the 

 water and dry the ground, a horse and cart may be 

 brought into the ditch and the muck carted directly off 

 to dry ground, where it can dry, and perhaps be exposed 

 to a winter's freezing and thawing, before using in the 



