192 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Statement for 1858. 



PLYMOUTH. 



Statement of Charles G. Davis. 



Having entered for premium for the greatest quantity of 

 compost manure, and also for the greatest quantity judiciously 

 composted from meadow mud and any alkaline substances, I 

 will proceed to give you an account of my labors. 



The mildness of the last winter afforded great facilities for 

 digging peat, which I have upon my farm, and also on land 

 about a mile from my house. Since the summer of 1857, I 

 have thrown out about two hundred cords of fresh peat, and 

 have composted most of it upon the spot, by pouring in gas 

 water, or the ammoniacal liquor from the gas works, which I 

 obtain in barrels, as it is drawn off from the works, and which 

 otherwise runs to waste. I have also added gas lime, or lime 

 which has been used for the purification of gas. 



I was induced to make this experiment by the assurances 

 received from Dr. Charles T. Jackson, in a letter in answer to 

 my inquiries, a copy of which I am happy to subjoin. Since 

 which, I have noticed an article in favor of the lime in the 

 Patent Office Agricultural Report for 1856, p. 222, and in 

 Browne's American Muck Book, p. 102. For the claims of 

 gas house liquor as a fertilizer, I beg leave also to refer you to 



