90 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



III. That it may be spread and ploughed or harrowed in for 

 corn 7 or other cultivated crops, to great advantage, particular- 

 ly in wet seasons ; and that it may be thus used with perfect 

 safety, without any previous preparation, except crushing or 

 pulverizing the lumps. 



IV. That when it is to be applied as a top dressing it should 

 be well pulverized, and thoroughly composted with muck or 

 loam, and then be spread upon the land very early in the 

 spring. 



These results, conflicting as they do with the experience of 

 some, cannot perhaps be regarded as fixed, since many more 

 experiments, accurately conducted under every variety of cir- 

 cumstances, are needed to enable us to fix any rufes for the 

 preparation and application of this powerful manure. 



But almost inexhaustible supplies, of material for making ex- 

 cellent manure may be found in the swamps and bogs which 

 abound in nearly every part of Massachusetts. The term 

 muck is generally applied by New England farmers to the mass 

 of vegetable matter usually found in peat swamps in a state of 

 partial decomposition ; 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 perfectly decomposed, and sometimes extending 

 to a depth of many feet. This substance is made up of dif- 

 ferent 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 as 

 there is no reason to suppose that the estimated value is not 

 the real value in each locality, it follows that no general real 

 value can be definitely fixed. This depends on its quality. ♦ 



Swamp muck is often cold and sour, and requires the addi- 

 tion of lime or exposure to the atmosphere and to frosts before 

 it can be advantageously applied as manure. There arc dif- 

 ferent modes of preparing it for use. The most common is to 

 dig it out, expose it to the frost through the winter, and then 



