SECRETARY'S REPORT. 91 



put it into the barn yard to be composted with the stable 

 manure. The following statements arc from experienced prac- 

 tical men. and each gives the results of the observations of its 

 writer. 



A Middlesex farmer says : u I use swamp muck most success- 

 fully composted with stable manure on different varieties of 

 soils, but think it docs best on high land of a loamy soil. 1 

 notice it is used very extensively by farmers with satisfactory 

 results when composted with other manures thoroughly." A 

 farmer of Worcester county says : " I use it extensively on my 

 hard, clay soils ; it works well on dry lands to keep them moist, 

 and on clay soils to keep them light." Another writer from 

 Dukes county follows : " It should be hauled out in the fall, 

 and exposed to the frost during winter, and mixed with stable 

 manure in the proportion of two parts muck to one of manure ; 

 it should also be used in the hog pen, barn yard, and barn cel- 

 lar. I have found it a good manure on loamy, gravelly, and 

 sandy land, especially for top dressing for grass, when com- 

 posted as above." A Norfolk county farmer, who has met with 

 great success, says : " The best way of using swamp muck is 

 to dig it and expose it to the sun, air, and rains one year, 

 and then, when in a dry state, place it in a barn cellar where 

 it will take the droppings of the cattle above until it is 

 thoroughly saturated : then mix it well, and it is ready for use. 

 It is good for all high lands." He estimates it at about three 

 dollars by the cord of one hundred and two bushels. A Mid- 

 dlesex farmer of great experience states that " swamp muck 

 is of different qualities, and varies as much as wood when used 

 for fuel. Peat mud, the older the better, consists principally 

 of vegetable matter. It lias most effect on high and dry ground. 

 Wood ashes arc the best article to correct its acidity." 



Similar accounts come from every section of the State. From 

 Hampshire county we have the following : " The best method 

 of using Bwamp muck, judging from experiments of my neigh- 

 bors and my own, is to cart it out in the autumn, expose it to the 

 frost and snows, then spread and plough it in in the spring on 

 sandy, dry soils, or, in other words, on soils of an opposite 

 nature to its own. I ploughed in twenty-live loads on one- 

 quarter of an acre last spring, and planted it to early potatoes, 



