Miscellaneous Fertilizing Materials 109 



because the amount of acid contained in it is great and 

 because it is in a state of slow decomposition. It is not 

 uncommon to fortify it with different proportions of ferti- 

 lizer materials such as nitrate of soda, acid phosphate, 

 muriate of potash and the like. Whatever the process 

 of manufacture, muck or humus seldom contains the 

 fertility elements in sufficient quantity or proper form to 

 warrant its purchase unless the price is low and compares 

 favorably with the price of city manure. 



King crab, mussels and lobster shells. 



King crab is found in considerable quantities along the 

 Atlantic coast, and is not only used directly as a fertilizer, 

 but is also dried and ground and introduced into com- 

 mercial mixtures. It is a highly nitrogenous product, 

 containing in the dry state an average of 10 per cent, with 

 traces only of phosphoric acid. It also possesses a high 

 rate of availability, though information on this point is 

 derived from the practical experience of farmers, rather 

 than from actual scientific test. It is also used in many 

 sections of New Jersey in its green or fresh state, either 

 directly on the land or in the form of a compost, and be- 

 cause of its nitrogenous character, and its tendency to 

 decay rapidly, is a valuable source of this element, of 

 which, in its fresh state, it contains from 2 to 2.5 per cent. 



In certain sections of the coast states farmers have 

 access to an almost unlimited supply of mussels, which 

 may be had for the carting. Analyses made at the New 

 Jersey Experiment Station show them to contain, in their 

 natural state, a very considerable amount of fertilizing 

 constituents, the nitrogen reaching .90 per cent, the phos- 

 phoric acid and potash .12 and .13 per cent, respectively, 

 and the lime 15.84 per cent. The organic portions of the 



