Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 395 



June 29, 1869. 



Nathan 0. Ely, Esq., iu the chair ; Mr. John W. Ch.\mbers, Secretary. 



Composting Muck. 

 Mr. John Brown, Pern, Clinton connty, N. Y., wished particnlarly 

 to know if it would pay " to dig and hanl mnck a half mile to the 

 barn-yard, and there compost it with stable manure, and transfer it 

 thence to a poor sandy ten acre field within twenty rods of the place 

 from which the muck was taken, or would it be cheaper to cart it to 

 the field directly from the swamp ? " 



Mr. N. C. Ely. — My experience and observation commend the 

 practice of leaving muck exposed to the cold of winter. It is, I think, 

 much better and more available as a composting material after having 

 passed the freezing and thawing which such exposure ensures. 



Mr. H. T. Williams. — During a late visit to the farm of our excel- 

 lent friend, Dr. Hexamer, I learn that his custom is to mix muck and 

 manure fresh, in equal proportions, and let the compost remain for 

 several months. The tillers of the soil at Milford, Conn., draw muck 

 in summer and fall, and compost with fresh manure at once. Of 

 course, it is best not to have the muck too wet. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — In talking with many farmers about the benefit 

 they get from muck, I have in only one case seen positively fine 

 results from the use of it when spread fresh from the swamps. One 

 field I was shown where the crops wxre conspicuously better for 

 years for a dressing of 100 loads per acre from a swamp close by, but 

 this was not muck exactly, but leaf mould. Another farmer, as good 

 as any in Connecticut, many would say the best, hauls his muck 

 three miles and mixes it with the droppings of his farm animals every 

 day summer and winter. Thus his pile is trebled ; for a bushel of 

 yard droppings mixed with two bushels of dry swamp muck and 

 allowed to stand some months will be found as stroiig a fertilizer as 

 three bushels of yard droppings. They mutually aid each other. 

 The most valuable and the most subtle parts of yard manure fly 

 away and vanish in air, unless fixed by some chemical art. The sour- 

 ness of swamp muck has the power of fixing this volatile part of 

 excrements. At the same time the sourness is removed. Hence I 

 would advise Mr. Brown to haul his muck a mile; two; yes, three 

 miles for composting it, rather than apply it raw. He will find his 

 account in so doing, for tlie free use of muck in his yard, about his 



