PROCEEDnXGS OF THE FARMERS'' ClUB. 741 



Muck as a Manure. 



Prof. J. A. Wliitney read the following paper : 



Muck is a word of broad import. Sometimes it is applied to a 

 coarse and fibrous peat, at others to matter so thoroughly decayed 

 as to show little trace of organic origin. Peat may be used as a 

 mere absorbent, but will not, of itself, contribute much to the present 

 amelioration of the soil. Muck may possess certain inorganic con- 

 stituents that are soluble, and constantly available for the nourish- 

 ment of plants, inasmucli as they are the immediate products of 

 decomposition, but the power of the substance in the compost heap 

 will be almost null. True muck, such as the farmer should seek to 

 obtain, and which is the proper material for composting with rank 

 or concentrated manures, is in a condition about midway between 

 the two extremes just specified. In this state it is so nearly decayed 

 that a little more will enable it to be dissolved and disseminated in 

 the soil by the influence of air, M'armth and moisture ; yet it is not 

 so nearly decomposed as to have lost its property of generating 

 vegetable acids or of absorbing mechanically a considerable quantity 

 of liquid. Such a product will have a rich black color ; when dry 

 it will pulverize readily between the fingers, and when exposed to a 

 high heat, as for example, calcined on a fire shovel in a stove, will 

 be nearl}'^ all burned away. The ashes, of course, indicate the per- 

 centage of mineral fertilizing materials in the muck. These, when 

 the muck is allowed to decompose in the ground, are probably sooner 

 or later wholly available as plant food, but the improving effect of 

 the muck is due in the main to its organic or carbonaceous constitu- 

 ents these, as we shall see, acting both chemically and mechanically 

 in clianging the character of the earth in v\'hich they may be incor- 

 porated. 



In origin, muck is simply the product of successive growths, 

 on the same spot, of wild plants, grasses, and forest leaves, that 

 have withered, fallen and decayed, only to be succeeded by other 

 growths springing above them and destined to run the same course, 

 ■until at last a bed of rotted and rotting vegetation is formed. 

 These accumulations occur in low places, and, receiving the wash 

 from higher grounds, are frequently enriched by soluble mineral matter. 



The material in its natural state is soaked with water and impreg- 

 nated with organic acids, some of them very hurtful to growing 

 vegetation, while others are capable of serving an important purpose 

 at a later stage in making the muck valuable. The efliciency of 



