1870. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



243 



be in a condition to seed down to clover, red- 

 top and Timothy. Of course the addition of 

 plaster or bone will increase its fertility. It is 

 now prepared to go on and yield good crops 

 of grass until another good turf is formed. 

 The process of forming thick and strong turf 

 is greatly facilitated by allowing the second 

 crop to decay on the ground. It protects the 

 roots during the winter, and its decay in the 

 spring furnishes them the very nutriment they 

 need. 



The process of reducing such a turf into a 

 condition to be converted immediately into 

 plant food requires much labor. But many 

 men can command the labor who have not the 

 manure, and even if they can purchase the 

 manure it may be better for them to substi- 

 tute the labor for the manure, especially if 

 they do it with their own hands and their own 

 teams. 



There are several other methods of improv- 

 ing the fertility of land which deserve atten- 

 tion, such as green crops, irrigation, &c. ; but 

 these are entitled to a separate consideration. 



For the New Englnnd Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENTS "WITH MUCK. 



I noticed in the Farmer of March 5, a com- 

 munication signed by O. J. Upham, condemn 

 ing meadow muck. Now I think if more of 

 our farmers had less fog and more muck on 

 the brain, that many of our f^rms would pay 

 larger dividends. For the past fifteen years 

 I have been a close observer in the use of 

 meadow muck, and the different modes of its 

 application to the soil. 



On all soils of newly cleared land, or those 

 receiving the wash of high lands, and land of 

 a swampy nature, or that which is rich in 

 vegetable matter, the application of clear 

 muck will have no visible benefit. Bat use 

 the muck as an absorbent in barnyards, pig 

 styes, for slops and suds, and you have an ar- 

 ticle that will make any land laugh and grow 

 fdt. The greatest benefits, however, are seen 

 from its use on sandy soils, or soils that have 

 been worn by long use in tillage or grass 

 growing, without returning an Cijuivalent in 

 the shape of manure of some kind. 



Four years ago, other parties and myself 

 purchased a peat or muck swamp and com- 

 menced ditching. We have since been using 

 the muck taken from the ditches, in compost- 

 ing and in various ways, to test its value as a 

 fertilizing agent. The first year one used it 

 thrown under cattle in stables and in his pig 

 styes to the amount of one-half muck and one- 

 half manure, doubling the amount of manure. 

 The result of all crops raised on land ma- 

 nured with the same was a better show through 



the season than the same crops on the same 

 soil with clear stable manure. In fact, on one 

 field of corn, a part of which was planted 

 with the muck compost, and a part with an 

 equal quantity of clear barn manure in each 

 hill, a difference in favor of the muck could 

 be seen as far off as you could see the field 

 while growing, and on harvesting the corn or 

 the muck made much the best show. 



Another one of the company composted ir 

 the field ; the proportions being about one 

 load of manure to two of muck, shoveling it 

 over four or five times before using, during 

 the fall and spring. In the spring, when he 

 was throwing it from the cart into the hill, 

 his father-in-law came out and asked him, "Do 

 you expect to get any corn this year from that 

 stuff? If you do, i will own up that the 

 meadow is all manure !" The result was as 

 good a stand of corn as had been on the farm 

 for fifteen years, and all other crops planted 

 on it did equally well. 



My own experience has been the same. 

 Having tested it in various ways, I prefer 

 muck and manure, well composted, in equal 

 parts, to clear manure. Two years since I 

 drew and left in a pile under a stable window, 

 where manure was thrown upon it in the win- 

 ter, two loads of muck which laid in that state 

 till I drew out my manure in the spring, which 

 I put in the hill on corn, using the clear ma- 

 nure until I came to the muck. This was then 

 used the same as the manure. I marked the 

 part of the field on which the pure muck was 

 applied, and the result was, that on the clear 

 muck the corn came up with a nice dark green 

 color, which it kept through the summer, mak- 

 ing a rank growth of stalk, and earing and 

 ripening well. On the clear manure it came 

 up well, got about one inch high, turned yel- 

 low, stood about still a week or ten days, 

 when it began to grow and turn green, and 

 made a fair crop ; but it never overtook that 

 on the muck, and 1 should say there was a 

 difference of nearly one-fourth in favor of 

 the muck in the crop. 



The soil on which I experimented, is light 

 and loamy, and that of other parties a sandy 

 loam. 



The above has been my experience in its 

 use for four years, and I am living near where 

 it is sold for one dollar per load, in large 

 quantities, and applied in its natural state di- 

 rectly to poor sandy soils, with nearly as good 

 results as from clear manure. 



I will say no more on the subject this time, 

 except to add that I am glad to have the sub- 

 ject aired, as I believe it to be one of vast 

 importance. Lokin Bakuus. 



Goshen, Mass., March, 1870. 



— The Vermont State /owrna/ says, tlie Canadian 

 exodus has already comnienccd this spring. 

 About five car loads pass through St. Albans daily, 

 for the south and east. 



