1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



273 



to see that with the aid of all these laboi--sav- 

 ing machines and increased facilities for per- 

 forming farm work, the same proportion of 

 the population that were formerly engaged in 

 agricultural pursuits would in a brief space of 

 time glut every market in the known world 

 with farm products. The demand for these 

 products not being equal to the supply, the 

 price must fall below the cost of producing 

 them. 



We must then accept the present condition 

 of affairs, and those who choose to discontinue 

 the pursuit of agriculture, and seek more ad- 

 vantageous modes of employing their labor 

 and capital, must be allowed to do so, even 

 should some portions of the country become 

 densely populated while other localities have 

 but a sparse population. Under these cii*- 

 cumstances there is no danger that the earth 

 will become depopulated or fail to produce an 

 abundant supply of food for both man and 

 beast ; and so long as the clatter of machinery 

 is heard upon every farm we shall be more 

 fearful of the "bulls and bears" of State 

 street and Wall street or the Royal Exchange 

 than of the wild animals that once inhabited 

 these beautiful valleys. 



We may, however, be considered unequal to 

 our task should we neglect to point out a 

 course by which population would be scattered 

 more evenly over the face of the earth ; and 

 we will suggest the following as very simple, 

 well defined and sure to produce such un- 

 wished results. First — close the doors to the 

 agricultural college, and put out the light of 

 science which radiates from that institution, — 

 shining upon the farmer's path-way — teaching 

 him how to make his farm more productive 

 without increasing the cost of cultivation. 

 Again — suspend the publication of all those 

 scientific and agricultural periodicals which 

 give the farmer practical hints and sugges- 

 tions concerning his business and inspire him 

 with confidence in undertakings which would 

 otherwise be abandoned upon the first failure ; 

 or throw aside and discontinue the use of im- 

 proved implements and labor-saving machines. 

 In a word, limit the farmer's knowledge to his 

 personal experience and observation, or the 

 quality of his tools to his own ingenuity and 

 skill, and the work is accomplished — the de- 

 mand for manufactured articles destroyed, and 

 we shall see people flocking from villages to 

 rural districts, some to dig their bread from 

 cultivated fields, others to subsist upon the 

 spontaneous productions of the earth or the 

 precarious products of the chase. 



May it be our lot to protest against any of 

 these movements which are calculated to 

 block the wheels of progress, or roll back 

 upon the rural towns a tide of migration that 

 would jeopardize the interests of agriculture 

 or happiness of the human family. 



L. P. Warner. 



Sunderland, Mass., March, 1871. 



For the New Enrjland Farmer. 

 USES AND VALUE OF MUCK. 

 An Essay read before the Concord, Mass., Farmers' 

 Club by George F. Wheeler. 



The term muck is usually applied to the 

 vegetable deposits of swamps and rivers. In 

 origin, muck is simply the product of growths, 

 on the same spot, of wild plants, grasses and 

 leaves that have withered and decayed, to be 

 followed by other growths, until a bed of rotted 

 vegetation is formed. The material in its nat- 

 ural state is filled with water, and some of it is 

 impregnated with acids which are hurtful to 

 vegetation. The best muck is usually found 

 in comparatively dry localities, between hills, 

 where the water that caused the deposit has 

 been removed. 



The muck we should seek to obtain for com- 

 posting is in a state so nearly decayed that a 

 little more heat and moisture will make it 

 available for plant food. Such a product will 

 have a rich, black color, and when diy it will 

 pulverize easily between the fingers. 



In preparing it for use it must be dug from 

 its natural bed to deprive it of its moisture ; 

 that the frosts of winter may act on the par- 

 ticles, helping to decompose it more thoroughly, 

 and removing any acids that are injurious to 

 vegetation. It will shrink in bulk nearly one- 

 half by this method, so we save quite an 

 amount of labor in handling. 



Ma'iy fail to see the advantages of using 

 muck, aside from an absorbent to the stable 

 or compost heap, by not understanding the 

 advantages it has in its application to the soil. 

 We are so impatient for results, that if they 

 are not satisfactory at once, we are very ready 

 to condemn the means used. By the applica- 

 tion of muck to the soil, we tend to loosen iC^ 

 thereby allowing the air and heat to move 

 more readily through the soil. It is surpris- 

 ing to see how mellow a stiff, heavy soil may 

 be made by a thick coating of muck. The 

 soil most benefited by muck would be a light, 

 dry, sandy one ; such a soil is more subject to 

 the extremes of heat and cold. The darker 

 we can make the color of this soil, the more 

 it will absorb heat by day, and at night the 

 dark particles drink in moisture from the air, 

 that the sand would not. On all soils it will 

 be of an ultimate benefit (excepting those rich 

 bottom lands already rich in humus) in en- 

 riching and acting mechanically, to loosen and 

 lighten them so that vegetation is encouraged 

 as it can be in no other way, excepting par- 

 tially by ploughing in green crops. 

 « If we will not be too impatient to see the re- 

 sults of the application of muck, we shall be 

 satisfied in a term of years of the improved 

 condition of the soil by the crops we produce. 

 I am fully satisfied with the applications I have 

 made of muck to a large asparagus bed ; that 

 increased its productiveness one-third, besides 

 making the soil looser and more easily worked. 

 Muck is of great importance as a composting 



