PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 433 



to make up the mass of soils, and which are in it as a result of 

 former organic decay. Wherever we find these deposits, they 

 require to be put back more nearly to the position they possessed 

 when they came there, to make them useful to plants. The depo- 

 sit is in a state where you may view it like well made sour-krout, 

 it has undergone a certain decomposition, and been arrested in a 

 proximate position, and in that position it can never feed a cer- 

 tain class of plants. But disturb that position, by lime or ashes, 

 and it is then ready to assimilate and go to form a part of plants. 

 This treatment should always be given to pond mud and river 

 deposits. 



Mr. Lawton said the land he had mentioned, on which the mud 

 was applied, was on a point open to the sea, and thus handy for 

 receiving the manure; and, as the gentleman said he took it out 

 in cakes, it is probable that he took up muscle beds. 



Mr. Robinson said that even conceding that this swamp muck 

 was the best manure in the world, how far could a man afibrd to 

 cart it ? He had his doubts whether it would be the most eco- 

 nomical manure for a person who only had to pay for digging it 

 up and carting it half a mile. The same money might be applied 

 to greater advantage in the purchase of concentrated manures. 

 He did not believe a farmer could afford to haul the best barn- 

 yard manure, if he got it for nothing, for two or three miles. He 

 did not think it would bear hauling three miles. He believed in 

 the doctrine of progressed fertilizers, and he believed that he 

 could purchase them cheaper than he could haul stable manure 

 three miles if he got it for nothing. 



Mr. Trimble said the word " loamy " had been used here, and 

 he would like to get at its true meaning. It was used in a good 

 many senses. 



Mr. Lawton said the soil of Westchester county had not been 

 chemically analyzed, as he was aware of. The land he spoke of was 

 inclined to the common low clay soil more than otherwise. It was 

 rich and productive, when plowed and worked in the usual way. 



Mr. Trimble said that in traveling in the West he had oppor- 

 tunity to see the fertility of land where this mud is deposited by 

 the rivers. Between St. Louis and the Ohio river the grass in 

 the prairies was actually as high as his head on horseback, and 

 as rank as hemp. Every one knew the fertilit)^ of the Missis- 

 sippi mud. He had no doubt that the application of mud to 

 farms produced its effect, whether as mulch or manures. If he 



[Am. Inst.] BB 



