j6 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 10,01. 



Mucks vary greatly in the organic matter which they contain. 

 Occasionally a peaty muck will have as high as 95 pounds of 

 organic matter for each 100 pounds of dry matter, while others 

 will have little more than half that amount. Since the value of 

 the muck as an absorbent depends upon its organic matter, 

 it follows that for litter a peaty muck is better than one that is 

 clayey or sandy. 



The nitrogen in mucks is for the most part in inert com- 

 pounds and is not immediately available for plant food. The 

 quantity of nitrogen in mucks also varies greatly. With one 

 exception the mucks examined at the Station carried more 

 than 1 pound of nitrogen for each 100 pounds of water-free 

 muck. Ten samples had about 2 pounds in 100 and 3 samples 

 had mere than 23/2 pounds of nitrogen for each 100 pounds of 

 dry matter. It is not a matter of indifference whether the 

 muck is high or low in nitrogen content. While by far the 

 larger part of the nitrogen in these materials is in a form that is 

 insoluble in water and is, considered as a plant food, compara- 

 tively inert, it is a matter of common experience that this nitro- 

 gen may be made to contribute to the support of crops, and that 

 it lias therefore a considerable money value. 



When muck is exposed to the action of the air, as when 

 mixed with ordinary cultivated soil, its nitrogen slowly under- 

 goes change and is gradually rendered available to the growing 

 plant. Through the action of bacteria proper to soils the nitro- 

 genous constituents in the humus are changed to ammonia. The 

 most favorable conditions for this bacterial action are moisture, 

 air and warmth and the absence of acidity. Hence the process 

 of conversion of unavailable nitrogen compounds to available 

 forms may be hastened by the addition of lime or ashes to a 

 muck and by composting. The use of muck as a stable 

 absorbent adds greatly to its store of nitrogen because of the 

 nitrogen of the urine thus taken up, and the germs always present 

 in manures accelerate the conversion of the inert nitrogen into 

 available forms. 



In the preparation of muck for manure as well as in con- 

 sideration of preserving farm yard manure the question of com- 

 posting naturally presents itself. While the ability to procure 

 commercial fertilizers readilv has caused composts to fall some- 



