24 At.iac tltiijal Manual 



big the last two years of the nineteenth century and the first of 

 the present one, the use of lime had been almost abandoned by 



farmers. The fathers had no real knowledge of its functions; 

 they simply knew that frequently when it was applied to tho 

 land better crops followed. As time went on, with the decrease 

 of vegetable matter in the soil, the land no longer responded when 

 lime was added, and the yield of crops actually decreased ; hence 

 the old adage, " Lime makes the fathers rich and the sons poor." 

 They- did not know that the chief function of lime is not as a 

 plant food but as an agent to put the soil in proper physical con- 

 dition and as a liberator of plant food, of which — unless the 

 vegetable matter in the soil is kept up — tin 1 lime will hasten 

 the reduction, all of which scientific research has made clear. 



MUCK LANDS 



Io contrast to the limestone lands are the mucks, which, while 

 not extensive as compared to the whole, are very important as an 

 economical addition to the total area of productive land, for they 

 produce crops that are largely consumed by the well-to-do — those 

 of a leafy nature like lettuce and celery, which require a warm, 

 quick soil well supplied with vegetable matter. The muck soils, 

 being made up of from 50 to 85 per cenl of such from the decay 

 of vegetation recent or remote, fill this requirement. There are 

 in the state from 80t0 to 1,000 square miles of muck deposits, 

 ranging from an acre or less in extent to tracts containing thou- 

 sands of acres. The larger areas are found in the Conewango 

 valley: in Chautauqua County; in southern Livingston County; 

 the Oak Orchard swamp in Genesee County; the Monte- 

 zuma marshes at the foot of Cayuga Lake; the Cicero swamp 

 southeast of Oneida Lake; the Pope Mill swamp in southeastern 

 St. Lawrence County; and the Wallkill marsh in the southern 

 part of Orange < Jounty. While most of them are from two to ten 

 feet deep, some are from thirty to forty. 



A distinction should he made between peat and muck. The 



former is made up of organic matter not sufficiently decayed for 



high crop production. When dry, the peat may be burned. 



The mucks are In a more advanced state of decay and 



fine in texture. They may be divided into two general 



