1907.] Utilization of Pond Mud. 



495 



free board and lodging during the whole period for which they 

 are hired, and are given no extra money for harvest, though 

 they are often given extra food and drink. Except in North- 

 umberland and Durham, where the system of engagement 

 closely resembles that in the border counties of Scotland, the 

 married men attached to the staff of a farm generally get from 

 about £4. to £6 for a month at harvest, some food and drink 

 being frequently given in addition. Extra hands, both English 

 and Irish, in these districts sometimes get rather higher 

 payments than the regular men, and often more food. The 

 Irishmen are usually provided with lodging in barns or out- 

 houses. 



Several of the old agricultural writers have advocated the utili- 

 zation of pond mud, and as a writer in " British Husbandry " 



(1837) observes: "The mud from ponds, 

 Utilization of Pond when they are cleaned out has always 

 Mud. been an object of attention to farmers." 



The composition of the sediment may 

 vary considerably, as will be seen from analyses given below, 

 and is naturally dependent on the character of the pond. Where 

 a pond is placed at the lower part of a field it is likely to 

 receive, after rain, surface washings which may be rich in 

 manure. If, however, the pond contains springs, the sediment 

 may be of little or no value. 



Pond mud has proved valuable at the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew, where the deposit from the bottom of the lake 

 has been used for some years past for general gardening 

 purposes, as a dressing for the lawns, and also as a mulch for 

 the beds, borders, and trees. It has also been used for 

 such pot-grown plants as chrysanthemums, dahlias, fuchsias, 

 pelargoniums and other gross feeders. The best examples 

 of CalantJie and Phaius (orchids) ever grown at Kew were 

 planted in this mud. It is also an excellent soil for vege- 

 tables. As an example of how freely it may be used for trees, 

 mention may be made of a mulch, 4 in. thick, which was placed 

 last winter about the large horse-chestnut near the Thames ; 

 the effect of this on the health of the tree is already most 

 marked. The only plants for which it has not been found 

 suitable are Ericaceae and peat-loving plants generally. 



