10 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
About Muck and Leaf Mould. 
" L.," of Chicago, and several others, propose 
to the Agriculturist various questions concerning 
muck and leaf mould, which ma}' be most read- 
ily answered by a brief sketch of the nature 
and uses of these substances. To give this, it. 
will be necessary to state some general facts 
concerning vegetable life. The principal part 
of all plants, or rather of all planls when dry, is 
carbon; this element we are most familiar with 
in the form of charcoal, and it will be seen 
from, the amount left after a piece of wood is 
charred, how large a proportion this makes up. 
Water is also an important and abundant con- 
stituent, even in the driest wood, and it may be 
stated in general terms, that all plants consist 
mainly of charcoal and water. "We can readily 
understand that the plant obtains its water from 
the moisture in the soil, but the source of the 
carbon is not so evident. The carbon comes 
from carbonic acid, which is a compound of 
carbon and oxygeD, and is an invisible gas. The 
plant has the wonderful power of decompos- 
ing carbonic acid within its tissues — appropria- 
ting the carbon to build up its growth, and set- 
ting the oxygen free. Carbonic acid is always 
present in a small proportion in the atmosphere, 
and a plant in pure sand will grow, from carbon 
yielded by the carbonic acid of the air, or 
that dissolved in the water with which it is sup- 
plied. A plant in this condition can not flour- 
ish vigorously, as it needs (among other things,) 
more carbon than can be obtained from these 
sources. When placed in good sod, it not only 
receives carbonic acid from the air, but from 
another important source, viz., the decomposi- 
tion of vegetable substances in the soil. When 
a plant is burned, a small amount of ashes is 
left and the rest of the bulk passes off, mainly 
as carbonic acid and water. The carbon, or 
charcoal, unites with the oxygen of the air, and 
forms carbonic acid, which diffuses itself in the 
atmosphere, where it is ready to contribute to 
the growth of other plants. If instead of burn- 
ing the plant, it is allowed to decay, the process, 
though much slower, produces precisely the 
same results — the carbon finally disappears as 
carbonic acid. When vegetables decay, they 
do not, as in burning, pass directly into carbon- 
ic acid and water, but there is an intermediate 
state between their perfect condition and their 
complete decomposition. The structure is 
broken up and a powdery mass is left, to which 
the general name of mould or humus is given. 
According to the circumstances under which 
the decomposition has taken place, mould has 
different properties, and distinct names have 
been applied by chemists to its various condi- 
tions; but by whatever name it maybe called, it 
is vegetable matter in some stage of its progress 
toward a final resolution into carbonic acid and 
water. Peat, swamp muck, leaf-mould, or the 
mould from the decay of various plants in the 
compost heap, are much alike. Peat and muck 
differ from the others because thedecomposition 
goes on in the presence of much water, and 
this does not allow the change to extend beyond 
a certain point, as air is in a great measure ex- 
cluded. Hence, deposits of muck will remain 
for ages, the vegetable matter of which they 
consist being in a partly decomposed state; but 
when it is dug out and exposed to the air, the 
decomposition sets in again, and goes on until 
it is completed. All good soils contain an ap- 
preciable amount of vegetable matter under- 
going decomposition, and this, by its com- 
plete decay, furnishes a supply of carbonic acid 
which is taken up by the roots of plants. Where 
soils are deficient in this vegetable constituent, 
then muck, leaf-mould, and composted plants, 
are just in a condition to supply it, and are ad- 
ded with benefit. For the same reason, green 
crops are plowed under, as these, by their de- 
cay, supply the needed vegetable matter. 
The question has been asked : " Will plants 
flourish in a soil composed entirely of mould ?" 
There are some plants which will grow, and 
even prefer such a soil, but there are none of 
these which we cultivate for food. — As before 
stated, when a plant is thoroughly burned, there 
is an incombustible portion (ashes) left behind ; 
this shows the amount of mineral matter taken 
up by the roots. Without being able to show of 
what use these are in the life of the plant, expe- 
rience teaches that they are essential to its per- 
fect development, and that most plants will 
not make a healthy growth if placed in a soil 
of pure vegetable mould. While this brief ac- 
count does not give all the conditions of plant 
growth, the statement with regard to the uses 
of vegetable matter in the soil will enable those 
who ask why we so constantly recommend 
muck, etc., to see the reason for it, Soils al- 
ready rich in vegetable mould, as is often the 
case at the West, will not be benefited by an 
addition, nor is the absence of this, necessarily, 
the sole cause of unproductiveness. 
The Treatment of Night Soil. 
Since the appearance in the June Agriculturist 
of an article describing the great poudrette 
manufactory, there have been several inquiries 
as to the manner of rendering the contents of 
privies available in the small way. Man}' per- 
sons who have gardens or small places would 
gladly make use of this source of manure, if it 
could be done in a manner not offensive to them- 
selves or their neighbors. The great obstacle 
to the employment of this domestic fertilizer is 
its fluid condition, caused in part by the com- 
mon practice of using the vault as the recepta- 
cle of the house slops of all kinds, and in part 
by the faulty construction of the vaults them- 
selves, which admit water either from the 
grouud or from rains. On the farm, these semi- 
fluid contents of the vault can be conveyed to a 
pit and covered with muck or loam, and after 
remaining until the liquid portions are absorbed, 
they may, after a long time, be brought to a con- 
dition in which they can be. used. Where one 
has only a limited space, this manner of manag- 
ing the night soil is not practicable, and it is 
often cheaper to have it carted away, than to at- 
tempt to use it. In order to save the manure 
in a manageable state, the vault should be pro- 
vided with a tight box to receive the droppings, 
and should be so constructed as to allow of the 
removal of this without much trouble. If the 
privy is built upon the edge of a bank, this can 
be contrived all the more easily. The contents 
of the box should be kept as dry as possible, and 
the emptying of slops into it should be strict]}' 
prohibited. To prevent unpleasant odors, to ab- 
sorb liquid portions, and to aid in the division 
of the manure, there should be a supply of ab- 
sorbent material : this may be muck, peaty 
earth, deposits from ditches, fine refuse char- 
coal from coal pits, or even good loamy earth. 
Whatever material is used, it should be dry and 
kept near at band in a covered box or barrel. 
A layer of the muck, or other absorbent, is to be 
placed on the bottom of the receiving box, and 
at intervals of a few days an additional supply 
should bo liberally thrown over the accumulated 
deposit. If a few handfuls of plaster are thrown 
in occasionally, it will help to suppress odors, 
and increase the value of the manure. When 
the box is filled, it can be removed and its con- 
tents added to the compost heap, or it may bo 
converted into poudrette. For this purpose it 
may be worked over with an additional portion 
of muck or other absorbent, using this in such 
quantity that it will, with what has been pre- 
viously added, form about three quarters of the 
whole. . The mass should be kept dry, and the 
working should be done under a shed or in a 
place where it can be covered with boards to 
exclude rain ; and after the material is prepared 
it should be kept perfectly dry. 
The Action of Plaster as a Fertilizer. 
Perhaps no subject connected with agricul- 
ture has given rise to more speculation than the 
action of plaster or gypsum on vegetation. 
Why it should produce such striking results at 
one time, why it is apparently useless at others, 
or why it should be beneficial at all, have been 
problems which the agricultural chemists have 
found difficult of solution. The columns of 
some of our cotemporaries have recently been 
occupied with communications upon this sub- 
ject, which served to show a lack of chemical 
knowledge upon the part of the writers, with- 
out increasing that of the readers. In cases like 
this, one direct experiment is worth a host of 
speculations, aud M. Deherain, of France, has, 
by his labors in "his direction, given us some 
light upon this much vexed subject. These 
experiments indicate that the use of plaster 
is mainly to liberate the potash contained 
in the mineral constituents of the soil. In the 
disintegrated rocks of which the soil is com- 
posed, potash exists in an insoluble combination. 
The plaster is sulphate of lime, which is soluble, 
and when this, in the moist state, is in contact 
with minerals containing potash in an insoluble 
form, the lime and potash change places. The 
potash is liberated, while the lime of the plaster 
takes its place in the insoluble mineral. This 
change is effected very rapidly, as it was shown 
that soil which contained only a trace of potash, 
gave, 12 hours after the application of plaster, 
an appreciable amount of that substance. 
Another effect of plaster has been suggested by 
Prof. S. W. Johnson in his lectures at the Smith- 
sonian Institution. It has been found by ex- 
periment that the presence of certain substances, 
plaster among the rest, in the juices of a plant, 
has a marked tendency to prevent evaporation 
by the leaves. It is of course necessary that a 
certain amount of the liquid contents of the 
plant should pass off in this way, but in a very 
dry time the evaporation may be more rapid 
than the processes of vegetation demand. The 
use of plaster upon the soil ma}' enable a crop 
to withstand a drouth much better than upon 
unplastered land. 
. — . _a«e— r-m. • 
What New- Yoke, is Worth. — The assessed 
valuation of the real and personal property in 
the State of New- York is officially stated at 
$1,454,454,817. Of this amount New-York 
City has more than one-third, or $547,416,030. 
Kings County in which is included the City of 
Brooklyn, ranks next in wealth, being valued 
at $98,147,604. The lowest estimate is for Ham- 
ilton Co., which stands at $605,000. — The as- 
sessed value is of course much below the real 
money value. If the war continue through this 
year on the same scale of expense as now, the 
