MUCK AS MANURE,—ANCIENT APPLE-TREE. 
367 
For the American Agriculturist. 
MUCK AS MANURE. 
New York, December 1, 1843. 
During the past year, I have used muck as a 
manure upon my farm with the most satisfactory 
results. It has not only entirely changed the na¬ 
ture of the soil, but also abundantly repaid me for 
all the expense and trouble I have been put to. 
The soil upon which it was used is a light, sandy 
loam, and was almost entirely exhausted of the 
elements of fertility; so much so, that most of the 
Crops put upon it last year, either failed entirely, or 
were scarcely worth gathering. 
Having drained one of the deposites by clearing 
out and deepening a ditch, a man with a pair of 
horses and a scraper scraped out of it and deposit¬ 
ed in four heaps about four hundred loads, which 
I had made into a compost,by using all the stable 
manure I had on hand in one of the heaps, and 
also lime, fresh from the kiln, in the others. The 
man would draw out a quantity of the muck and 
deposite it about a foot thick, and then cover it 
with a sprinkling of the lime, then another layer 
of the muck, and so proceed until he had made 
the heaps about three or four feet high. This was 
done in the fall, and was left until the ground was 
covered with snow, when it was drawn out upon 
the land on a sleigh, and deposited in heaps over 
the ground, which we intended cultivating the 
next year. 
When the frost left the muck in the spring, it 
appeared to have been entirely changed in its 
qualities. It had lost all its adhesive properties, 
and was converted into a black, friable powder; it 
was then spread over the surface, and plowed un¬ 
der. In consequence of its black color, it absorbed 
the rays of the sun and warmed the soil, so that 
we had the earliest potatoes in market, and ob¬ 
tained the highest price for them. 
I can not tell the exact quantity of compost that 
was employed, nor the amount of produce per acre; 
but where I had almost nothing last year, I have 
now a good lot of sugar beet, mangel-wurzel, 
and about 500 bushels of potatoes, where it was 
prophesied I would not have 150 bushels. On 
the spot where my early potatoes grew, I have 
one of the finest crops of common turneps I have 
ever seen; and my orchard, which did not produce 
a single apple two years ago, that not being the 
“ bearing year,” produced me quite a quantity this 
season. The appearance of the trees is also great¬ 
ly improved, showing a much more healthy and 
luxuriant foliage than formerly. 
The most gratifying results were manifested upon 
a spot where I had corn sown broad-cast last year, 
and which, although it had the whole season to 
grow in, only reached the height of from one to 
three feet. This season, after having taken off a 
crop of rye, cut green, and fed to the cattle before 
they were turned out to pasture, the whole surface 
was well covered with the muck, plowed under, 
and sowed again with corn. It was a pleasing 
sight to see this crop growing with its broad, green 
leaves to the usual height of corn, and almost 
every stalk showing an ear, many of which arrived 
to a perfect growth. This has been cut up, and 
we consider it the most valuable fodder we have 
for our stock. The expense of getting out this ma¬ 
nure was almost nothing compared with the price 
of other manure. As I before observed, it occu¬ 
pied a man and team nine days to get out the 
muck. I believe we used 160 bushels of lime; it 
cost four cents a bushel, besides the time employ¬ 
ed in drawing it upon the land during the winter. 
I have seen a very poor sandy piece of land 
where muck was used several years since, and it 
shows to this day; and I am certain that which I 
have used has scarcely begun to produce its most 
valuable effects as yet; for this substance is al¬ 
most entirely made up of the elements of plants, 
but in such a condition, that it requires time for 
those chemical changes to take place, which fit 
them for being taken up by the roots, and assimi¬ 
lated. I find the muck has greatly changed the 
appearance of the land on which it was spread. 
Previously, it had a yellow, poor look; now the 
soil has grown dark in its color, and appears as 
mueh richer, as it really is, since the application 
of the muck. 
Henry A. Field. 
We were highly gratified upon receiving the 
letter below, and trust that others will follow Mr. 
Stuart’s example, till we get a sufficient number 
of communications to make up our chapter on 
ancient fruit-trees. Accompanying his letter, the 
writer sent us a specimen of the fruit which grew 
this season on the venerable old tree he describes. 
It is of the red pearmane sort, and a fair specimen of 
its kind. As antiquarian as we are in our dispo¬ 
sition, we look upon this apple with great satis¬ 
faction, and shall keep it as long as it can be pre¬ 
served, to show to such of our friends as take the 
same interest in these matters as we do. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
ANCIENT APPLE-TREE. 
Hartford , Conn., November 28, 1843. 
At the suggestion of a friend, a reader of your 
paper, I am induced to notice a very ancient apple 
,tree which stands on Charter-Oak Place, in this 
city. This Place was the old seat of the Wyllys 
family, one of much distinction in the history of 
this state, and remained in their possession till 
about twenty years ago, when it passed by pur¬ 
chase into the hands of Mr. Stephen Bulkley, 
lately deceased. According to the uniform state¬ 
ment of this family, and that of Mr. Bulkley, to 
whom it was communicated by the last proprietor 
of the Wyllys name, from whom he purchased it, 
the apple-tree in question was brought from Eng¬ 
land by Mr. George Wyllys, the original settler, 
some time before his death, which took place in 
1645. The tree, therefore, is probably more than 
two hundred years old. Nearly two thirds of its 
trunk are now gone. The remainder consists of a 
side or shell, not more than four inches thick in 
