275 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
matters after water has taken up all that it 
can dissolve. These insoluble substances 
include more or less urate of ammonia—a 
valuable ingredient, but requiring time and 
accuracy for its development. Estimating it 
at 12 per cent, and the bone phosphate at 23 
per cent; also other organic and saline mat¬ 
ters at 16 per cent; with 2 or 3 per cent of 
sand in all; 47 per cent may be taken (in¬ 
cluding from 6 to 10 parts of moisture) as 
the mean average of ail the ingredients solu¬ 
ble in rain or distilled water.— John Towers. 
SWAMP MUCK 
The term muck is generally applied by 
New-England farmers to the mass of vege¬ 
table matter usually found in peat swamps in 
a state of partial decomposition ; by English 
farmers, to rotting straw, &c.; and by the 
Scotch, to barnyard manure. I use the 
word in its common signification in this 
country, and mean by it the dead vegetable 
substances described. These are the re¬ 
mains of trees and plants, some of which 
must have lived ages ago, more or less per¬ 
fectly decomposed, and sometimes extending 
to a depth of many feet. This substance is 
made up of different constituents in different 
localities, and its quality is therefore very 
variable. Hence we find a great variety of 
opinions as to the value of swamp muck as 
a manure. The various estimates of the 
value of swamp muck range from 33 cents to 
$3 per cord, and give an average of $1.27 ; 
and as there is no reason to suppose that the 
estimated value is not the real value in each 
locality, it follows that no general real value 
can be definitely fixed. This depends on its 
quality. 
Swamp muck is often cold and sour, and 
requires the addition of lime or exposure to 
the atmosphere and to frosts before it can be 
advantageously applied as manure. There 
are different modes of preparing it for use. 
The most common is to dig it out, expose it 
to the frost through the winter, and then put 
it into the barnyard to be composted with the 
stable manure. The following statements 
are from experienced practical men, and 
each gives the results of the observation of 
its writer: 
A Middlesex farmer says : “ I use swamp 
muck most successfully composted with sta¬ 
ble manure, on different varieties of soils, 
but think it does best on high land of a loamy 
soil. I notice it is used very extensively by 
farmers with satisfactory results when com¬ 
posted with other manures thoroughly.” 
A farmer of Worcester county says : “ I 
use it extensively on my hard, clay soils ; it 
works well on dry lands to keep them moist, 
and on clay soils to keep them light.” Anoth¬ 
er writer from Dukes county follows : “ It 
should be hauled out in the fall, and exposed 
to the frost during winter, and mixed with 
stable manure in the proportion of two parts 
muck to one of manure ; it should also be 
used in the hogpen, barnyard, and barn-cel¬ 
lar. I have found it a good manure on 
loamy, gravelly, and sandy land, especially 
for topdressing for grass, when composted 
as above.” A Norfolk county farmer, who 
has met with great success, says : “ The 
best way of using swamp muck is to dig it 
and expose it to the sun, air, and rains one 
year, and then, when in a dry state, place it 
in a barn-cellar where it will take the drop¬ 
pings of the cattle above until it is thorough¬ 
ly saturated ; then mix it well, and it is ready 
for use. It is good for all high lands.” He 
estimates it at about three dollars by the cord 
of one hundred and two bushels. A Middle¬ 
sex farmer of great experience states that 
“ swamp muck is of different qualities, and 
varies as much as wood when used for fuel. 
Peat mud, the older the better, consists prin¬ 
cipally of vegetable matter. It has most ef¬ 
fect on high and dry ground. Wood ashes 
are the best article to correct its aciditv.” 
Similar accounts come from every section 
of the State. From Hampshire county we 
have the following: “ The best method of 
using swamp muck, judging from experi¬ 
ments of my neighbors and my own, is to 
cart it out in the autumn, expose it to the 
frost and snows, then spread and plow it in 
in the spring on sandy, dry soils, or, in other 
words, on soils of an opposite nature to its 
own. I plowed in twenty-five loads on one- 
quarter of an acre last spring, and planted it 
to early potatoes, corn, peas, cucumbers, 
squashes, and melons. It was a great pre¬ 
ventive against drouth. That ground has 
been sown to rye, and it looks first rate.” 
And from Plymouth county : “ Swamp 
muck, as also upland soils, are valuable to 
mix with various kinds of manure to retain 
and absorb the salts. For upwards of two 
years I have adopted a different course with 
my swamp land from any I know of. I em¬ 
ploy men with long-bitted hoes, sward hooks, 
etc., to dig up the hummocks and bushes, in 
bodies large and small, as is convenient, and 
pile them in bunches for a few days to dry; 
after which I select a central bunch, in which 
I form a cavity or hole near the bottom or 
surface of the ground. Then I set fire to 
some of the dryest and most combustible, 
and as it burns I replenish it from the other 
bunches, smothering in the coal-pit form, 
though more combustible, till it burned down 
to a perfect body of ashes and sand. I have 
not carried the experiment into full effect as 
I designed to ; but so far as I have used the 
ashes, they have given me entire satisfaction. 
Their nature is to improve exhausted lands ; 
and my belief is that they may be spread 
upon the same land upon which the ashes 
were made, and increase the growth of Eng¬ 
lish grass. Much has been said upon the 
subject of reclaiming wet, swampy lands ; 
but after all that has been done, as I under¬ 
stand it, a coat of manure is required to pro¬ 
duce a good crop of English grass. Now, if 
our worthless swamp lands possess the very 
article required to produce such grass by the 
simple process as above named, I think it 
would be an improvement in one point of 
agriculture.” 
A farmer of Barnstable county says : “The 
best compost manure is made in our barn 
and hog-yards, of swamp muck, sea-weed, 
and animal manure. Swamp muck and sea¬ 
weed are accessible to all who will take the 
trouble to procure them. My barn and hog- 
yards are so excavated and dug as to absorb 
the liquids passed into them. Every spring 
and summer, after my barnyard is emptied, 
I replenish it from time to time with swamp 
muck, peat, sea-weed, and other materials 
from the farm, which, with the animal ma¬ 
nure produced by yarding my cattle, furnish 
me in the autumn with 200 loads of good 
compost, which I either stack in the yard, or 
cart on to the land I intend to plant in the 
spring. I again replenish the yard, giving 
me, with the proceeds of my hog-yard, from 
100 to 150 loads more in the following spring. 
In addition, I have for two years past com¬ 
posted, in the field adjoining my peat bog, 
from 75 to 100 loads of peat (thrown from the 
pit in summer or autumn) with sea and rock- 
weed, or ashes and animal manure, which I 
esteem of equal value to barnyard manure. 
I estimate the valued of a cord, or four ox¬ 
cart loads of barnyard manure composted as 
above, at from $4 to $5. We esteem the 
value of this for a corn crop and the improve¬ 
ment of land higher than pure animal 
manure.” 
I give one more extract from a farmer of 
Berkshire county. He says : “ I have used 
swamp muck for a number of years past 
with good results, by mixing it with yard 
and stable manures in the proportion of one- 
third to one-half muck, and consider it worth 
$1 per load to use for agricultural purposes 
on soils that are a mixture of loam and 
gravel.” 
The testimony is uniformly in favor of 
composting muck with other manures. Its 
power of absorbing valuable liquid and gase¬ 
ous substances is very considerable; and 
this makes it an excellent substance to mix 
with guano when the latter is to be used as 
a top-dressing. The importance of a free use 
of dry swamp muck as an absorbent of the 
liquid manures of the barn and stable can 
hardly be over-estimated. The loss through¬ 
out the State from the neglect and conse¬ 
quent waste of these rich manures, which, 
with a little care, might all be saved, is al¬ 
most incredible. The attention of farmers 
was but lately called to this subject; but the 
value of the substances is ackowledged by 
some, and efforts are now made to save them 
by means of the use of muck and loam,either 
properly composted in the barn cellar, or 
supplied daily to the stalls of cattle. No ju¬ 
dicious farmer should neglect to save all 
such substances as tend to increase the value 
and productiveness of his lands. It is poor 
economy and bad calculation to buy concen¬ 
trated manures, or to buy any manures 
abroad, till everything of the kind is saved 
at home. 
From what has been said, we may infer 
that good dry swamp muck is worth on an 
average from $1.25 to $1.50 per cord; that 
it is best on light, loamy, sandy, or gravelly 
soils; and that it is valuable as a compost 
with barnyard manures, or with guano.— 
Second Annual Report of C. L. Flint, Sec¬ 
retary of Mass. Board of Agriculture. 
ABD-EL-KADER ON HORSE-FLESH. 
The great Arab chief first declares that 
the stallion has greater influence than the 
mare : “ The experience of centuries has 
established,” he says, “ that the essential 
parts of the organization, such as the bones, 
the tendons, the nerves, and the veins, are 
always derived from the stallion. The mare 
may give the color and some resemblance to 
her structure, but the principal qualities are 
due to the stallion.” We must content our¬ 
selves with the assertion that decisive ex¬ 
periments in the breeding of animals confirm 
the provision of physiologists in contradict¬ 
ing this notion. Mother and father partici¬ 
pate in the product; not equally , but indefin¬ 
itely. Our limits restrict us to the bare as¬ 
sertion, which would require a volume to 
demonstrate. Although therefore, as a 
question of breeding, we can only award to 
the stallion such superiority as his relative 
superiority of vigor may give him (for if the 
mare have the superiority of vigor, owing to 
her race, health, or age, she will the more 
preponderate in the offspring), we quite un¬ 
derstand the preference of the Arab for the 
mare, a preference which makes them sell 
stallions but never mares, unless under the 
extremities of compulsion. This preference 
Abd-el-Kader has admirably explained. Not 
only is the mare valuable as a producer both 
of stallions and mares, but she is, according 
to the Emir, more enduring; she better sup¬ 
ports hunger, thirst, and the fierce radiance 
of eastern suns. Like the serpent, her force 
seems to increase with increase of heat. 
On the other hand, the stallion has his supe¬ 
riority in certain qualities. He is more rap¬ 
id, strong, and brave. He has not the se¬ 
rious defect of suddenly stopping during the 
fight, as the mare will if she espies a stallion. 
He does not fall when wounded, as soon as 
the mare. “ I have seen a mare whose 
leg was fractured by a ball, drop at 
once to the ground, unable to vanquish her 
agony. I have seen a stallion whose broken 
leg was held only by the skin, yet he con- 
