THE CULTIVATOR. 
323 
REMARKS ON PEAT. 
To Prof. James Hall, late Geologist of the Fourth Dis¬ 
trict of the State of New-Yo r k: 
Dear Sir —"You were so kind as to answer my inqui¬ 
ries in the June number of the Cultivator, respecting 
phosphate of lime, that I am induced to reply to your 
communication in the August number of the same work, 
(p. 258.) My first was addressed to the geologists gen¬ 
erally; but this I offer to you individually, hoping you 
will not take offence with an anonymous correspondent. 
You have satisfied me, and must others who read your 
letter in the Cultivator, that although there are several 
places in this State where the phosphates are found, yet| 
they are not in sufficient quantity for agricultural purpo¬ 
ses. I 
There is another article however, which yourself and 
associates in the late geological survey, have shown to 
exist in vast quantities, in all pajts of the State, and easi¬ 
ly accessible, forming reservoirs of a material, well 
adapted to promote fertility in such parts of the country, 
where cultivation has exhausted the soil, and rendered 
manures necessary. This article is peat or muck , the 
black sediment of ponds and swamps, and hollows in the 
woods, where the water is evaporated in summer. This 
material has been gradually coming into use, but of late 
it is attracting much attention by the husbandmen of Sta¬ 
ten Island, as I intend to show. 
In your letter to the Editors of the Cultivator, you re¬ 
mark that I spoke “ in a very complimentary manner of 
the labors of the geologists .” It was not intended for flat¬ 
tery, but was the genuine sentiment of approval, of the 
geological survey, by a farmer who is not alone in ap¬ 
preciating what you and your associates have done. The 
immense resources of the State have been pointed out, 
and it remains for others to develop them for the bene¬ 
fit of the community. 
Peat has been much used in Massachusetts, and its em¬ 
ployment has slowly traveled into the adjoining State of 
Connecticut, where manure is much wanted. The 
te Muck Manual” of S. L. Dana has been the means of 
spreading information on the subject, and the reports of 
the Geologists of the State of New-York, have added to 
the information, showing clearly that there are mines of 
wealth for our farmers, lying on or near the surface, un¬ 
explored and unused in almost every part of the com¬ 
monwealth. This is but one of the many benefits ari¬ 
sing from the geological survey, and the reports of the 
scientific men who made the exploration in so short a 
time and with such credit to themselves and advantage to 
the State. 
This small but productive island, has annually appro¬ 
priated a large quantity of the street dirt from the city 
of New-York, as manure, but for several years past, pro¬ 
duce of all kinds has been so low, that many are endea¬ 
voring to dispense with its use, and save the cash which 
has to be paid for it. But the farmers of Richmond 
county cannot raise crops without manure, and a liberal 
supply of it. Hence they have turned their attention to 
manufacture it from their own resources. Muck and 
sea-weed and fish and weeds and soil, composted with 
barn-yard and stable manure, and mud and sand and lime 
and potash, with other ingredients, form the basis, and 
enable the industrious man to furnish aliment to his crops 
from his own land, which is to produce food for his 
family, provender for his cattle, and a surplus for sale. 
There is scarcely a farm in the county, that has not a 
pond, a swamp, a hollow or muck hole from which peal 
may be obtained by ditching and draining. The dry 
weather in August and September is the season for cart¬ 
ing it out. If distant from the barn-yard or compost 
heap, it may be deposited in the immediate vicinity to be 
used as occasion requires, the farmer thus having it at his 
command, when the vernal and autumnal rains would 
prevent his digging it in its original place of deposit. It 
varies in its composition and consistency, from its rela¬ 
tive situation, but all its varieties are good and capable 
of being converted into rich manure by proper manage¬ 
ment. In ponds liable to become dry in warm weather, 
the vegetable matter, by the alternate action of heat and 
moisture, is often decomposed and forms at the bottom a 
black mud, which on drying or exposure to frost, crum¬ 
bles into a fine mold. When we find a pond in the woods 
which is dry in summer, the mud contains undecayed 
roots, leaves and twigs of trees from the annual supply 
of these materials from the surrounding trees. To reduce 
them to humus or mold, or in other words to a more per¬ 
fect state of decomposition, it is necessary that they should 
undergo fermentation in combination with other vegeta¬ 
ble and animal substances. In permanent ponds or such 
as are seldom or never dry, the muck is a mixture of the 
earthy wash of the uplands and parts of vegetables, whol¬ 
ly or partially decayed. Wet swamps covered with bog- 
grass and bushes also contain undecayed roots, leaves and 
twigs. When such ponds or swamps are drained, the 
vegetable matter undergoes a gradual change, and forms 
a deep and rich bed of black muck. In cleared land we 
sometimes find a repository of such material in low pla¬ 
ces, that have been drained and under cultivation for 
years. We would naturally suppose that under such cir- 
cums ances the vegetable fibres of leaves, roots and stems 
of trees would be entirely decomposed, but it is not the 
case, except at a small distance beneath the surface, with¬ 
in the intluence of summer heat and winter frost. Such 
spots of land are like the Genesee flats, or the alluvial 
soil of other streams, rich and inexhaustible,provided we 
can reach enough of the subsoil to mix with the surface, 
as it loses its power by cultivation. Though some such 
spots are found on this island they are not extensive, and 
they can only serve to enrich the surrounding fields by 
digging pits, and raising the muck to make compost. 
Dr. Dana says that peat or muck, (I use the words sy¬ 
nonymously,) consists of soluble and insoluble humus, the 
latter predominating. But soluble or insoluble, it may 
all be converted into a fertilizing ingredient for vegeta¬ 
tion. (I don’t like Dana's term Geine, because it is too 
technical, too learned, or too difficult to pronounce. Far 
mers who have been in the habit of reading the Cultiva¬ 
tor, know what is meant by humus, and let us stick to 
that.) I will state some of the methods in which muck 
has been employed on this island. 
Mr. William A. Seely has a large reservoir of muck 
from a pond or swamp which he has drained, and he has 
set us the example of the best methods of converting it 
into a fertilizer. He has a farm of more than two hun¬ 
dred acres, at the mouth of the Great Kills on the south 
side of the island. He has manured heavily, and made 
former waste fields productive, by means of peat; and 
they may now be seen smiling with heavy crops. For 
seven or eight years past he has purchased no manure, 
but has made all that his crops required, from the resour¬ 
ces of his own farm. From his water front on Raritan 
bay, he collects large quantities of sea-weed, and in the 
autumn, after clearing his barn-yards of manure for lus 
fall crops, he begins anew to manufacture this indispen- 
sible article, for the coming year, in the following man¬ 
ner. 
The yard is first littered with a coat of sea-weed, and 
over that a layer of peat, then the accumulation of horse 
dung from the stable is spread over the peat. The con¬ 
tents of the hog pens are also occasionally strown over 
the yard, which in the course of the fall and winter re¬ 
ceives several layers of peat. These, together with the 
hay, the straw and corn-stalk fodder dropped during the 
winter, are trodden and poached by the cattle, and mixed 
with their droppings, making a compound mass contain¬ 
ing the elements of all our cultivated crops. 
In the spring, when the frost is out of the ground, the 
coarse manure is accumulated in the yard, and saturated 
with its liquid contents, is carted out and piled into heap? 
three to five feet high, where it undergoes fermentation 
and in the course of four to six weeks, is converted into 
a finer mass, and fitted for the spring crops. 
Mr. Seely has also made what are here called “fish 
pies.-’ In May and June when moosbonkers (Clupea 
menhaden) abound, they are caught in great numbers 
Alternate layers of peat and fish are made into a compost 
heap, and so left until the ensuing spring. I examined 
such a heap of his several years ago, after the fish were 
completely decomposed. The mass was inodorous, the 
peat having absorbed all the gaseous substances, and had 
become very fine and crumbly, and almost as light as a 
