The Portland daily press., 1864-09-30
AGRICULTURAL.

MUCK CoMPosT.-The rich deposits ofmuck
and peat which abound even in the most ster-
lie parts Of New England, Notwithstanding all
that has been said and written in their favor,
do no receive from many farmers the consider
alton which they merit. Although scientific
investigation and practical experience have
demonstrated again and again the economic
value of these numerous and extensive store
houses of fertilizing material, they are often
neglected by those who claim to be farmers
and it is not uncommon to find men deploring
their inability to cultivate more land, and raise
larger crops, whose farms are capable of sup
plying nearly all, the elements of the most
abundant fertilization which is needed by any
soil.
1t was well said by DR.. Dana in his valuable
treatise upon muck, that "Nature never be-
slowed upon man soil of greater capability of
being made lastingly fertile than the light
sandy soil of New England" And he might
have added that Nature never disposed more
abundantly the raw materials for the improve
mont of all soils than she has done in this por-
tion OF the globe. For in our peat meadows
and muck beds we have an inexhaustible sup
ply VI OCCOulpOoCu fCSCbdUlO udbL6I, WHICH Is
the most essential element of all soils, and up
on the existence OF which, in greater or less
quantity and in proper conditions, all crops
are dependent for their nutriment and growth.
But ii is very hard to induce many persons
to realize this fact. Perhaps some careless ex-
perimenters have failed to realize their expec-
tations, or a homeopathic dressing of unfer-
mented mould has not seemed to stimulate the
crop to which it was applied to any percepti-
10 md for M ofb ON haffa
they will run in debt for guano, bone dust and
superphosphates, to the neglect of the more
precious, because more lasting, products of
their own farms.
In saying this we do not wish to be under
stood as condemning the use of those stimu-
lating fertilizers; but after all they are but
stimulants, and it is in vain to rely upon them
as the foundation of that permanent amellora-
tion of soil naturally deficient in fertility,
which will maintain it in good heart for the
production of large crops of every description,
and make the business profitable in the long
run. At the prices charged for the artificial
fertilizers, and of guano, those substances can
not be proftably employed to any considera-
bic extent in general farming; and the farmer
who means to succeed by the economical pro-
duction of the staple crops must rely upon his
own resources for the abundant fertilization of
his ground.
ply OF manures farming is most uncommend
able method of wasting life time in hard
work Manure is the great and paramount
want oil every cultivator. Our domestic ami
mails alone cannot furnish all that we need mp
on our rugged New England farms. Our sandy
lands must be supplied more abundantly with
vegetable matter than our barn yards will sup
ply, and clay soils must be rendered more light
and porous by the admixture of such substan-
ces as will, in addition to their fertilizing pro-
perties, have this beneficial effect. Most for
tunately there are few who have not the abili-
ty to meet all the requirements of this situa-
ton, which places the farmers Of this section
at so great comparative disadvantage with
the farmers of the West. In the peat mead
oWs and muck swamps OF Massachusetts alone
there are undeVeloped elements of fertility suf.
flcent 10 make every farm in their vicinity as
productive as garden. All that is needed is
the skill to manipulate, and the energy and
enterprise to apply them.
1t Is not fiction, but a well demonstrated
fact based upon the soundest deductions of
chemical science, and sustained by repeated,
careful experiments of practical cultivators,
that cord OF barn manure composted with
two cords of the black mould from the peat
meadow will form three cords of compost
equal in value to the cord of stable manure.
1t is fact equally well established, that the
value to the solids. And yet bow many farm
ers there are, even at this time, who suffer
such valuable means of fertility TO run to
waste, from neglect to supply the best OF all
of absorbents which the peat meadows will
afford. But the limits of utility to be found
in these large and frequent deposits Of vege-
table matter, are Aot exhausted even when
they have absorbed all the urine, and been
composted with all the solid excrements of
horses, cattle, sheep and swine. Composted
with wood ashes, or with mixture of salt
and lime, such chemical changes are wrought
in the course of afew weeks in the cold, black
inert mass Of decayed vegetation, as to fit it
speedily to become food for plants; and
most excellent fertilizer is the result, at
cost very slight in comparison to its real
value.
The present dry time affords most favor
able opportunity tor throwing up a supply Of
muck for next seasons use. If dug thus ear
ly in the season large portion of its super
abundant moisture will be evaporated even
while lying in heaps upon the meadow, and
if the distance to the barn is great the saving
in carriage will be no inconsiderable item. Let
the hogs have plentiful supply at all times.
Let the barn yard be covered with it to the
depth of several inches, and let there be a sup
ply of it under cover IN some convenient
place, to be blended with the manure heap in
The barn cellar as often as occasion may re-
ouire, and the returns of such labor will be
sure to come in, in increasing annual crops,
and such improvement of the soil as no other
material which farmers can afford to purchase
will supnlv Mnss0c h2Lsetts PLOuQltnldn.