The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-04-07

may not pay to dig 1T out and carry
it even to the nearest field. That it
may be valuable is shown by the re-
suits of many trials recorded in John.
sons "Peat and its Uses" which, by
the way, we recommend to our friend
rather than Dana's Muck Manual.
1t is there stated that some farmers
have compared the muck obtained
from their own swamps with their
stable manure, and have found tito be
capable of yielding quite as large crops,
at least for a time. In these cases
the muck was applied by iself. and
sometimes in almost the fresh state.
Such a favorable result could, how
ever, be expected only with muck
of unusually good quality, and kind
of soil that needed just such treat
ment-perhaps a heavy soil, naturally
well stocked with potash and phos-
phoric acid, and specially needing
the loosening effects Of the muck. In
other and more common cases the
best results have been obtained by
composing the muck with the ma
nure of the yard. thus using it as an
absorbent of the valuable liquids
which might otherwise run to waste,
and as check on losses which might
result from too rapid rottening Of
the manure. We find in the book
above mentioned such reports as
these . ga compost of equal parts of
| ,r,,.o1, opA h1o ,,oou11r0 10 onnoI fn
/ the same quantity of unmixed stable
manure" or, Eight loads Of muck
and four of manure in compost, when
properly forKed over, are equal to
twelve loads of barn yard MANURE"
or, zone load of stable manure and
three loads of muck equal in value
four loads of good manure Such
statements made by men who are
we'll known in their respective local
tiles, and whose names are given
with them, are worthy of careful
consideration.
Our friend may, therefore, really
possess valuable piece of property
in his muck bed; the chemist might
help him to decide how valuable it is
but we would not by any means ad
wise him to call in the service of the
chemist, for it would cost too much;
nor can we show him how to make
even reliable guess as to the quail
ity Of his muck from it's appearance
whether snuff-clored or black, fine or
coarse, or what not; Prof. Johnson
could not find anything in the ap
pearance of the muck that could be
taken as sure indication of good
quality. There is, then, nothing for
him to do but try it on his fields, and
we advise him by all means to do
this, but in such a way that he can
tell whether it pays or not if it does
not pay he cannot afford to be hand
ling the heavy stuff year after year.
He might try some Of it by itself on
one OF his fields, but not with much
expectation of profit he should also
try it in his yard, hauling in, if the
beds are not too far off, perhaps as
many loads as he expects to have of
manure. This can often be done in
winter when his team and himself
would otherwise be idle many days,
and the experiment would cost him
comparatively little. Then if he is
an experienced farmer and knows
about what to expect from load of
good stable manure when put on the
land, he can soon tell whether or not
the addition of his muck to it is pro-
ftable. Ii he does not know from
experience what return his yard ma
nure should give him, he ought by
all means to go to work at once and
get reliable answer to this question,
and especially before he invests in
superphosphate or any other COM
mercial fertilizers. Fortified with
this information he may the more
confidently strike out into new paths,
with the feeling that he is in far less
danger of losing his hard earned
gains by Improbable investment in
this direction. Positively in no bet. |
ter way than this can he learn
whether his muck is of any value to
him, and we insist that its possible
value is great enough to make care
full trial of it well worth while. In
using it we would suggest that ex-
posure to the air and to trosts always
improves it, and that it is well, there
fore 10 dig it out some considerable
tine before it is wanted.
AS to the use of peat tor fuel, he
will find full account of this matter
in the book above referred to. In
regard to peat ashes, they also are
exceedingly variable in composition,