The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1899-02-04
Uudcr;1rainins Muck Swamp.

There is 4 far better way to make
use OF swamp Of itch black muck
1ha to draw it out, season It year or
Two by eIpusu e to freezing, and thea
spl cad it on upiands. No doubt there
are places whsre tais plan may pay,
but it IS not economy. The black
.1uck is prouaAly MT nearly so rich
in er.ilizing material as is supposed.
and SO much banding OF it as is sre-
uuire,l to draw It in It's raw state, s=a-
son it and then handle it again to ap-
ply it, very rarely pays. The better
way is to make underlraias through
the swamp, POSSIBLY il there is great
deal OF water leading ali these drains
into an open ditch, which should have
a growth Of sod on its sides rs early as
possible. In two or three years frost
will penetrate to the depth of two
feet or more in the pl:able muck, and
the surface If left bare through the
winter can easily be cultivated until
it is as mellow as all ash heap.
Usually these muck swamps are
undeylaid with ay subSoil. That
is a good sign, for it means that less
Of the fertility has been washed away
and lost. In all cases the drains
should be put down deep eaougn to
reach the clay, ands some gravel should
be put over tue joints of the ,ile,so as
to rot only keep the clay from stop
ping the water from entering, but also
to prevent the fine bla X monld from
above from sitting into the tile.
sometimes when we get down to the
clay springs OF waller will burst forth.
Where q spring is found, much care
will be required IN laying the tile, as
there will be great Ceal of sand
b ought up by the water, and this is
likely to get into and choke the tile.
The best way probably is to leave al
opening here in the drain and make L
small pond there with the spring OF
water IL The ce lt;e. 1t is slow, dirty
wo k dredging out such pond so as
to have tile water rise mp from lower
depth than the drain. it vii. re1ui: g
attention every year to keep this hoe
from filing ur. But snch a spring
once found II furnish wa er at any
time through the oren ditch into
which the Tile carries it.
Ate: the eswanp is dra;ned,i it stSnld
be cultivated with ordinary arm CT OPS,
but reserved for those which l. e hi e
mucky soil to do their Lest. Ii 6 ain
is sown it will prob .bly make a rank
growth oistraw, VIII ch, lacking mlue"al
fertility, will not he able TO sust,in its
own we ght. The grain crop will
probably rust, and both that aud the
straw will prove failure. But q
drained muck he'd ferti!i1 ell with / OF
ash and phosphate makes 3 first rate
place for celery, for calba ,e and for
con. These IL be better grown On
the drai el muck led han Oh II uj]ands
fer Glized with the swamp muck spread
over them. aluo all mlcky soils
are deficient in otash. Tuey are the
remains OF ,egetation that has very
little mineral matter in i. 4 dressing
of phosphate and lotash applied to
mucky suils makes them almost AS
rich as fermented COW manure. In
time the muck bed will waste away by
vzposu: to the air, and for this reason
it shonld every few years grow a crop
of over to le Jew the vegetab e mat
it has lost. 1t may seem needless
where the soil is still black with the
remains of old vegetation to plow
under clover growth, but the clover
is far more nitroyenons than any veg
etable matter this soil ever produced
berore, and it also contain greater
amount ii mine al fertility. So there
is probably no way Of making clover
produce better effect than by grow
ing it on soil which is apparently al
ready full ofvegetable matter. Amer
lean Cultivator.