Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-11-04
Cd SWAMP MUCK.
Its Benefit In Chemical Fertilizers Il
Greatly Exaggerated.

Greatly Exaggerated
The practice Of using dried muck !
and peat In mixing chemical fertilizers
puts up a problem which farmers ought I
TO understand. Thousands OF tons OF :
such muck are used-sold as muck :
tankage." We learn of one case where
a man started growing celery In a
swamp and is said to have nearly fail
ed at 1t Then he conceived the Idea
Of drying and pulverizing the soil OF
that swamp and selling it to fertilizer
dealers. This has brought him a for
tune. Some samples Of this dried peat
are said TO contain nearly 3 per cent
Of nitrogen; others carry less. This nj
trogen Is in an inert form and Is OF
little value as q plant food. Expert
ments in Illinois showed that such nj
trogen was worth about one-half cent
pound as compared with that In dried
blood costing 10 cents. Yet the fer
tilizer manufacturer who sells this
muck mixed with other chemicals I'M
dertakes to charge IS cents a pound
for It when you buy 1t. For example,
take brand of fertilizer which Is
guaranteed to contain I'm each ton 10
pounds of nitrogen 160 pounds avail
able phosphoric acid and 100 pounds OF
potash. It would be possible to supply
| the potash and phosphoric acid In 200
/ pounds of muriate and 1900 pounds
Of acid phosphate Then by using lOO
pounds of cottonseed meal and 500
pounds of dried muck they could pro-
vide more nitrogen than they guaran-
teed. The object of using the cotton
seed meal is to color the muck and
thus prevent, If possible, the chemist
from detecting 1t. But see what nice
game this Isl The muck furnishes
ten or twelve pounds Of nitrogen, which
gives the fertilizer a valuation OF from
$50 to 50, but which costs perhaps
90 cents. A farmer might use such
fertilizer on his wheat this fall. The
potash and phosphoric acid may help.
but 1t Is doubtful If his grandchildren
will see any benefit from the nitrogen
in the muck.
The excuse given for using the muck
Is that it makes a good filler and dries
out the other chemicals. No serious OBJ
lection can be made to its use as a
filler. but the nitrogen it contains
should not be valued in the fertilizer.
for 1t is not worth the price. 1t is near
ly impossible to detect the muck when
cottonseed meal is used with It, The
best way to avoid it is to refuse to buy
low grade fertilizers or those very low
in nitrogen. 1t is impossible to use
large quantities of muck in fertilizers
containing per cent or more of nitro
gen, because materials containing more
nitrogen must be used in order to reach
high per cent. You are most likely
to find the muck in the mixtures with
about / per cent Of nitrogen. 1t does
not pay to buy them. Buy the higher
grade mixtures and use an equal value
in dollars per acre and you will be bet
ter off. We believe that farmers are
paying millions of hard earned dollars
uselessly for this peat nitrogen, many
of them already having swamps OIL
their own farms. The chemists mus
find some way to detect this peat nitro
gen. and then we shall work for Law
compelling the manufacturer to stat
that he uses ii and that it Is not valued
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