and composting it does pay. I judge that I have transferred at least

three thousand loads of it from my swamp to my upland; and the effect

had been all that I expected. Let me speak of Muck generally, in the

light, of my own experience.



Wherever rocks in ridges come to the surface of a valley, plain, or

gentle slope, water is apt to be collected or retained by them, forming

ponds or shallower pools, which may or may not dry up in Summer, but

which are seldom dry late in Autumn, when plants are dying and leaves

are falling. The latter, caught in their descent by the harsh winds of

the season, are swept along the bare, dry ground, till they strike the

water, which arrests their progress and soon engulfs them. Thus an acre

of watery surface will often collect, and retain the dead foliage of

five to ten acres of forest; and next Fall will render its kindred

tribute, and the next, and the next, for ever. There cannot be less than

fifty millions of acres of Swamps in our old States (including Maine);

whereof I presume the larger area was covered with water until the slow

contributions of leaves and weeds filled them above the level at which

water is no longer retained on the surface. And still, they are so moist

and boggy, and their rank vegetation is so retentive, that the leaves

swept in from the adjacent hills and glades are firmly retained and aid

to increase the depth of their vegetable mold, which varies from a few

inches to twenty and even thirty feet. In my old County of Westchester,

I roughly estimate that there are at least five thousand acres of bog,

whereof but a very few hundreds have yet been subdued to the uses of

cultivation.



Whoever digs a quantity of Swamp Muck and applies it directly to his

fields or garden, will derive little or no immediate benefit therefrom.

It is green, sour, cold, and more likely to cover his farm thickly and

persistently with Sorrel, Eye-smart, Rag-weed, Parsley, and other

infestations, than to add a bushel per acre to his crop of Grain or

Roots. And thus many have tried Muck, and, on trial, pronounced it a

pestilent humbug.



But let any farmer turn his whole force into a bog or marsh directly

after finishing his Summer harvest (when it is apt to be driest and

warmest), and, having freed it of water to the best of his ability, dig

and draw out one hundred cords of its black, oozy substance, and he will

know better than to unite in that hasty judgment. If the bog be near his

farm-yard, let the Muck be shoveled at once into a cart and drawn

thither; but, if not, let it be simply brought out in wheel-barrows and

deposited, not more than two feet deep, on the most convenient bank that

is well drained and perfectly dry. Here let it dry and drain till after

Fall harvest, and then begin to draw it gradually into the yards, and

especially where it may be worked over by swine and scratched over for

seeds and insects by fowls. Assuming that the farm-yard is lowest in the

centre and allows no liquid to escape save by evaporation, the Muck may

well be dumped on the drier sides; thence, after being worked over and

trampled through and through, to be shoveled into the centre and

replaced by fresh arrivals. A hundred cords may thus be so mixed and

ripened as to be fit to draw out next May and used as a fertilizer for

Grain or Roots, though, if not so treated, it should lie exposed to sun

and wind a full year; being applied in the Fall to crops of Winter grain

or spread upon the fields to be planted or sowed next Spring. All the

manure made during the Winter should be spread over that which lies in

the yard at least monthly; and then new Muck drawn in, to be rooted or

scratched over, trampled into the underlying strata, and overspread in

its turn. Thus treated, I am confident that each hundred cords of Muck

will be equal in value to an equal quantity of manure, though it may not

give up its fertilizing properties so freely to the first crop that

follows its application. I have land that did not yield (in pasture) the

equivalent of half a tun of hay pet annum when I bought it, that now

yields at least three tuns of good hay per annum; and its renovation is

mainly due to a free application of Swamp Muck.



To those who have a good stock of animals, with Muck convenient to their

yards, I would not recommend any other treatment than the foregoing; but

there are many who keep few animals, or whose muck-beds lie at the back

of their farms, two or three hundred rods from their barns; while they

wish to fertilize the fields in this quarter, which have been slighted

in former applications, because of the distance over which manure had to

be hauled. If these possess or can buy good hard-wood, house-made Ashes

at twenty-five cents or less per bushel, I would say, Mix these well, at

the rate of two or three bushels to the card, with your Muck as you dig

it; work it over the next Spring, and apply it the ensuing Fall, so as

to give it a full year to ripen and sweeten, and it will be all right.

But, if you have not and cannot get the Ashes, and can procure dirty,

refuse Salt from some meat-packer or wholesale grocer, apply this as you

would have applied the Ashes, but in rather larger quantity; and, if

you can get neither Ashes nor Salt, use quick Lime, as fresh and hot

from the kiln as you can apply it. The best Lime is that from burned

Oyster-Shells; I consider this, if nowise slaked, nearly equal to refuse

Salt; but Oyster-Shell Lime is too dear at most inland points; and here

the refuse of the kilns--that which is not good enough for

mason-work--must be used. Usually, the lime-burner has a load or more of

this at the clearing out of every kiln, which he will sell quite cheap

if it be taken out of his way at once; and this should be looked for and

secured. Being inferior in quality (often because imperfectly burned),

it should be applied in larger quantity--not less than four bushels to

each cord of Muck.



* * * * *



I will not here describe the process of mixing Salt with Lime commended

by Prof. Mapes, because it is not easy to bring these two ingredients

together so as to mix them with the Muck as it is dug: and, though I

have used them after Prof. Mapes's recipe, and purpose to do so

hereafter, I do not feel certain that any positive advantage results

from their blended application as a Chloride of Lime. If I should gain

further light on this point before completing this series, I shall not

fail to impart it.