muck in forming a compost for manuring loȧmy, sandy, or gravelly soils, being worth for such purpose not less than $1 per cord; and, especially where manure is used in the hill, the muck is an almost indispensable 'requisite; for the difference between using clear manure and one half or two thirds muck in compost would be in favor of the muck compost."

Another writer from Essex county says: "I have used two tons the past season, which I think is full half used in town. I applied it to some extent upon all crops raised upon my farm, mixed in the proportion of one part guano to four of loam in bulk, for grass land, and spread at the rate of 300 pounds of guano per acre. It increased the product but very little on high and dry land; but on low, wet land, it more than doubled the first and second crop of grass. On greensward land, where 15 loads of manure from the barn cellar were spread and ploughed under, guano, mixed as above with meadow muck, and applied in like proportion to corn, spread and cultivated in, increased the crop full one-quarter; but when put in the hill and covered with one inch of earth it diminished the crop about one-fourth, not more than three-fourths of the seed vegetating. I fenced in forty square rods of land from my pasture, and divided it into four lots of ten rods each, the soil a strong black loam, and rather moist the first part of the season. the 29th of April, during a north-east rain, I applied to lot No. one 20 pounds of plaster; to No. two, 20 pounds of guano, mixed with three times its bulk of loam; to No. three, 20 pounds of guano and 20 pounds of plaster; to No. four, not any thing. The last of June following, the grass on lots Nos. one and two was about alike, being nearly double of lot No. four; but on No. three the product was more than threefold. After that time the cattle were allowed to feed upon it; the season continued so dry, I could not perceive much difference in the feed late in the autumn."

On

A farmer of Barnstable county returns the following answer: "I have used guano on grass lands, both swamp and upland, with good success. To a limited extent it has been used by others, on grass lands, with success-in small experiments doubling the crop. On corn it has proved, on the whole, injurious. I have applied it on a section of corn land, in the hill,

with great loss-mixing it with dry peat muck before applying it, and covering the mixture with two or three inches of earth. The only missing hills in the field were in the guano part; the growth of stalk was promoted, but the yield of corn not so good as when compost was put in alone. In the year 1853 I used it on corn with similar results. I should discard it for corn or garden crops, feeling more safety and confidence in good compost manure. On a section of the above-named field superphosphate of lime was used, applied in the hill. It produced an early, marked growth of stock, but on harvesting I have no better result than on any other section of the field; the land was light, and the dry weather prevented a fair test. I shall try it again next year; I have more confidence in it than in guano, as it can be safely applied."

A Norfolk farmer says: "When judiciously applied, guano has resulted well, especially on mowing lands, doubling the growth. In the cornfield I did not see a marked difference. It was very favorable to oats and turnips."

Another in Worcester county answers: "I have applied guano this season without any visible effect. Others have been more fortunate. In some instances the benefit to the corn crop has been very perceptible, increasing it twenty or twentyfive per cent. About twenty tons were used in town last spring. From the best information I have obtained, I think for a crop of corn it is more beneficial on light land or pine plain; for grass, on land rather low and moist. Others within my knowledge have used it in successive years, and generally with less success the following years than the first. In one case that came under my observation, the crop the second year was an entire failure."

From these returns, all of which come from experienced practical men in various parts of the State, and from many more like them which my present limits do not allow me to give, we may deduce the following general principles:—

I. That guano generally succeeds better on light, loamy lands than on stiff, clayey soils.

II. That it is not safe to use guano in the hill, unless it is largely mixed with other substances, or intimately mingled with the soil of the hill.

III. That it may be spread and ploughed or harrowed in for corn, or other cultivated crops, to great advantage, particularly in wet seasons; and that it may be thus used with perfect safety, without any previous preparation, except crushing or pulverizing the lumps.

IV. That when it is to be applied as a top dressing it should be well pulverized, and thoroughly composted with muck or loam, and then be spread upon the land very early in the spring.

These results, conflicting as they do with the experience of some, cannot perhaps be regarded as fixed, since many more experiments, accurately conducted under every variety of circumstances, are needed to enable us to fix any rules for the preparation and application of this powerful manure.

But almost inexhaustible supplies of material for making excellent manure may be found in the swamps and bogs which abound in nearly every part of Massachusetts. The term muck is generally applied by New England farmers to the mass of vegetable matter usually found in peat swamps in a state of partial decomposition; by English farmers, to rotting straw, &c.; and by the Scotch, to barn-yard manure. I use the word in its common signification in this country, and mean by it the dead vegetable substances described. These are the remains of trees and plants, some of which must have lived ages ago, more or less perfectly decomposed, and sometimes extending to a depth of many feet. This substance is made up of dif ferent constituents in different localities, and its quality is therefore very variable. Hence we find a great variety of opinions as to the value of swamp muck as a manure. The various estimates of the value of swamp muck range from 33 cents to $3 per cord, and give an average of $1.27; and as there is no reason to suppose that the estimated value is not the real value in each locality, it follows that no general real value can be definitely fixed. This depends on its quality.

Swamp muck is often cold and sour, and requires the addition of lime or exposure to the atmosphere and to frosts before it can be advantageously applied as manure. There are different modes of preparing it for use. The most common is to dig it out, expose it to the frost through the winter, and then

put it into the barn yard to be composted with the stable manure. The following statements are from experienced practical men, and each gives the results of the observations of its writer.

A Middlesex farmer says: "I use swamp muck most successfully composted with stable manure on different varieties of soils, but think it does best on high land of a loamy soil. I notice it is used very extensively by farmers with satisfactory results when composted with other manures thoroughly." A farmer of Worcester county says: "I use it extensively on my hard, clay soils; it works well on dry lands to keep them moist, and on clay soils to keep them light." Another writer from Dukes county follows: "It should be hauled out in the fall, and exposed to the frost during winter, and mixed with stable manure in the proportion of two parts muck to one of manure; it should also be used in the hog pen, barn yard, and barn cellar. I have found it a good manure on loamy, gravelly, and sandy land, especially for top dressing for grass, when composted as above." A Norfolk county farmer, who has met with great success, says: "The best way of using swamp muck is to dig it and expose it to the sun, air, and rains one year, and then, when in a dry state, place it in a barn cellar where it will take the droppings of the cattle above until it is thoroughly saturated; then mix it well, and it is ready for use. It is good for all high lands." He estimates it at about three dollars by the cord of one hundred and two bushels. A Middlesex farmer of great experience states that "swamp muck is of different qualities, and varies as much as wood when used for fuel. Peat mud, the older the better, consists principally of vegetable matter. It has most effect on high and dry ground. Wood ashes are the best article to correct its acidity."

Similar accounts come from every section of the State. From Hampshire county we have the following: "The best method of using swamp muck, judging from experiments of my neighbors and my own, is to cart it out in the autumn, expose it to the frost and snows, then spread and plough it in in the spring on sandy, dry soils, or, in other words, on soils of an opposite nature to its own. I ploughed in twenty-five loads on onequarter of an acre last spring, and planted it to early potatoes,

corn, pease, cucumbers, squashes and melons. It was a great preventive against drought. That ground has been sown to rye, and it looks first rate." And from Plymouth county: Swamp muck, as also upland soils, are valuable to mix with various kinds of manure to retain and absorb the salts. For upwards of two years, I have adopted a different course with my swamp land from any I know of. I employ men with long-bitted hoes, and sward hooks, &c., to dig up the hummocks and bushes, in bodies large and small, as is convenient, and pile them in bunches for a few days to dry; after which I select a central bunch, in which I form a cavity or hole near the bottom or surface of the ground. Then I set fire to some of the dryest and most combustible, and as it burns I replenish it from the other bunches, smothering in the coal-pit form, though more combustible, till it is burned down to a perfect body of ashes and sand. I have not carried the experiment into full effect as I designed to; but, so far as I have used the ashes, they have given me entire satisfaction. Their nature is to improve exhausted lands; and my belief is that they may be spread upon the same land upon which the ashes were made, and increase the growth of English grass. Much has been said upon the subject of reclaiming wet, swampy lands; but after all that has been done, as I understand it, a coat of manure is required to produce a good crop of English grass. Now, if our worthless swamp lands possess the very article required to produce such grass by the simple process as above named, I think it would be an improvement in one point of agriculture."

A farmer of Barnstable county says: "The best compost. manure is made in our barn and hog yards, of swamp muck, seaweed and animal manure. Swamp muck and seaweed are accessible to all who will take the trouble to procure them. My barn and hog yards are so excavated and dug as to absorb the liquids passed into them. Every spring and summer, after my barn yard is emptied, I replenish it from time to time with swamp muck, peat, seaweed, and other materials from the farm, which, with the animal manure produced by yarding my cattle, furnish me in the autumn with 200 loads of good compost, which I either stack in the yard, or cart on to the land