SEA-MUD varies greatly in its composition, dependant something upon
the soil of the neighboring uplands. It is considered a valuable
manure in Europe, and is sought for with avidity, and transported not
unfrequently considerable distances into the interior. We have seen
it used with good effect in the United States, from Massachusetts to
Pennsylvania; and are told that in Delaware and Maryland, and even
farther south, it is highly prized by those who have tried it. On Long
Island, the past summer, we were occasionally shown the fertilising
results, not only of sea-mud, but of the marsh soil also, applied to
the uplands a little removed from the borders of the marshes and the
seashore. Our intelligent correspondent, Mr. Partridge, informs us he
has used beach-mud in various ways with good effect; and that the past
summer, two gentlemen whose country seats border his mill, were allowed
to make use of the sediment from the tide mill-pond, and they found it
added greatly to the productiveness of their gardens.
Sea-mud may be applied in different ways, according to its
constituents. If it abounds with clay, it should be taken in the fall
of the year, and spread broad-cast upon the land, and thus lie exposed
to the action of the frost all winter. This pulverises it well, and
in the spring of the year the roller should be passed over it in
dry weather, followed by the harrow, and if any lumps remain after
this operation, let them be beaten fine with the dung-beater. This
is considered one of the best top dressings for grass land which can
be given; it also answers well to be plowed in for either grain or
root crops. Where the mud abounds more with sand, it is an excellent
thing to put into barn yards and pig-styes, to be incorporated with
the litter and manure; it may likewise be thrown into a heap until it
becomes completely pulverised, and then spread upon the land.
As air-slacked lime or small broken lime can be obtained in this city
for about half the price of quick lime, Mr. Partridge suggests that
it would be an excellent ingredient to mix with the sea-mud, for
the purpose of forming a compost. A bushel or two of the lime, to a
cart-load of the mud, he thinks a good mixture. When it abounds with
considerable vegetable matter, we would recommend a greater proportion
of lime, say from one to ten or twenty parts. Ashes and charcoal dust
are excellent ingredients to mix with sea-mud, and when either of these
or lime is used to form a compost, they make it much more lasting. It
is less labor to transport the sea-mud directly to the place where it
is to be used, and spread it broad-cast at once upon the land; and as
the saving of labor is quite an object in our country, we have found
that this method of applying it is the most generally practised.
With the exception of a few of our more intelligent farmers, sea-mud
and marsh-mud as fertilizers, are not valued as highly as they ought
to be in the United States. They exist in immense quantities all along
our seaboard, and may be had in an unlimited extent for the mere labor
of transportation. We hope that some experiments may hereafter be made
with them by some of our readers on the different kinds of crops, and
that they will give us the results. The time, we think, is approaching,
when sea-mud and marsh-soil will be as highly prized here as they now
are in Europe.