ommence at _a_, and straighten
the creek to _b_, and from _b_ to _c_ (see map on next page). Throw all
the rich, black muck in a heap by itself, separate from the sand. You,
or your foreman, must be there, or you will not get this done. A good
ditcher will throw out a great mass of this loose muck and sand in a
day; and you want him to dig, not think. You must do the thinking, and
tell him which is muck, and which is only sand and dirt. When thrown up,
this muck, in our dry, hot climate, will, in the course of a few months,
part with a large amount of water, and it can then be drawn to the barns
and stables, and used for bedding, or for composting with manure. Or if
you do not want to draw it to the barn, get some refuse lime from the
lime-kiln, and mix it with the muck after it has been thrown up a few
weeks, and is partially dry. Turn over the heap, and put a few bushels
of lime to every cord of the muck, mixing the lime and muck together,
leaving the heap in a compact form, and in good shape, to shed the rain.

"When you have straightened, and cleaned out, and deepened the creek,"
continued the Doctor, "commence at _z_ on the new creek, and cut a ditch
through the swamp to _y_. Throw the muck on one side, and the sand on
the other. This will give you some good, rich muck, and at the same time
drain your swamp. Then cut some _under-drains_ from _y_ towards the
higher land at _w_, _v_, and _h_, and from _f_ to _x_. These will drain
your land, and set free the inert plant-food, and such crops of timothy
as you will get from this swamp will astonish the natives, and your bill
for medical attendance and quinine will sink to zero."

[Illustration: Map of Creek.]

The Doctor is right. There is money and health in the plan.

Prof. S. W. Johnson, as chemist to the Conn. State Ag. Society, made
accurate analyses of 33 samples of peat and muck sent him by gentlemen
from different parts of the State. The amount of potential ammonia in
the chemically dry peat was found to vary from 0.58 in the poorest, to
4.06 per cent in the richest samples. In other words, one deposit of
muck may contain seven times as much nitrogen as another, and it would
be well before spending much money in drawing out muck for manure to
send a sample of it to some good chemist. A bed of swamp-muck, easily
accessible, and containing 3 per cent of nitrogen, would be a mine of
wealth to any farmer. One ton of such muck, dry, would contain more
nitrogen t