OCR Text |
Show MUSSEL MUD AS FERTILIZER Organic Remains of Shellfish Secure Fertility to Poorest and Most Exhausted Soil. Consul Frank Deedmeyer, writes from Charlottetow u, P. K. I., Canada: In most of the bays Indenting the shores of Prince Kd ward-'island are found extensive deposits of mussel mud. so-called locally, being organic remaius of countless generations of oysters, mussels, ciams, and other M- valves of the ocean, and of cruslac-erous cruslac-erous animals generally. The shells, usually more or less intact, are found imbedded in dense deposits of mudlike mud-like substance and this combination is a fertilizer of bigh value and potency. It supplies small quantities of phosphates phos-phates and alkalies. An ordinary dressing of It secures fertility in a striking manner to the poorest or most exhausted soil. The shells decay slow ly, year by year, throwing off a ti'.r of fertilizing stuffs. The deposits around Prince Edward island vary from five to twenty five feet in depth. They are taken up by dredging machines ma-chines worked from rafts iu summer or from the ice in winter. |