Peat-Mosses 



they afford the most desirable land for farming purposes. One- 

 fifth of the most fertile fields in Great Britain and Ireland have 

 been won from bog districts by draining. During the time of 

 the Saxon kingdoms, England was to a great extent occupied by 

 morasses which have since been cleared away. Sites of ancient 

 bogs in northern Germany and in the valley of the River Po, 

 Italy, are indicated by the great and persistent fertility of the soil. 

 Probably not far from one-twentieth of the tillable land in Europe 

 was inundated and unfit for agri- 

 culture in the eighth century. 



Sphagnum acutifolium, var. rubellum. 

 A bit of stem with three stem-leaves 

 and a fascicle of three branches, one 

 appressed and two spreading. 



A bit of stem with one stem-leaf and a 

 fascicle of five branches, two appressed 

 and three spreading. 



Sphagnum cymbifolium. 



(Genus SPHAGNUM) 



Peat-mosses are common, growing in more or less compact 

 green or purple patches on the surface of bogs, or along mountain 



