36 



BEITISH MOSSES. 



BY a:n amateur cultivator. 



JHE study and culture of mosses is never likely to become 

 so popular or attain the magnitude of that enjoyed by 

 their near allies, the ferns ; and the most enthusiastic 

 admirer of them is forced to admit that there are many 

 reasons for such being the case. Though I take this 

 view of the matter, I feel bound to say that the moeses do not by 

 any means receive that amount of attention from horticulturists, and 

 the lovers of natural history, which their intrinsic beauty and merits 

 entitle them to. Though the mosses occupy rather a low position 

 in the vegetable kingdom, they play a very important part in the 

 economy of nature ; therefore, apart from their delicacy, singularity, 

 and beauty, their economical value alone renders them worthy of a 

 larger share of notice than has yet been accorded to them. We are 

 indebted to the mosses, in a large measure, for the vast supplies of 

 fuel which have so materially aided the development of the various 

 resources which have made us so rich and powerful as a nation. The 

 peat-bogs in England and Ireland are chiefly formed with the 

 mosses ; and it is astonishing with what rapidity a hollow of from 

 twenty to thirty feet is filled up with the successive layers of growth 

 and decay which so unceasingly goes on, In the formation of bogs, 

 the various species of Bryum and Hypnui., have a large share through 

 the early stage of their existence, but as these decay, and the water 

 flows more sluggishly, the strong-growing Sphagnum steps in, and 

 drives out many of its congeners. Were we to cut through one of these 

 bogs so as to have a sectional view, we should find the stems of the moss 

 close under the surface to be in a state of gradual decay ; and by 

 tracing these down we find this process going on, thus rendering 

 the peaty substance more and more compact as w r e descend, until at 

 length, when a depth of some thirty or forty feet has been reached, 

 we find a compact substance, highly charged with bitumen, which 

 clearly evinces its close relationship with coal. Although, in the 

 formation of peat-bogs, we have an indication of one of the most 

 important uses of mosses in the economy of nature, we have others 

 that are of equal value. It is to the mosses that we owe many a 

 fruitful hill-side which, but for tbem, would be at this moment most 

 probably an unsightly sterile rock. The mosses take possession, and 

 then, by a series of layers of growth and decay, which go on in 

 much the same manner as those of the bogs, a sufficient depth of 

 decayed matter is obtained for the seeds of the various grasses and 

 other small-growing plants, that may be wafted there by the wind, 

 to take root. The successive changes of decay and renewal of these 

 plants continue, until at length a sufficient depth of vegetable 

 matter is accumulated for the support of higher forms of vegetation. 

 Important as are the economical features of the subject, two of 

 which I have briefly glanced at above, the beauty of the mosses is 



