440 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec. 



the lighter peat from near the surface of the bog yielded 4-66 per 

 cent of ash. Both of these are very pure ; and the compact peat, 

 which is remarkable from its great density and its freedom from 

 earthy matters, is particularly worthy of attention. 



A large peat-bog occurs in the seigniory of Longueuil, on the 

 road to Chambly ; and an attempt was made a few years since to 

 raise the peat and introduce it to the Montreal market. A peat- 

 bog of large size is found in the seigniory of Ste. Marie de Mon- 

 noir ; and another in the parish of St. Dominique, including part 

 of Ste. Rosalie and St. Pie. Its dimensions may be five or six 

 miles in one direction, by three or four in another. This extent 

 is covered by a layer of peat; which, fiom two or three feet at 

 the edges, attains a depth of six feet, and in some parts, it is said, 

 is eighteen feet in thickness. The bog has been partially drained, 

 and portions of the land reclaimed for agricultural purposes. The 

 drained land being first cleared of trees, is ploughed, and then, in 

 the dry season, set on fire. In this way, eight or ten inches of peat 

 are burned, leaving an ash which serves as a manure, and enables 

 the surface to yield one or two crops of barley or oats. After two 

 years, the soil becomes exhausted, and it requires to be again 

 burned over to render it productive. When by several repetitions 

 of the process, the peat has been reduced to a few inches, the 

 remaining portion is mingled, by ploughing, with the under- 

 lying clay, and a rich mellow soil is obtained, 'i he peat from this 

 bog yields, when heated in close vessels, about thirty-six per cent 

 of coke, and contains from six to seven per cent of ash. 



In the seigniory of the Riviere Quelle, there is a peat-bog which 

 covers about 4000 acres ; and another one occurs in the seigniory of 

 Riviere du Loup, having a superficies of 6000 acres. Its breadth 

 on the Temiscouata road is a mile and a quarter, and its depth in 

 some parts has been ascertained to be eighteen feet. Peat is 

 found in abundance on the first and second concessions of the 

 seigniory of IleVerte; and from a point two miles below the 

 Rimouski, there is a belt of peat-bog extending nearly all the way 

 to the M^tis River, a length of over twenty miles. Its distance 

 from the St. Lawrence is from a quarter to half a mile, and its 

 breadth from a quarter of a mile to a mile. The depth of the 

 deposit, where observed, was from one to six feet. To the east of 

 the Rimouski River, there is a peat-bog, which has a length of 

 three or four miles, in the townships of Duquesne and Macpes ; 

 with a breadth of about three quarters of a mile, and a thickness 



