VIIt] CULTIVATED LAND: CULTURE ASSOCIATIONS 213° 
UTILIZATION OF THE PEAT-Moors 
It has been stated elsewhere (Moss, 1904) that the Pennine 
peat-moors represent a valuable English asset which is turned 
to little account. Grouse (Lagopus scoticus) are driven and 
shot over them, it is true; but considering the enormous rents 
paid by tenants for good grouse moors, it is surprising that 
more attention is not paid to the better cultivation of the 
heather and the bilberry, as these plants are much better 
adapted to the habits of the grouse than the cotton-grasses. 
By suitable encouragement, the former plants could be made 
to occupy much of the land now occupied by the latter. 
Of late years, town and city corporations have utilized the 
peat-moors as gathering grounds for reservoirs (see figure 36) ; 
and thus an efficient water supply has been procured for the 
ever-growing manufacturing towns and villages which flank the 
Pennines. 
Whilst the moors themselves are uninhabited, and have 
been so throughout the historic period, there is, as has often 
been shown (see Moss, 1904), abundant evidence to prove that 
neolithic man tenanted the sites of the present moorlands before 
the accumulation of the peat. The inhabitants of the moor- 
edges, up to a comparatively few years ago, possessed turf-cutting 
rights; butsthese, in nearly all cases, seem to have been lost. 
This is remarkable, as there is fuel enough in the Pennine peat 
to last the hill-side population for a thousand years. In addition 
to the value of the peat as fuel, the various products which 
might be manufactured from the peat could be made to furnish 
a satisfactory revenue, as is proved by the experience in certain 
foreign countries, such as Sweden. Finally, if the peat were 
gradually removed and utilized, the surface thus laid bare 
would, in many places, become fit for successful reclamation 
or afforestation. 
