268 PLANT LIFE. 



little of either potash or phosphorus. In its natural 

 state it is one of the worst soils known and very few 

 plants are able to develop upon it. Of those few, all 

 seem to possess a mycorhiza or fungus-servant. The 

 Sundews {Drosei^a) and Bladderworts ( Utricular id) obtain 

 most of their nitrogenous food from the insects which 

 they catch. 



If peat is dried and broken up so that air and light 

 can reach the fragments, then the humous substances 

 vanish ; the carbon becomes carbonic acid, the nitro- 

 gen becomes nitric acid, and the soil becomes a 

 valuable and useful material. Orchids, for instance, 

 are always grown on peat. The drying is, however, 

 very difficult, as the substance is peculiarly porous 

 (about 40 per cent, only of a cubic foot of peat is 

 solid matter. The rest of the volume is made up of 

 pores, in which the water is strongly held). (See also 

 p. 117.) 



There are several methods of reclaiming a peat moss. 

 Generally it is first drained, and then, after sand and 

 manure have been applied, grass seeds can be sown upon 

 it. It is even possible to grow pine-trees upon drained 

 peat-mosses. Sometimes the upper layers are burnt 

 and treated with lime or estuarine mud, so that a new 

 surface is prepared. Near Glasgow a great deal of 

 useless peatbog has been brought under cultivation, and 

 made to produce excellent crops by covering the surface 

 with the town refuse. 



Many attempts have been made to utilise peat. It 

 is still a common fuel in many parts of Scotland and 

 Ireland, but cannot compare with coal at present prices. 

 Large quantities are imported from Holland as peat- 

 moss litter, although there is plenty of material in this 

 country. Horse-rugs, paper, mats, brushes, and even 



