70 



Heath-farm. This lane, with the adjacent thicket, afibixls 

 good botanizing in spring, summer, or autumn ; and 

 should the plants disappoint the rambler, he will find the 

 picturesque Old Hut, an ancient forester's tower and 

 dwelling, with quaintly timbered walls and broad over- 

 hanging eaves, well worth a visit. 



Feat Mosses. — These Mosses occupy a large tract of 

 country to the north of Liverpool, extending from the 

 flats on the west of Kirkby far to the north-east, and, 

 mixed with patches of culLivated ground, reaching to 

 Upholland, or even almost to Wigan. The principal of 

 them are known by the names of Simon' s-wood Moss, 

 Rainford Moss, Windle Moss, &c. 



The beacon hill at Billinge stands as a bold headland, 

 jutting out into this vast plain ; similarly the Bidston 

 hill overlooks, and in fact divides, the Leasowe level. 



A tract of undulating or broken ground, part of which 

 is the St. Helens coal field, separates the Mosses we have 

 named from the Sutton and Bold Mosses ; and these 

 again have a similar boundary at Newton, intervening 

 between them and the very extensive moss district, a 

 part of which is known as Chat Moss. 



I do not mention all these as belonging to our district, 

 but merely to point out hoAv A'ery extensive is the chain 

 of turf-bogs to which our Liverpool mosses belong. 



The plants most characteristic of the pure peat moss 

 in this neighbourhood seem to be the Andromeda, Crow- 

 berry, Sweet Gale, and the Red-necked Fork-moss. 



Heaths. — The term Heath is often used synonymously 

 with Peat-moss. It may, however, perhaps more properly 

 indicate a peaty soil in a more exposed and elevated 

 position, such as we have on the Bidston, Grange, and 

 Heswall hills, where the rock generally approaches the 

 surface. The very pretty white and pink English Stone- 

 crop abounds on the heaths near the Dee. 



