ON HARVESTING SOILS AND COMPOSTS. 527 



texture and fibry, the upper surface covered with dwarf heath, and the under 

 surface resting on sand. This will generally be found in upland situations. 

 This, when brought home, should be carefully looked over, divesting the upper 

 surface of all rough herbage, and the lower of every particle of sand ; and 

 then placed in ridges, so that the air can act on all parts of it ; turning it 

 occasionally until the rains of autumn render it necessary to stack it. If not 

 wanted for use before the following summer, build some turf-pits with it, 

 which may be turned to good account for protecting lettuce or cauliflower- 

 plants, leaving the peat exposed to the action of the weather on all sides, 

 which will much improve its texture and mellow its properties. If not used 

 for that purpose, however, stack it in narrow ridges four feet in height, the 

 base three feet wide, and tapering to a single tui-f at the top, placing the 

 turves at short distances apart, so as to admit of the air percolating freely 

 among them, and run an air-drain longitudinally through the centre of the 

 stack, or introduce old pea-sticks between each alternate layer of j)Qa.t, so 

 that the surface-water may be canied away as it falls. 



1644. When peat is used without being prepared as described, the outer 

 surface should be charred. The turves should be cut into pieces three inches 

 wide, to allow every part to become equally heated. Loam prepared for 

 immediate use should be charred in the same way ; indeed, leaf-mould and 

 composts of all kinds will be materially benefitted, especially when intended 

 for raising small seed, so as to destroy the insects and vegetative power of 

 any seeds they may contain. 



1645. Charred cow-dung is an excUent manure for almost all purposes, and 

 by charring it, it is immediately fit for use. Take some old wood and build a 

 cone two or three feet high ; then procure some green cow-dung, and cover 

 the cone nine inches thick ; let it drain for a day or two ; cover it with weeds 

 or rubbish, and set fire to the wood, regulating the draught so as to prevent 

 the fire burning too fiercely ; and by the time the wood is consumed, you will 

 have a fine crust of charred cow-dung. To mix, when broken up, with com- 

 posts, or to place a few pieces at the bottom of the pots in which calceolarias, 

 pelargoniums, cinerarias, or pines or vines are grown, this will be found a 

 most excellent manure. 



1646. Grey or silver sand is an indispensable ingredient in all composts for 

 plant-culture. In its purest state, silica or sand is the dibris of quartz, or 

 rock-crj-stal, which is composed almost entirely of silica, hard sand being 

 the result of the disintegration and decomposition of rocks by the chemical 

 agency of the atmosphere, assisted by the mechanical powers of the winds, of 

 rain, and abrading waters. It varies much in its composition ; ooUtic rocks, 

 granite, hmestone, and red and green sandstone, all furnishing their quota. 

 As an impalpable powder, it occurs in all soils. In its chemical character 

 silica is an important constituent of organic life, being found, on analysis, in 

 most plants. Mixed with soda, and heated to redness in an iron ladle, silica 

 dissolves to a fused mass : if thrown into water, it will completely dissolve ; 



