30 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



in digging a watercourse. An application was made, by the 

 tenant to the landlord, for an allowance for removing this shale, 

 which incumbered the land. The owner, upon examining the 

 spot, found around each heap a circle of dark green and luxu 

 riant grass, such as would have surrounded a heap of rich 

 manure, and observed that the frost was reducing the shale to 

 powder. These circumstances indicated a fertilizing property in 

 the substance, and he recommended to his tenant to apply it to 

 the land. The result of such an application was a heavy crop 

 of hay, and after-grass. 



I am mainly induced to quote this account for the sake of 

 showing the beneficial results often to be expected from experi 

 ment and observation. It is too frequently that we neglect valu 

 able resources within our reach, as this farmer, in truth, proposed 

 to remove and throw away that which proved a beneficial 

 manure ; and the casual glance of an eye accustomed to obser 

 vation perceived its valuable but hitherto unknown properties, 

 from the luxuriance of the growth of the grass around the edges 

 of the heaps. Mrs. Barbauld, in her admirable lessons for chil 

 dren, presents a striking contrast between two boys taking a 

 walk, one with his eyes open to see every object as he passed 

 along, and the other sauntering along, as it were, with his eyes 

 closed, without observing any thing. The moral of such a story 

 is quite obvious. It would be of use to many others than chil 

 dren, who might find the means of all sorts of improvement 

 constantly within their reach, if they would look after them, 

 where now every thing appears barren and hopeless, and not go 

 through the world with their eyes closed, or blind through stu 

 pidity or prejudice. 



XCIII. IMPROVEMENT OF PEAT LANDS. 



The improvement or redemption of peat lands is the topic 

 upon which I shall next treat. This subject essentially concerns 

 the farmers of the United States, as, in many parts of the country, 

 there are extensive tracts of peat land, now producing nothing 

 valuable, which might be made eminently productive, as advan- 



