THE CHEMISTRY OF BOG RECLAMATION". 199 



With north-east winds, the barometer ceases to rise and be- 

 gins to fall. 



In the Northern Hemisphere the thermometer rises with 

 east, south-east, and south winds ; with a south-west wind it 

 ceases to rise and begins to fall ; it falls with west, north-west, 

 and north winds ; and with a north-east wind it ceases to fall 

 and begins to rise. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF BOG RECLAMATION 



THE mode of proceeding for the reclamation of bog-land at 

 Kylemore is first to remove the excess of water by ** the big 

 drain and the secondary drains," which must be cut deep 

 enough to go right down to the gravel below. These are sup- 

 plemented by the " sheep-drains," or surface-drains, which 

 are about twenty inches wide at top, and narrow downward to 

 six inches at bottom. They run parallel to each other, with a 

 space of about ten yards between, and cost one penny per six 

 yards. 



This first step having been made, the bog is left for two 

 years, during which it drains, consolidates, and sinks some- 

 what. If the bog is deep, the turf, which has now become 

 valuable by consolidation, should be cut. 



After this it is left about two years longer, with the drains 

 still open. Then the drains are cleared and deepened, and a 

 wedge-shaped sod, too wide to reach the bottom, is rammed in 

 so as to leave below it a permanent tubular covered drain, 

 which is thus made without the aid of any tiles or other outside 

 material. The drainage is now completed, and the surface 

 prepared for the important operation of dressing with lime, 

 which, as the people expressively say, " boils the bog," and 

 converts it into a soil suitable for direct agricultural operations. 



Potatoes and turnips may now be set in ** lazy bed " ridges. 

 Mr. Mitchell Henry says, ** Good herbage will grow on the bog 

 thus treated ; but as much as possible should at once be put 

 into root-crops, with farm-yard manure for potatoes and tur- 

 nips. The more lime you give the better will be your crop ; 

 and treated thus there is no doubt that even during the first 



