240 CABBAGES, [PART II. 



Only, the peat should be cut out in the shape 

 of bricks, as much longer and bigger as you 

 find convenient, and set up to dry, in the same 

 way that bricks are set up to dry previous to 

 the burning. This is the only fuel for houses 

 in some parts of England. I myself was 

 nursed and brought up without ever seeing any 

 other sort of fire. The ashes used, in those 

 times, to be sold for four pence sterling a 

 bushel, and were frequently carried, after the 

 purchase, to a distance of ten miles, or more : 

 At this time, in my own neighbourhood, in 

 Hampshire, peat is burnt in large quantities 

 for the ashes, which are sold, L believe, as high 

 as sixpence sterling a bushel, and carried to a dis 

 tance even of twenty miles in some cases. 



211. Nevertheless it is certain, that these 

 ashes are not equally potent upon every sort of 

 soil. We do not use them much at Botley, 

 though upon the spot. They are carried away 

 to the higher and poorer lands, where they are 

 sown by hand upon clover and sain-foin. An 

 excellent farmer, in this Island, assures me, 

 that he has tried them in various ways, and 

 never found them to have effect. So say the 

 farmers near Botley. But, there is no harm in 

 making a trial. It is done with a mere nothing 

 of expence. A yard square in a garden fe 

 quite sufficient for the experiment. 



