NATURAL FERTILIZERS. 97 



and it has an area of fifteen or twenty acres. West of Perry Stream, on the same 

 line going west, there is another extensive bog ; and also northward, near the head of 

 the same stream, there are several. These are more or less occupied by shrubs and 

 trees. The laurel, Kalmia glatica, labrador tea, and the Ledum palustris, are common, 

 while here and there, from the sphagnous bed, rises a hackmatack or larch. Northward 

 of Second lake, towards Mt. Carmel, there is a very extensive swamp, but there are no 

 open bogs. Here, besides the laurel, the labrador tea, and the larch, we frequently 

 find the cedar and the alder. Half a mile south of the south bay of Connecticut lake 

 there are two small open bogs ; and on these cranberries are abunda'nt. These bogs, 

 like those north, seem to have been formed almost entirely from a species of moss 

 (sphagnum). The peat here is not more than six feet in depth, and for the most part 

 it seems to be composed of partially decomposed fragments of the moss. 



Organic acid produced by the vegetable matter, when long saturated in water, re- 

 moves from the subsoil of the bogs the oxides of iron and manganese, as well as lime 

 and other alkaline earths : hence the subsoil of bogs usually consists of bleached whit- 

 ish sand and clay of a very unproductive character. There are few exceptions to this, 

 in localities where the soil contains a very large proportion of Hme. On the other hand, 

 when the underlying rocks contain an iron sulphide, the sulphuric acid produced from 

 this mineral gives a still greater degree of acidity to the bog, while the iron is some- 

 times in too great quantity to be entirely removed. "The iron and manganese, re- 

 moved in the manner above mentioned, are deposited, usually, in rounded kernels at 

 the outlet of such bogs, or in the soils through which the water soaks, and become 

 partially exposed to the air. In this way small quantities of bog-iron ore and bog man- 

 ganese ore are formed in the vicinity of many swamps. All these facts respecting bogs 

 have their analogies on a large scale in our ancient rocks." "The bogs, when drained 

 and their surfaces dressed with sand or sand and lime, to supply the siliceous and calca- 

 reous matter in which they are deficient, are excellent soils, second only to dyke marshes 

 in their productiveness in hay and oats." There are many bogs in northern New Hamp- 

 shire that might in this way be reclaimed, as it is not improbable that in time the peat 

 from the swamps will be used as fuel and as a fertilizer. One of the most extensive 

 swamps in the state is in the south-east part of the Dartmouth College grant. The dis- 

 tance across this bog on the state line is 290 rods, and the distance east and west, in- 

 cluding the bogs on both sides of the Magalloway, is much greater. Along the Andros- 

 coggin there are several interesting peat deposits. One in Milan, just north of the 

 mouth of the Chickwolnepy, has in it many trunks of fallen trees, principally tamarack 

 (larch), nearly all of which are well preserved. In Shelburne, on the farm of Mr. Bur- 

 bank, is a peat swamp that has been partially reclaimed. 



The peat lands of Rochester, probably more than 150 acres in total amount, are well 

 seen from the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad. The deepest soundings 

 in these bogs, found by the raihoad survey, were a little more than 20 feet. Between 

 the village and the first crossing north is the most extensive single area. Here 50 to 60 

 acres, upon which the peat is 5 to 15 feet deep, situated on the east side of the railroad, 

 VOL. V. 13 



