1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



745 



known, that any description ol it here would be 

 euperfiunu?. 



Timothy grass, (phleiim pratensis) has been 

 tried by Huiih Jlainilton, esq, of Pinmore, on a 

 piece of' mot.-s or deep damp {.Tound, near Bellois- ! 

 Jie Houf?e, in the vicinity of Ayr, and lurned out a ! 

 weighty and vaUiable crop. VViiliatn Parker, 

 esq. of Asioss, sowed some part of Riccarton mo?s 

 in Ayrshire, which he had unproved, with timo- 

 tiiy grass seeds, which produced the most ample 

 return; and though it Avas allowed to ripen the 

 seeds, the hay was preferred b}' his horses to rye- 

 grass hay. Captain Dunlop found it to do well on 

 Shoalton moss, near Aucliens House. 



foxtail, (alopecurus pratensis), and cats-tail 

 (phleum iiodosinn), both native irrasses, found in 

 great abundance in all parts of Scotland, seem to 

 be well adapted to a moss soil. 



Clover and ryegrass have grown well on itn- 

 proved moss. 1 have seen the most luxuriant 

 crops of both, on Paisley, and some other mosses. 

 Mr. Bell has sometimes sold his crops of clover 

 and ryegrass, growing on Paisley moss, at Is. 6c?., 

 2s. and sometimes as high as 2s. 6d. per fall. And 

 Mr. Tart, overseer to John Wilkinson, esq. of 

 Castle-head, pointed out to me a field of improved 

 moss, of great depth; the crop of ryeurnss and 

 clover thereon, in the precedinir year (1S06), he 

 had sold at 10/. per acre. liihgrass (plantago 

 lanceolata) has been often i«own on improved 

 mosses at Hartfield, and found to grow well. 



Though I never saw the experiments made, I 

 am of opinion that couch-grass (Jriticum repens,) 

 would grow well, and yield a valuable crop on 

 moss. It is no doubt a weed in gardens, and cul- 

 tivated land; but rye-gras?:, or even oats or wheat 

 would be also a weed among onions or garden 

 plants; oats is a weed among near, &c. Every 

 plant is a weed when it is not in its proper place. 

 The foliage of this grass is bulky; it is relished 

 by cattle, and makes a weight}' crop of the best 

 hay. Its seeds are as easily coliet-ted as those of 

 any other grass; audits couchy roots would soon 

 extend themselves over the moss. 



If the httle patches of moss, lying amons, or 

 near to, our arable field, in the hiuher districts, 

 between the moor and dale, were only dug up, re- 

 duced to proper f^irm, some lime or rlay put on, 

 and either the seeds of couch-grass sown, or its 

 roots strewed over the moss, it would rise in place 

 of the heather and fogs now growing. Alter it 

 has swarded over the black face of the moss, it 

 would form a subject for a new dressing of hot 

 lime to act upon; and which, when brought under 

 putrefaction by it, would prove the richest food of 

 a future crop of grain, rools, or better grasses. 

 I have not made due experiment myself of the 

 florin grass (agrostis stnlonifera) to enable me 

 to speak from my own knowledire. But, from llie 

 accounts given by many different people, well 

 qualified to appreciate its merits, it. appears that 

 this grass is well adapted to a cultivated moss 

 soil. 



Hemp and flax have been found to grow well 

 upon moss. The long tape-roots of the former, 

 sink deep into the soil, and secure the [)lant from 

 the injuries, which grain crops sustain by drought; 

 and the bulky foliage of both, would overshadow 

 the ground, and rot the soil. I saw some hemp. 

 of a promising appearance, growing Chatt moss, 

 a kw miles fi-om Manchester, improving bv Wil- 



liam Roscoe, eeq. of Liverpool; and the best flax 

 ever seen in that part of the couiury, was raised 

 on flow moss, by Mr. Sohn James, on the estate 

 of Springkcll, Dumfnesslnre. The rotations ad;ipt- 

 ed to bent moss, as mentioned above, are also the 

 most proper for cultivated flow moss. 



IJelbre I cpuclude this paper, I beg leave to men- 

 tion, that though moss culture has hitherio been 

 laughed at, or treated as a whim, by the general- 

 ity, even of intelligent farmers; yet it no longer 

 rests oh mere theory, but has been carried into ef- 

 fect, in so many instances, in diflerent parts of 

 Scotland and England, and with such success, 

 that it may now be held as an inconfrovertable 

 reality: and those who first set the example, or 

 recommended tl;e practice of moss culture, may 

 now safely laugh, in their turn, at those who for- 

 merly sneered at their theories. Improvements 

 in airricullure began, as thej' ought, and might 

 have been ex[)ected, not on the moors and mosses, 

 but in the more arable districts; while the mosses 

 were considered as irrecoverable wastes. The 

 great rise in the prices of" all sorts of cattle, and of 

 their produce, enriched the occupiers of waste 

 land, and made them not only careless about 

 breaking them up, but induced many to allow 

 land, that had formerly been under grain crops, to 

 return to the condition of waste. Industry was 

 confined to the arable dicfricts; and indolonce, 

 like a certain people of old, was driven to the hill- 

 country; where it still generally operates so pow- 

 erfully, that few store-famers can keep in good 

 temper, if you only hmi to them that any part of 

 the extensive wastes which they occupy, are ca- 

 pable of being reclaimed; or ol" supporting an)' 

 other species of stock, or adapted to any mode of 

 culture, different f"rom that which they have hith- 

 erto pursued. To talk of" raising grain, from deep 

 flow moss, cannot fail to excite their contempt. 

 Even when you point out the crops raised on 

 such land; having no other refuge, they will tell 

 you, that nothing of" that kind could be done 

 on any part of" the mosses on tlie farms which 

 they possess. 



To attempt to argue with the ignorant, indo- 

 lent, and prejudiced, would be to very little pur- 

 pose. One instance of successful practice, is bet- 

 ter than a volume of the best formed theory. 

 Ten or fifteen bolls of good grain, raised in one 

 season, from one acre of moss, will speak home 

 to the pockets of the occupiers of such land, where 

 their feelings are as strong as those ol other men, 

 and have more weight llian all the theory that 

 can he advanced. It is much better to show 

 what has actually been accomplished, than to 

 talk of what an ardent mind may think practica- 

 ble. The one is only speculation; the other is re- 

 ality. I shall therefore mention a few instances, 

 among many more that I liave seen, and detail- 

 ed, in my last publication, of" the profits arising 

 from the cultivation of moss, in hopes that it may 

 excite many others, who occupy that species of 

 soil, still in a state of neglected waste, to follow 

 such laudable examples. 



Strathaven moss, Ijanarkshire, extending to 

 200 acres, much of it f"roni ten to sixteen feet in 

 depth, was, in the recollection of" some people 

 still alive, set \'ov half -a-cr own per annam. After 

 part of it had been improved, the rest, which had 

 not been broken up, set at lOs. per acre, on leases 

 ol" twelve or fifteen years, the first year rent-free; 



