1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



43 



out more quickly lh« moi«tiire contained in the. 

 pponijy peat; tlie thicker, therefore, it is laitl on, 

 tile better. A tiiin sprinkliuii; of lime over it, will 

 Hiid to, its clFect, and CkUIsg white clover, and other 

 1 sweet ^Trasses, to spring up in greater abnn(iatice. 

 Tne most barren soil will have a sjood eO'ect, 

 when used in this manner; bnt, of all others, 

 limestone ixravel is p elerahle. Uy means of it, 

 many extensive boirs are improved in Ireland, 

 where it abonnds; but very little of it is lound 

 either in En<f!and or Scotland, which renders that 

 mode of injprovement impracticable. After the 

 jrround has been thus treated, and lain some years 

 in pasture, it may be broke up by tillage, and 

 crops of irrain taken, beHire beinir laid down with 

 grass-serd^. By plnu<rhinir it, part of the natural 

 soil will he turned up, and intimatelv mixed with 

 the earth, &c. that has been laid upon it; and, if 

 lime or dun^r is added, will altogether form a very 

 fertile mould. 



Such are the methods by which many boa;s 

 have been cultivated and improved afrer drairiiuii, 

 in several parts of the kinirdom, the success of 

 which is a sutH.'ient recommendaiion of the prac- 

 tice. But the^e hints are not to be considered a^ 

 tiie only means whereby this improvement can he 

 effected. There are. others equally beneficidl, and, 

 in many situations, equally applicable; by means 

 of which, there is no doubt that much boggy 

 ground, however barren in its natural state, may 

 soon be rendered hiixhly productive; but to enu- 

 merate these, would be unnecessary; for every 

 one who possesses irround of this descripiion will 

 be able to ascertain what mode of management is 

 best calculated for its situation, what crops he 

 wishes to raise, or what kinds of manure he has 

 in his power to apply. 



As no method yet practised for the improve- 

 ment of moss has e(|iialled, in produce and profit, 

 that so successfully introduced by Mr. Smith, of 

 Svvinridge-Muir, in Ayrshire, a short account of 

 the process, and residt therei'roni, may not be un- 

 acceptable to many readers. * 



The moss is of two different kinds — the black, 

 and the red or flow-moss. Both are are of" a con- 

 eiderable depth, from four to twelve feet; but the 

 first is reckoned more valuable, in several respects, 

 than the other. 



The first thing is, to mark out and cut proper 

 drains (taking advantage of the declivity), to draw 

 off the superfluous water, and to divide the moss 

 into separate small enclosures. These drains, or 

 ditches, are commonly eicfht ff-et wide at top, two 

 feet at bottom, and lour and a half leel deep, when 

 first cut; but as the moss afterwards subsides, 

 they become less; they cost -Id. per lineal yard. 

 After these have been cut, and the moss thrown 

 out has beei\ spread from the sides, and the hoi 

 lows filled up, the ridires are marked off, parallel 

 to the sides of the enclosure, twenty feet in breadth. 



*The author visited Swiiirid'^e-Muir, when the moss 

 ■was preparing for crop 17^3; and this account of the 

 process is Irom his own ob?.<^rvatioB. and partly from 

 what was communicatod to him at the time. He takrs 

 this opportnnitnnity of testifyin;; his regard for Mr. 

 Smith, who^e life, he has no doubt, has benn prolonged 

 by his draining and improving this iargje tract of nio.'5s, 

 in the centre of which he has nowattained the patriar- 

 chal age of eighty ! 



They are l()rmed by leaving a space of twenty 

 inches untouched in the middle of the ridge, and 

 turning up on each side of this a furrow witli the 

 spade, which is laid over the untouched space, so 

 ns to raise it to a proper height above the sides. 

 The whole breadth is then dug, by turning over, 

 with the spade, liirrow.s a loot in vviddi, which 

 has the appear.'.nce as if done by the plough. 

 The division-liuTou's are small drains about two 

 feet deep, and as wide, lor drawin<T cjff the sufter- 

 fluous moisture, and conveying it into the main 

 drains. The ridges must not be formed too high 

 nor too narrow, nor the fitrrow-drainscut too deep; 

 .otherwise the moss will lie left too dry, and con- 

 sequently prevent the action of the lime which re- 

 quires a certain degree of moisture to have a pro- 

 per effect. * The next thing is top-dressing \\\e 

 ridires with newly slacked, nr powdered lime, at the 

 rate of 500 Winchester bushels per acre, f t". e. 

 250 bushels of shell-lime. The moss is prepared 

 fiir the first crop early in the summer firecedincr; 

 in which time the lime, aided by the effect* of the 

 different seasons, has so far meliorated the soil 

 Ibr the reception of the seed. 



Potatoes planted in the lazy-bed way, ought al- 

 ways to be the first crop, when duuir can be got. f 

 ,The potatoe-beds are formed acrob:s theridtjes. 

 A thin layer of dunj^is then spread over the beds, 

 and the cuttinti^s laid about a foot asunder, and 

 covered (to the depth of a ((^w inches) with the 

 mould taken out of the trenches between the beds. 

 When the plants appear above ground, they get 

 another thin covering, by a second scouringof 

 the trenches; and they require no hoeing till thev 

 are taken up. The produce is never less than 

 forty or fifty bolls, of eiirht Winchester bushels, 

 and the quality excellent. When, the potatoe 

 crop is removed, the ridges are again formed in 

 the manner as before, and the division lurrovve 

 cleared out. 



In this state the ground remains till next spring, 

 when oats are sown and harrowed in wiih a small 

 harrow, drawn l)y men. The early oat is always 

 preferred for seed, the late seed running too nnich 

 to straw. The produce of the first two crops of 

 o:its is seldom less than ten bolls (of six Winches- 

 ter bushels) per acre, and that of the succeeding 

 crops, six or eight Itolls, and often more. Five or 

 six successive crops of oats are ofieti taken, with- 

 out receivinir anv additional manure, or exhaust- 

 in^r the stren<j;h of the moss. By this time its 

 nature has underijone a consideralile (diange, and 

 has now the appearance of a rich black niou'd, 

 and is sown down with grass-seeds. Ii is not so 

 favorable' to the growth of barley, which is never 

 sown before the first grass. When no dunor can 

 be had the first year, and oafs taken with lime 

 alone, the crop often misgives; which is a proof 

 that, without dung, and potatoes for the first crop, 

 it cannot be productive. The diffisrent kinds of 

 marl are well adapted, and many sometimes serve 

 as a substitute for lime; but dung is an insepara- 

 ble appendaire. After the process thus described 



* In very dry weather, this may be remedied, by 

 stopping the lower end of the drains, and retaining the 

 water; and if there is a command of any spring, or 

 higher water, it may be let into the main ditches;' but 

 too much moisture is likewise to be guarded against, 



+ Scotch; oqnal to one acre and one-Conrth English. 



J The q:iantity of dung is about eighteen or twenty 

 single-horse cartdoads to an acre. 



