1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



39 



have undergone these changes; and the vast ex- 

 tent of mosses of this description over Europe, 

 probably originated in this way. It were super- 

 fluous to enumerate instances of this. I shall 

 only specify two; the first is Low Modena, which 

 seems to have undergone all these changes; the 

 second is the bog of Monela in Ireland, which 

 seems to have been subjected to a similar succes- 

 sion. Ramazini describes the former; Carr, in 

 his 'Stranger in Ireland,' delineates the latter. 



' The stratification of the vicinity of Modena is 

 somewhat singular. " The surface of the valley if 

 now a rich arable field. At the depth of 14 feet 

 below this, it is said that the rubbish and ruins of 

 an ancient city were discovered. Paved streets, 

 and pieces of mosaic work were found at this 

 depth: below this the earth is solid, and seems not 

 to have been moved: lower down is a loose, moist 

 soil, mixed with vegetables; and, at the depth of 

 26 feet, entire trees, such as filberts, with nuts, 

 and a great quantity of branches and leaves, have 

 been dug up. At 28 feet deep, a stratum of soft 

 chalk, mixed with shells, was discovered. This 

 stratum is 11 feet thick. Below this, at the depth 

 of 40 or 50 feet, there is to be found the soil of a 

 low marshy country, full of sedge, reeds, shrubs, 

 roots of trees, nuts, ears of corn, leav'es of trees, 

 branches, and boughs." He even describes the 

 species of wood. He says, that oak, elm, walnut, 

 ash, and willow may be distinguished. "Some of 

 these trees are broken down, others stand still up- 

 right as they grew. Among these are found old 

 Roman coins, marbles, stones squared and cut by 

 the hands of men. Each tree is found on the soil 

 most adapted to its production. The fir roots are 

 fastened in the sand, the oak in the clay.*' 



'The whole of this valley, he says, was a lake 

 in the reign of Julius Caesar. The surface is now 

 drained and consolidated, and converted into ara- 

 ble land. 



'It seems obvious to me, that this valley has 

 undergone all the changes above described; atone 

 period it has probably been arable land; hence the 

 ears of corn, &c. which have been discovered: 

 subsequent to this, it seems to have been over- 

 grown with wood; hence, the trunks and roots of 

 trees: this wood seems afterwards to have been 

 converted into a morass; hence the sedges and 

 reeds, &c. which are found: this morass seems to 

 have been after this consolidated by alluvion; 

 hence the stratum of soft chalk and shells. 



' Above this, another generation of a forest 

 seems to have sprung up; hence the other tier ol 

 branches and leaves of trees. This second gene- 

 ration seems to have undergone the same fate 

 with the first; the moist soil mixed with vegeta- 

 bles above it, seems to be the remains of the 

 marshy plants that must have sprung up after 

 this forest was also converted into a morass. 



'This morass seems again to have been con- 

 solidated, probably by alluvion; hence the stratum 

 of solid earth: on this the city seems to have been 

 built; hence the paved streets, &c. : the 14 feet 

 above this seems to have been formed after the 

 city was overwhelmed with some inundation. 



' Whether the lake that existed on the spot at 

 the age of Julius Crcsar was thus formed, it is im- 

 possible to decide. If so, however, the 14 feet of 

 solid soil above this city, must have been formed 

 since that period. 



' That many low lying valle.s in different jiarls 



of the world have undergone similar changes, is 

 not only probable but certain. The mosses of 

 Ireland exhibit similar proofs of this: in diggino- 

 deep into these, recumbent forests upon forests are 

 found, with a layer of earth between. 



' This leads me to notice the other instance 

 mentioned by Carr, in his 'Stranger in Ireland:' 

 He says, "that the bog of Monela is not far from 

 the bog of Allan: stumps of trees are still visible 

 on the surface of the former; under these lies a 

 stratum of turf 10 or 15 feet deep: under this, a 

 tier of prostrate trees is discovered; beneath these 

 another stratum of earth is found of considerable 

 depth: and below this a great number of stumps 

 of trees are found, standing erect as they grew. 

 Thus, there is a succession of three distinct fo- 

 rests lying in ruins, one above the other." 



'He says, "Some of these mosses have been 

 perforated deeper than 50 feet: at the bottom of 

 many of them, he observes, arable land has been 

 discovered, bearing the marks of the plough, and 

 formed into regular ridges." 



'These fragments of the natural history of 

 mosses, may furnish us with some faint ideas of 

 their origin and formation. If we were to dis- 

 cover the hulk of a ship, or even a few beams, 

 sunk in the ocean, we would be at no loss to say, 

 that these were the remains of a wreck. The size 

 of these beams might easily lead us to distinguish 

 between the wreck of a frigate and a first-rate 

 man of war. The state of preservation in which 

 these are found, might give us some idea of the 

 period at which the wreck happened. 



' It is precisely so in examining the history and 

 origin of peat mosses. The ruined forests found 

 in these leave us no doubt that they have been 

 partly formed of the wrecks of these. The size 

 and species of trees lead us to conclude whaJ 

 must have been the age of the forest when it fell 

 into ruins. The state of preservation of these 

 trees, and the depth of soil formed above them^ 

 may give us some faint idea of the period at 

 which they fell. The remains of aquatic plants, 

 reeds, and rushes, &c. found above them, give us 

 likewise an idea of the cause of their ruin; and 

 the stratification of the soil exhibits a view of the 

 changes it has under£rone in the Inpse of awes.' 



In these essays, Mr. Rennie has only emleavor- 

 ed to ascertain the nuuerials of which moss is 

 composed, and to show how those materials have 

 been accumulated together. But he promises, at 

 an early period, to lay before the public a series of 

 other essays, respecting the uses to vvhiclt moss 

 may be applied; a subject certainly deserving of 

 ihe most sedulous investigation. If these fuTure 

 essays are written with the like spirit as animate 

 those before us; if they are executed with similar 

 judgment, and directed by practice, not by theo- 

 retical speculation, then we may expect to "receive 

 more satisfactory information about the nature and 

 properties of moss, and the economical purposes 

 to which it may be applieil, than has hitherto been 

 communicated by any other writer. N. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



LEGISLATION FOR AGRICULTURE. 



The wiinle attenfiori of nur legislative assem- 

 blies, both Plate and lederal, is taken up (o the 

 entire exclusion of the agricultural interest of the 



