VIII] CULTIVATED LAND: CULTURE ASSOCIATIONS 213 



UTILIZATION OF THE PEAT-MOORS 



It has been stated elsewhere (Moss, 1904) that the Pennine 

 peat-moors represent a valuable English asset which is turned 

 to little account. Grouse (Lagopus scoticus) are driven and 

 shot over them, it is true ; but considering the enormous rents 

 paid by tenants for good grouse moors, it is surprising that 

 more attention is not paid to the better cultivation of the 

 heather and the bilberry, as these plants are much better 

 adapted to the habits of the grouse than the cotton-grasses. 

 By suitable encouragement, the former plants could be made 

 to occupy much of the land now occupied by the latter. 



Of late years, town and city corporations have utilized the 

 peat-moors as gathering grounds for reservoirs (see figure 36) ; 

 and thus an efficient water supply has been procured for the 

 ever-growing manufacturing towns and villages which flank the 

 Pennines. 



Whilst the moors themselves are uninhabited, and have 

 been so throughout the historic period, there is, as has often 

 been shown (see Moss, 1904), abundant evidence to prove that 

 neolithic man tenanted the sites of the present moorlands before 

 the accumulation of the peat. The inhabitants of the moor- 

 edges, up to a comparatively few years ago, possessed turf-cutting 

 rights ; but these, in nearly all cases, seem to have been lost. 

 This is remarkable, as there is fuel enough in the Pennine peat 

 to last the hill -side population for a thousand years. In addition 

 to the value of the peat as fuel, the various products which 

 might be manufactured from the peat could be made to furnish 

 a satisfactory revenue, as is proved by the experience in certain 

 foreign countries, such as Sweden. Finally, if the peat were 

 gradually removed and utilized, the surface thus laid bare 

 would, in many places, become fit for successful reclamation 

 or afforestation. 



