PEAT. 



immediate, and, so far, lasting. The effects of 

 this spent ashes alone on sandy loam, are ex- 

 cellent ; it makes the whole quite ' salvy.' " 



"In the preparation of manure," says Dr. 

 Dana, "price is every thins:. Let the cost be 

 estimated per cord, of artificial manure, pre- 

 pared in the proportions stated. Peat or muck 

 may be called worth 50 cents per cord, and the 

 labour of digging, say $1. 



$1 50 



92 Ibs. potash, 6 cents - 5 52*] 

 or 61 " soda ash, or white I average of \ , fis 



ash, 4 cents - - 2 44 f alkalies j 

 or 24 bush, ashes, 12} cents 3 00 j 



3)10 96 

 365 



*5 15 





"Were they really good hard wood-ashes, 

 about 16 bushels would be sufficient, but an 

 excess here is allowed, to compensate for va- 

 riation in quality. But this may appear a very 

 high price ; but it is to be remembered, that its 

 value is to be compared with that of a cord of 

 clear cow dung. What is the value of cow 

 dungl It appears from the barn account of 

 the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, that 

 for 9 years, ending October, 1838, a bushel of 

 clear cow dung costs 21 cents. During the 

 same time dung of inferior quality was de- 

 livered at the printworks, by the neighbouring 

 farmers, at 20 cents per bushel. Clear dung 

 is delivered at the printworks in Dover at 12$ 

 cents per bushel, and at several of the print- 

 works in Rhode Island, at 16 cents per bushel, 

 giving an average of 17-45 cents per bushel, 

 and as a cord contains, in round numbers, 100 

 bushels, its price is $17 45 



Deduct from this the price of an 



artificial cord, 5 15 



$12 30 



" It is hence evident that an artificial cord is 

 only about one-third of the price of a natural 

 cord, and if the last may be mixed with two 

 parts of loam or swamp-muck, so may the first, 

 which will reduce the price of a cord of artifi- 

 cial manure to $2 71. Now this is equal, ac- 

 cording to all experience, cord for cord, to stable 

 manure ; the value of that may be estimated 

 at $5, so that an artificial cord costs only about 

 one-half. The best plan for preparing the ar 

 tificial manure, would be to dig the peat or 

 swamp-muck in the fall ; in the spring of the 

 year let this be mixed in the proportion of 30 

 Ibs. of potash, 20 Ibs. of soda ash, or 8 bushels 

 of common house-ashes, to every cord of fresh- 

 dug peat, estimating this by the pit dug out, 

 and allowing nothing in the spring for shrink- 

 ing. If ashes are used, they may be mixed in 

 at once with the muck, but if soda ash or pot- 

 ashes are used, they must be dissolved in water 

 and the pile evenly wet with the solution. The 

 pile is then to be well shovelled over, and used 

 as is other manure. But it has been found by 

 experience, that the peat may be dug in the 

 spring, immediately mixed with the alkali, and 

 used forthwith. If spent ashes are used to 

 prepare this muck, add one cord of spent ashes 

 to three cords of peat or swamp muck. 



" There are other sources of alkali, for con- 

 verting peat into soluble manure. Of these the 



PEAT SOILS. 



chief is animal matter. Here -we have am- 

 monia produced. It has been actually proved 

 by experiment, that a dead horse can convert 

 20 tons of peat into a valuable manure, richer 

 and more lasting than stable dung; a barrel 

 of alewives is equal to a wagon load of peat. 

 The next great and prolific source of ammo- 

 nia is the urine. The urine of one cow for a 

 winter, mixed up, as it is daily collected, with 

 peat, is sufficient to manure half an acre of 

 land with 20 loads of manure of the best qua- 

 lity, while her solid evacuations and litter, for 

 the same period, afforded only 17 loads, whose 

 value was only about one-half that of the 

 former. 



"It need only be added in confirmation of 

 all that has been advanced, that those who have 

 had the prudence to fill their yards and hog- 

 pens with meadow-mud which has thus be- 

 come saturated with ammonia, have in no wise 

 lost their reward. If they have been satisfied 

 with their practice, perhaps they will be no less 

 firm in their belief of success, when science 

 offers them a reason for the faith that is in 

 them. (Muck Manual.) 



PEAT SOILS. The improvement of peat 

 soils is a subject of very considerable agricul 

 tural importance in England, where it involves 

 not only the permanent improvement of large 

 estates, but these peat soils include a very 

 large proportion of several counties in the 

 United Kingdom. 



The deep peat mosses, or bogs, which are 

 naturally the most difficult to bring into culti 

 vation, often extend to a depth of many feet, 

 contain but little earth, are usually tolerably 

 level, and consist of a mass of light vegetable 

 fibres. This peat, even in the midst of sum- 

 mer, is commonly saturated with water; at 

 other periods semi-fluid, and very often a trem- 

 bling, dangerous quagmire. Its soil, if I may 

 call it such, is usually of a dark brown, chang- 

 ing to a blackish colour when thoroughly dried 

 by a gentle heat. In this s^ate the peat is easily 

 inflammable, is commonly used for fuel, and 

 has been occasionally employed by the gas- 

 manufacturer, the lime-burner, the charcoal- 

 maker, and even the iron-smelter. 



The common masses of peat existing on the 

 earth's surface in England are the products of 

 the decay of the mosses, common heath-plants, 

 coarse grasses, and the sedges which often 

 accompany them. But the varieties of peat 

 are numerous, according to their age and situ- 

 ation. There are some of the peats which are 

 found beneath the soil, in the lower portions of 

 the valley of the Thames, which are evidently 

 the remains of considerable masses of under- 

 wood, and contain sulphate of iron. Many 

 others, dispersed over the coast of Essex and 

 in Ireland, abound with the remains of large 

 forest trees, and were most probably produced 

 by some great convulsion of the earth in a dis- 

 tant period. In the southern counties, except 

 in those of the banks of the Kennett and the 

 Thames, the depth of the peat has not often 

 exceeded a few inches; but in the places men- 

 tioned, and in those in the northern counties, 

 the depth generally extends to several feet. 



The formation of bog-moss is first com- 

 menced in very many instances by the rapid- 



885 



