PEAT SOILS. 



PEAT SOILS. 



growing broad-leaved bog-moss (Sphagnum la- 

 lifolium), a plant of very curious habits, whose 

 growth under favourable circumstances (and 

 it is strictly an aquatic) extends from an inch in 

 length to 2 or 3 feet. In dry situations, or in 

 those only periodically flooded, its progress is 

 not rapid ; but when it vegetates always im- 

 mersed in the water of low, stagnant situations, 

 there it increases with great vigour. It is true 

 that this plant is an annual; but it sheds an 

 abundance of hardy seeds, producing seed- 

 lings, which vegetate and easily support them- 

 selves in the water, with a slight assistance 

 from the mere remains of their preceding ge- 

 neration. Their thread-like stems remain on 

 the surface of the water till the seed is ripened; 

 they then fall to the bottom and form distinct 

 layers, which, in some specimens of peat, may 

 be distinctly traced. The bog-moss thus com- 

 menced, gradually gets mixed with a variety 

 of lichens, mosses, and scirpi, which annually 

 add to the depth of the accumulating peat ; and 

 as the moss becomes firmer, other plants gra- 

 dually establish themselves, such as several 

 varieties of the rushes and sedges. It is only 

 when the peat-moss is raised by the gradually- 

 accumulated remains of these peats from be- 

 neath the surface of the stagnant waters, that 

 the heaths, the cranberry, the bilberry, and the 

 grass- weeds make their appearance. The few 

 plants which commoi^y tenant peat moors and 

 bogs are of the most worthless kind, such as 

 all live-stock commonly refuse. Besides the 

 common heath-plants there are various rushes 

 (Jttwcus), sedges (Career), rush-grasses (Sch<z- 

 .<;), club-rushes (Cyperns), cats'-tail rushes 

 (Typha), bur-weeds (Sparganium), &c. 



Amongst the few specimens of the common 

 grasses which are found in such places, strug- 

 gling, as it were, for existence, are the marsh- 

 bent (Agrostis pahtslris), the awnless brown- 

 bent (dgrostis canina). This is a very common 

 grass in bogs whose winter waters are deep. 

 The awned creeping-bent (. stolonifera var. 

 aristata), the small-leaved creeping-bent (*A. 

 sto. iing."), the black couch-bent (Jl. repens), the 

 white bent (A. alba}, the flote fescue (Glyceria 

 jluitans), tall fescue (Festuca elatior), turfy hair- 

 grass (Aira ceespitosa), knee-jointed fox-tail 

 grass (dlopecurus geniculatus"), water hair-grass 

 (Jlira aquatica}, water meadow-grass (Poa aqua- 

 tica), long-leaved cotton-grass (Eriophorum poly- 

 stachion), and the sheathed cotton-grass (E. va- 

 ginatuni). 



It is of primary importance that the farmer 

 should clearly understand the chemical compo- 

 sition of the peat with which he has to con- 

 tend, and that of the watery solution with 

 which it is usually saturated. The common 

 varieties of peat, when dried by a moderate 

 heat, lose a very considerable portion of their 

 weight, and are materially reduced in bulk. 

 The dry mass consists chiefly of woody fibrous 

 remains of a dark-brown colour, of which a 

 very inconsiderable portion is soluble in water; 

 and even by exposure to the unassisted action 

 of the sun and air, under the most favourable 

 circumstances, it decomposes with extreme 

 slowness. When burnt to an ash, the solid 

 product thus obtained, varies commonly in its 

 composition with the nature of the stratum of 

 886 



earth on which the mass of peat rests. If this 

 is of a gravelly or argillaceous nature, the 

 ashes are generally composed chiefly of silex, 

 and a small portion of alumina, oxide of iron, 

 with some carbonate of lime and sulphate of 

 iron: if, however, the substratum immediately 

 under the peat is calcareous, then the ashes 

 commonly yield a considerably larger propor- 

 tion of carbonate of lime, the sulphate of iron 

 Careen vitriol) is absent, and the sulphate of 

 lime (gypsum) abounds in. its place. The cele- 

 brated Dutch ashes, which are productive of 

 such large crops of clover, are composed of 



Silicioug earth ------ 32' 



Sulphate of lirne (gypsum) 12 

 Sulphate and muriate of soda (Glauber 



salt and common salt) - ... 6 



Carbonate of lime ----- 40 



Oxide of iron ------ 3 



Loss -------- 7 



100 



The liquid with which peat is usually soaked 

 is also equally varying in its composition. It 

 almost always contains a very small portion 

 of brown vegetable extract, a quantity of the 

 red oxide of iron, and when pyrites (sulphur 

 and iron) are contained in the gravelly or 

 other substrata, these are gradually, by the 

 action of the water and the oxygen of the at- 

 mosphere, converted to sulphate of iron, which 

 dissolves, and is found in the water. When, 

 however, this solution comes in contact with 

 chalk or other calcareous matter, the lime de- 

 composes the green vitriol, the iron is precipi- 

 tated, and sulphate of lime, so enriching to 

 some of the artificial grasses, is very com- 

 monly found with red oxide of iron, dissolved 

 in the peat-water. 



The chemical composition of peat soils of 

 course varies in the proportion of their consti- 

 tuents. The following analysis of a specimen 

 of an entirely barren peat moss, in a perfectly 

 dry state, will give the farmer a tolerable idea 

 of their general composition : 



Fine silicious sand - - - - - 39 



Inert vegetable matter - 289 



Alumina -----__ 14 



Oxide of iron ------ 39 



Soluble vegetable matter, with some sul- 

 phate of potash 11 

 Sulphate of lime (gypsum) ... 12 

 Loss ---- ...is 



400 



Such is the composition of a barren peat 

 moss. The analysis of an active or fertile peat 

 moss, with which it will be well to compare it, 

 gave the following results, after being also dried 

 in a gentle heat : 



Fine silicions sand ----- 156 



Unalterable vegetable fibre - 2 



Decomposing vegetable matter - - 110 



Silica (flint) -._.__ j02 



Alumina (clay) ---.__ \Q 



Oxide of iron -.---__ 4 



Soluble vegetable and saline matter - 4 



Muriate of lime - - ... 4 



Loss ------- 2 



400 



Such is the usual chemical composition of 

 peat. This, however, is occasionally varied 



