180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DEC. 13, 1«^T. 



(From the Nanlucket Inquirer.) 1 



PEAT. 



Mr Jenks: As Peat is so extensively difiusea 

 ovfi- our Island, and so mii<-h used as an aitic-le 

 foi- fnel, I tlionglit the (cw facts I have conected 

 concerning it, might not he uninteresting to a [tor- 

 tion of your readers. 



Peat is of vegetahle origin, and is formed in 

 cold, moist situations, where vegetables tnay be 

 decomposed witliout putrefaction. Hence, in the 

 torrid zone it is never found ; but as we advance 

 north it occurs, and on the borders of frigid re- 

 gions, it is found in great abundance ; a cold, liu- 

 mid atmosphere being peculiarly favoiahle to its 

 generation. 



Peat is composed of aquatic plants, such as 

 reeds, rushes, etc., but a species of moss (Sphag- 

 num plaustre) is generally found more abundant 

 than any of the former class; it having the prop- 

 erty of sprouting, and continuing to grow, while 

 its roots are decaying. 



In some peat, (as is the case with our own,) 

 plants are foun^-l with their organization so dis- 

 tinct, that we can even determine their species. — 

 As is said in one of the Bridgewater Treatises, 

 "that we may almost seize na.ure in the fact of 

 making coal l)efore the process is completed," so 

 it may he said in regard to peat ; from the rude 

 fragments of (indecomposed plants, we trace the 

 process to perfectly formed jieat, where a complete 

 decomposition has taken place; and from thence, 

 we come to anthracite. 



There is, however, a striking difference be- 

 tween the periods in which the vegetable depo- 

 sitions that form antbiacite and peat took place. 

 Geologists agree in assigning the epoch to be 

 nntedihivian, jn which the vegetable deposits that 

 form coal, were made ; and they also conclude 

 iliat the temperature of the earth was inuch liigh- 

 •er than at present ; for fossil ferns are found in 

 coal formations, of the astonishing length of fifty 

 feet and other plants that bear the same ratio.' — 

 JVoiv pluiilB of this species in the torrid zone fire 

 found to approach this .size nt the preseut time ; 

 but coal is found in the temperate and frigid 

 zones, — consequently, we are led to suppose that 

 a higher temperature once existed in those vn- 



But peat is of recent origin, as may b>; shown 

 by the following facts. In Hatfield, England, as 

 in many other places in Great Britain, Roman 

 roads have been discovered eight feet below the 

 peat ; and their arms, axes, coins, etc., have been 

 found in the fame situation, showing that these 

 peat-bog.s have been formed since the invasion of 

 Cffisar. Nor can any traces of the great forests, 

 spoken of by this General in his Commentaries, 

 be discovered, except by their fragments, which 

 are found in peat. And De Lue has ascertained 

 that the very positions of the forests spoken of by 

 CiBsar, viz: Hercinia, Semana, Ardenes, and oth- 

 ers, are now occupied by peat bogs. 



As orders were given liy Servius and other Ro- 

 man Emperors to destroy all the forests in the 

 conquered provinces, it is evident why the rem- 

 nants of these once majestic tracts arc found im- 

 bedded in peat: for when they were prostrated, 

 their trunks, limbs, and leaves would check a 

 free drainage of the water falling from the atmos- 

 phere, and also prevent in some measure its e^vap- 



oration. Consequently a decomposition of th., 

 foliage and branches of the trees would commence, 



aquatic plants would spring up, and decaying add 

 to the mass which is found in time completely to 

 envelope the ])ristine forests. 



An occurrence of the recent formation of peat 

 took place in Ross-shire, Eng. During a violent 

 storm a forest was overthrown, and in fifty years 

 the people dug peat, from a mass occasioned by 

 this overthrow. 



On examining some of the peat formations 

 which are so extensively scattered over our island, 

 we have observed large stumps, trunks and limbs 

 of trees completely immured in peat. There seems 

 to have been a deposition of shrubs, flags, and 

 other plants, which we find but partially decom- 

 posed. 



After this formation had taken place, forests 

 sprang up, which have been cut down, probably 

 within a century, and their fragments have aided 

 in forming our (leat-hogs, which are now discov- 

 ered from one to fourteen feet in depth. Without 

 doubt, most of our peat formations have taken 

 place since the pristine forests were destroyed, 

 and are comparatively of recent origin. We will 

 fuither state what seems a curious, but is a well 

 ascertaine.l fact, that not only here, but wherever 

 else peat is discovered, it is generally found to 

 occupy the position of ancient forests. For, in 

 ifost bogs, stumps and trunks of trees are fomid 

 surrounded by peat, while their roots remain in 

 their natural position, immured in clay, or some 

 other soil. 



In some countries, peat mosses are found ef 

 great extent. One mentioned by Dr Boate on the 

 Shannon, was 50 miles long; and Blavier speaks 

 of one at the mouth of the Loire, more than fifty 

 leagues in circumference. 



The texture of peat is such that it absorbs large 

 quantities of water, and it has often happened, 

 when bogs were very much swollen, that they 

 have burst and deluged the surrounding country 

 with their contents. We are informed by Deguer 

 that the remains of ships, nautical instruments, 

 and oars have been found in many of the Dutch 

 mosses ; and Gerard, in his history of the valley 

 of Somme, mentions that in the lowest tier of that 

 moss, a Soal was found loaded with bricks, prov- 

 ing that these morasses were at one period, navi- 

 gable lakes, and arms of the sea, as were also ma- 

 ny on the Coast of Picardy, Ireland and Fries- 

 land, from which soda and salt are jirocured. — 

 The canoes, stone hatchets, and stone arrow heads 

 found in peat in different parts of Great Britain, 

 lead to similar conclusions. 



One tnore fact in relation to peat is worthy of 

 our notice. It is the preservation of animal sub- 

 stances which have been buried in it. A great 

 many instances are recorded which go to prove 

 this property ; a few however, will only he men- 

 tioned. 



"In June 1747, the body of a woman was found 

 six feet ilcep, in a peat-moor in the isle of Ax- 

 holm, in Lincolnshire, England. The antique 

 sandals on her feet afforded evidence of her hav- 

 ing been !>nried for many ages ; yet her nails, hair 

 and skin are described as having shown haidly 

 any marks of decay. In the Philosophical trans- 

 actions, we find an example recorded of the bod- 

 ies of two persons having been buried in moist 

 peat, in Derbyshire, in 1674, about a yard deep, 

 which were examined twentyeight years and nine 

 months afterwards,— the color of their skin was 

 fair and natural, their flesh soft as that of persons 

 newly dead." 



At the battle of Sol way, in the time of Henry i 

 VIII., (1542) when the Scotch army, eommandertt 

 by Oliver Sinclair, was routed, an unfortunate: 

 troop of horse, driven by their fears, plunged into. 

 Solway morass, which instantly closed over them. 

 The tale was iradiiionid, hut it is now authentica> 

 ted ; a man and horse in complete armor having 

 been found by peat diggers, in the place where it 

 was always supposed the event had happened. — 

 The skeleton of each was well ])reserved, and the 

 difllerent parts of the armor easily distinguished.- 

 Obs. on Picturesque Beauty. 



This peculiar property in pe?.t is probably ow. 

 in" to the acids, gums and resins, which issu« 

 from decayed vegetable matter ; and it may partly 

 arise from the charred state of some of the frag< 

 ments, for it is well known "that charcoal is i 

 powerful antiseptic." 



OXEN. 



The author of a series of valuable Essays oi 

 Agricultural and Rural affairs, published a fe\ 

 years since in North ("arolina, says, that next t 

 the recommendation of the most approved mode' 

 of culture, the best and cheapest means of efTectin» 

 it, deserve our attention, and lastly frugality i 

 the consumption of our produce. The introdu<' 

 tion of a more general use of oxen as substitute' 

 for horses in the cultivation of the earth, and tbi 

 other operations of liusb.nnilry, have high clairri 

 upon the attention of our farmers, as being attei- 

 ded with many advi.ntages. But there is in tin 

 country a strong prejudice against this generoi' 

 animal, which is the first thing to be got over- 

 when that is removed, the credit of the ox wi> 

 soon follow. 



It is a fact which cannot be disproved, that W 



en in some sort of work, are equal to horses ; 



these cases, they certainly ought to be preferrei 



because they are kept at considerably less expens* 



and less casualties attend them. Although ox* 



cannot well be used to the eptire exclusion of hd 



ses, yet there is undoubtedly, a great deal of wOK 



that they would do as well, particularly in carti<i 



and all heavy work. In most instances they a 



nearly equal to horses, and in their support thi 



are infinitely cheaper. Since fall and wint 



ploughing for the succeeding year's corn crop.a 



coming into general use, the value of oxen w 



be more highly appreciated ; as at this cool se 



son of the year they may be usefully employed 



the plough at fallowing up the land, or engagi 



in hauling in the corn crop, while the horses* 



at this work. The late President Madison, in oi 



of his annual addresses before the Agricultu)> 



Society of Albemarle, has some new and valual| 



remarks on oxen, which claim the particuhirl 



tention of every husbandman. 1 



"I cannot hut consider it as an error in oi 



husbandry, that oxen are too little used in t| 



place of horses. Every fair comi>arison of t 



expense of the two animals, favors a preference 



the ox. But the circumstance particularly recoi 



mending him, is, that he can he supported wb 



at work, by grass and hay ; while the liorse'i 



quires grain and much of it ; and the grain giSi 



erally given him, Indian corn, the crop whichi 



quires most labor, and greatly exhausts the !w 



From the best estimate I have been enabled' 



form, more than one half of the corn crop is o« 



sumed by horses ; including the ungrown ont 



and not less than one half by other than pleaSl 



