METHODS OF HARVESTING PEAT. 725 



to these extreme forms, that it is cliflficult to characterise even a 

 few of them. They are frequeutl}^ distinguished by means of 

 the plants from which they are formed, such as heather-peat, 

 moss-peat, wood-peat, sedge-peat, &c., but no true standard of 

 quahty can thus be obtained, as each variety may represent peat 

 of every possible quality. The best way to judge of the latter is 

 to consider the degree of decomposition of the vegetable debris, 

 the degree of cohesiveness of the particles of peat and their 

 density. In this way, the following kinds of peat may be 

 distinguished : — 



(a) Amorphous or Black peat, a dark brown or blackish peat 

 with silky lustre on a clean-cut section, heavy, generally rich in 

 carbon, when dry breaking with a conchoidal fracture. This 

 peat is generally found in the deeper strata of a bog, and the 

 plants of which it is formed are scarcely recognisable. 



(b) Fibrous or Brown peat, of a loose, fungoidal structure, in 

 which the component plants, grass, moss, heather, &c., are 

 generally easily recognisable, it is usually of a lighter colour than 

 black peat (yellowish to dark brown), less heavy, more or less 

 carbonaceous, when dry does not crumble and usually occurs in 

 the upper strata of a bog. 



(c) Dredged peat, a more or less tenaceous black peaty mud, 

 forming the lowest layer in morasses, showing no visible 

 vegetable structure ; when dry, it has a peculiar lustre and is 

 heavy ; owing to its muddy character it is generally moulded into 

 various shapes. 



Between di-edged and black peat (the best kinds) and brown 

 peat, there are numerous intermediate varieties, the quality of 

 which is considerably modified by the amount of earthy admix- 

 ture they contain. This earthy matter consists partly of the 

 ash- constituents of the peat-forming plants, and is partly 

 introduced accidentally by inundations, &c. 



Section III. — Methods of Harvesting Peat. 



Before undertaking to work a peat-bog, a full estimate should 

 be prepared of its quality and its probable volume, in order to 

 determine Avhether the outlay of capital expended in removing 

 the peat will be covered by its value and that of the cleared 

 land. 



