1 52 Cultivating and Improving Wastes. 



heath, and other coarse plants, and frequently encumbered 

 with stones. Such moors are seldom worth the expense of 

 cultivation, and from their height, are only calculated, either 

 for woods or pasturage. 



Moors, however, which are not placed in high or bleak 

 situations, and where the surface is close-swarded, or cover- 

 ed with plants, and where the subsoil is naturally, either 

 not altogether wet, or capable of being made sufficiently dry 

 at a moderate expense, may not only be reclaimed, but of- 

 ten can be highly improved. Indeed where such lands are 

 to be met with, they ought on no account to be suffered to 

 remain subject to commonable rights, and comparatively 

 useless to the country, as they are capable of being reclaim- 

 ed, and if allotted and inclosed, might be rendered highly 

 productive. 



3. Bogs, or peat-mosses, occupy no inconsiderable por- 

 tion of the surface of the British Isles ( 4 ). They are of two 

 sorts, one black and solid, the other spongy, containing a 

 great quantity of water, with a proportion of fibrous mate- 

 rials. 



Black mosses, though formerly considered irreclaimable, 

 are now found capable of great melioration. By cultivation, 

 they may be completely changed in their quality and appear- 

 ance ; and from a peaty become a soft vegetable earth, of 

 great fertility. They may be converted into pasture ; or, 

 after being thoroughly drained, thriving plantations may be 

 raised upon them; or, under judicious management, they 

 will produce crops of grain and roots ; or, they may be 

 formed into meadow land, of considerable value ( 5 ). 



Flow, fluid, or spongy mosses, abound in various parts of 

 the British Isles. Such mosses are sometimes from ten to 

 twenty feet deep, and even more, but the average may be 

 stated at from four to eight. In high situations, their im- 



O O ' 



provement is attended with so much expense, and the returns 

 are so scanty, that it is advisable to leave them in their ori- 

 ginal state; but where advantageously situated, it is now 

 proved, that they may be profitably converted into arable 

 land, or valuable meadow. If they are riot too high above 

 the level of the sea, arable crops may be successfully culti- 

 vated. Potatoes, and other green crops, where manure can 

 be obtained, may likewise be raised on them with advan- 

 tage(). 



Peat is certainly a production, capable of administering to 

 the support of many valuable kinds of plants. But to effect 

 this purpose, it must be reduced to such a state, either by 



