PEA 



PEC 



occasional lining of fresh dung, as is 

 done with hot-beds in gardens, to re- 

 new the heat." The peat is carted 

 out during winter, while the ponds 

 are frozen ; it becomes much broken 

 during the season, and may be pre- 

 pared as recommended, or composted 

 with lime or ashes only, one bushel 

 to the single load of peat. 



" Where a great extent of peat 

 land renders the improvement of it 

 desirable, there are various ways in 

 which it may be reclaimed. In some 

 places the ]^eat has been removed, 

 and the loam which lay below it was 

 found of a very fertile nature. This 

 could only be done on the banks of 

 rivers, into which the peat was float- 

 ed by means of small canals dug 

 through it, and communicating with 

 the river. In all other cases the 

 mode adopted has been that of drain- 

 ing and consolidating. In draining a 

 peat moss the water must not be let 

 off too rapidly, for in that case the 

 surface may become so loose and dry 

 that no vegetation can take place in 

 it. If the water is drained off so as 

 to leave two feet of peat dry above 

 its level, this is all that is required 

 for a beginning. The best improve- 

 ment, and the most rapid, is produced 

 by bringing sand or gravel in suffi- 

 cient quantity to cover the surface 

 with two or three inches of it. This 

 will make a beginning of a soil, in 

 which potatoes may be planted. At 

 first the surface will not bear the 

 wheels of a cart nor the tread of a 

 horse ; but in a short time a solid 

 crust will be formed, which will in- 

 crease in strength and thickness as 

 cultivation advances. There are 

 many fine pastures in Scotland which 

 once were brown peat mosses, on 

 which it would have been dangerous 

 for a man to walk, but which now 

 bear heavy oxen, and seem as solid 

 as any pasture on a clay subsoil. Ma- 

 nuring and liming are the most ef- 

 fective operations in bringing about 

 this great improvement. Potatoes 

 and oats are usually the first crops 

 on reclaimed peat mosses. It is long 

 before they become capable of bear- 

 ing wheat ; nor is this crop to be rec- 

 B B B !2 



ommended at any time unless there 

 be a good depth of soil formed over 

 the peat. Laying down to grass as 

 soon as a certain degree of improve- 

 ment has been made, and depasturing 

 with sheep at first and cattle after- 

 ward, tend more than any other 

 means to consolidate the surface and 

 j deepen the mould, which gradually 

 increases by the decomposition of the 

 ; tannin in the peat 



I " A patent has been lately obtained 

 by Mr. Williams, managing director 

 ' of the Dublin Steam Navigation Com- 

 pany, for compressing peat into a 

 dense mass, so as to resemble coal. 

 It is said to be superior to coal in its 

 properties of producing heat l)y com- 

 bustion, forming an excellent char- 

 coal, or coke. It is asserted thai this 

 charcoal is much more combustible 

 than that of wood, and very useful in 

 I the manufacture of fireworks. Mr. 

 I Williams has found that with 10 cwts. 

 of pit coal and 2^ cwts. of this facti- 

 : tious coal, the same quantity of steam 

 can be generated as with 17^ cwts. 

 of pit coal alone. 



" The process is as follows : Im- 

 mediately after being dug it is tritu- 

 rated under revolving edge-wheels 

 faced witli iron plates perforated all 

 over the surface, and is forced by the 

 pressure through these apertures, till 

 it becomes a species of pap, which is 

 freed from the greater part of its 

 moisture by a hydraulic press. It is 

 then dried, and converted into coke 

 in the same manner as is done with 

 pit coal. The factitious coal of Mr. 

 Williams is made by incorporating 

 pitch or rosin melted in a caldron 

 with as much of the peat charcoal 

 ground to powder as will form a tough 

 doughy mass, which is then moulded 

 into bricks." — {W. L. Eham.) 



The aslics of peat are often termed 

 Dutch ashes : they vary much in com- 

 position, as they are taken from a 

 calcareous or clayey soil, but are 

 usually deficient in potash and soda, 

 except in salt marshes. 



PECK. A dry measure of two 

 gallons ; a quarter of a bushel. 

 PECOllA. The Ruminanlia. 

 PECTIN. The jelly of iVuits, roots, 



5G9 



