370 



combination with the peat, and the gas generated in the process, as, on 

 being apphed to the soil, will promote the growth of plants. 



The late ingenious Lord Dundonald, our earliest writer on agricultural 

 chemistiy, was the first person who taught the method of preparing this 

 valuable compost, both cheaply and scientifically, in his useful work on 

 " The Connexion of Chemistry with Agriculture." From his residence 

 at one time, in the higher districts of Lanarkshire, where peat-moss 

 abounds, he had a better opportunity, than most of our chemists, of at- 

 tending to its effects. I shall therefore give his directions, which are 

 taken from real practice, in his own words. Lime-compost, he observes, 

 is prepared, " by mixing newly made, and completely slacked lime, with 

 about five or six times its weight of peat, which should be moderately 

 humid, and not in too dry a state. In this case, the heat generated will 

 be moderate, and never sufficient to convert the peat into carbonaceous 

 matter, or to throw off, in a state of fixable air, the acids therein con- 

 tained. The gases thus generated will be inflammable and phlogisti- 

 cated air, forming volatile alkali, which will combine, as it is formed, 

 with the oxygenated part of the peat, that remains unacted on by the 

 lime, applied for this especial purpose, in a small proportion. By this 

 mode of conducting the process, a soluble saline matter will be procu- 

 red, consisting of phosphat and oxalat of ammoniac, whose beneficial 

 effects on vegetation are already well known to the argriculturist." — 

 Pp. 109, 110. 



It appears, from what has been said above, that an ignorance of the 

 true nature of these ingredients, has probably disappointed the farmer, 

 not less than the planter, in the application of this excellent compound ; 

 which I can particularly recommend, either for a top-dressing for grass 

 grounds, or a valuable compost for the roots of trees. The proportion 

 of the lime to the peat-moss here given should be carefully observed : 

 and it would be a great improvement, in order to insure its full effect, 

 were the preparation to be made under cover^ in a shed or outhouse 

 dedicated to the purpose ; because a superabundance of rain, or too 

 great an exposure to the air, will prevent a due action of the lime upon 

 the peat. As is truly remarked by the ingenious nobleman above refer- 

 red to, the success of most operations, but more especially those of a 

 chemical nature, greatly depends on a sedulous observance of circum- 

 stances seemingly trivial ; and it is by the neglect of these, that the 

 most important objects dependent on them are generally defeated. 



I believe, there arc many gentlcniuu good planters, but ardent agri- 

 culturists, who, in perusing this essay, and perceiving what science 



