s Sir John Sinclair's Account of Moss Improvements 



■whether inclosed for grass, or cultivated by the plough, (at least so far as it is 

 possible »o judge fioin their present appearance,) are in much the same state that 

 they probubly were a century ago. 



Mr. Wilkinson was originally led to think of acquiring any property in that 

 neighbourhood, with a view of making iron from the peat with which the country 

 so much abounded. But as that mode of manufacturing iron was attended with 

 great disadvantages, from the quantity of fuel required, and the difficulty of pro- 

 curing it in sufficient quantities, more especially in rainy seasons, he was thence led 

 to give up that attempt,* and to consider what other uses could be made of so 

 extensive a tract, in particular whether it could not be made capable of cultivation. 



Nature of the AIoss. — Nothing could be more discouraging than the general 

 nature of the moss he undertook to improve. It was what is called in Scotland, 

 " a flow moss." On an average, about 5 feet of it consists of a soft spongy light 

 kind of peat, which makes very weak and bad fuel. Below that stratum, the peat is 

 black, and of excellent quality. The depth of this second stratum is very great, in 

 many places 15 feet and even more. The bottom, where it can be got at, is a fine, 

 strong, blue clay, which is unfriendly to vegetation until it has been long exposed 

 to, and ameliorated by the atmosphere. Calcination in small heaps with peat, fits 

 it for a top dressing on grass lands, or this kind of clay, might be made very useful, 

 by ploughing it in, mixed with lime. In the moss, considerable quantities of old 

 trees are found, principally oak and fir, and often in such a state of preservation, 

 that they can be used for various purposes. They seem all to have been thrown 

 down by the force of some violent tempest, by a general or partial deluge, or by 

 some great convulsion of nature. 



The moss, in its original state, was so spongy, that since it was drained, it has 

 subsided considerably, and in some places has sunk from 3 to 4 feet. 



Original Value. — From this account of the nature of the moss, it can hardly be 

 said to have had any original value whatever, excepting for fuel. The liberty of 

 pasturing on such land, (which could only be done in frosty weather), has been 



* The idea of making iron with peat, ought not to be totally given up, as it may answer in 

 some places, where labour is chcnp, and the climate drier than Lancashire. Mr. Wilkinson tried 

 it in 1778, and found the metal was worth, for certain uses, from £j. to j[i^.. per ton more than 

 common iron ; but the expcnce of the fuel was so great, and the procuring of it in sufficient 

 quantities so uncertain, that he was oblijjed to abandon the scheme. 



