44 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



neither peat nor moss as these are understood in 

 horticulture, and is entirely unsuited for the growth 

 of plants. It is imported in the form of bales, 

 which are broken up in the stables to be spread as 

 bedding in the stalls. When it becomes saturated 

 with urine and contains a considerable proportion 

 of horse -droppings, it is thrown into a heap to be 

 carted away. Compared with straw-made manure 

 this moss-litter is cheap, but is not looked upon with 

 favour by market gardeners. Its use at Kew has 

 been mainly as a top dressing for lawns and borders, 

 but only after it has been exposed to the air for 

 about six months and turned several times. It has 

 not been used for mixing with the soil, but this spring 

 some of the flower-beds were in error manured 

 with it. Its effect on the health and growth of the 

 plants which were afterwards put into these beds 

 for the summer was markedly deleterious. The 

 plants not only failed to start into growth, but many 

 of them weakened and died, and as this was evi- 

 dently due to the manure in the soil, in which the 

 plants were set, samples of the soil and manure were 

 submitted to Dr. J. A. Voelcker for analysis and 

 report." 



The text of Dr. Voelcker's report appears in the 

 Journal of the Board of Agriculture. He points out 

 that nothing in the analysis led him to suspect the 

 presence of disinfectants or deodorizers, nor were 

 there signs of any mineral acid or the like. He 

 notes that market gardeners refuse to use the moss- 

 litter manure until it has been kept for quite two 

 years. He states also: " I have come to the con- 



