380 British Farmer's Magazine. ' 



lioned above, can have no effect ; or, if it had such effect, would be only 

 injurious. Moss earth is, like clay, so very compact and close in the pores, 

 that water cannot filter or percolate through it, even for a few inches. A 

 tank formed in solid moss will hold water like a cask ; and no species of 

 under-draining whatever will in the least dry the solid moss a single yard 

 from the drain. But if under-draining were to have the effect wished for 

 by these improvers, it would render the moss entirely useless as a pro- 

 ductive soil ; for whenever moss earth is, either by nature or by art, ren- 

 dered too dry, or drier than the furrows that have been mentioned above 

 would make it» such further dryness, instead of benefiting the moss, would 

 render it incapable of yielding grain or grass. To make moss productive, 

 it must be kept in a medium state, between wet and dry." 



Dr. Anderson had correct ideas as to the effect of drought on an im- 

 proved soil of moss. When Mr. Roscoe approved the TraiFord moss, he at 

 first cut very deep drains ; but, after having read Mr. Aiton's treatise, 

 changed his plan, and accomplished his object with less expense and in less 

 time, by cutting small drains, about a foot deep. Mr. Alton concludes : — 

 " With regard to draining moss, I repeat, that it must be relieved, as a 

 primary operation, of all stagnant water. That may be done to good pur- 

 pose by opening drains, or water-courses, on the surface, of not more than 

 a foot wide, and one foot deep ; and that larger drains, except for fences, 

 are unnecessary ; while under-draining is merely labour lost. Moss, in its 

 natural condition, is no doubt too wet ; but whenever the soil is formed 

 into broad ridges, with a furrow between each, and the moss begun to be 

 laboured and converted into soil, the difficulty is not how to make it dry, 

 but how to keep it from becoming too dry." 



" Manuring of moss land must be conducted on similar principles with 

 that of other soil. Every thing that can help to remedy the defects of the 

 soil, or that contains, and can 'impart to it, the food of plants, must operate 

 as manure. If clay or earth is applied to a sandy soil, or to one of moss, or 

 if sand or moss is applied to clay, all of them operate as manure. On these 

 principles, clay, earth, sand, till, or even rotten rock, or any thing that the 

 weather can dissolve and reduce to earth, will act as an efficient manure to 

 moss ground ; not by communicating any enriching substance to the moss, 

 but by mending its mechanical arrangement, and so far forming it into a 

 better soil. Such earthy substances insinuate themselves among the vege- 

 table fibres of the moss earth, render the soil more solid, and promote the 

 decomposition of the soil, which yields food to new plants." 



Dung is the most valuable manure for moss. Lime operates as manure 

 to moss, not by communicating to the soil any enriching quality, " but it 

 acts merely as a stimulant, and accelerates the decomposition and putre- 

 faction of vegetable matter The alkali of the lime attaches the acid 



that is in the moss; an effervescence follows, till the alkali in the lime and 

 the acid in the moss are both destroyed, and a neutral salt is formed from 

 them, which is favourable to the growth of plants ; and the acid being ex- 

 tracted from the moss by the caustic qualities of the lime, the antiseptic 

 qualities of the moss being so far overcome, the moss yields more readily to 

 putrefaction." Burning part of the moss, in order to manure the rest, pro- 

 duces one good crop, and a second inferior one ; it is not to be recom- 

 mended unless where the surface is very rough. The crops suited to a moss 

 soil are grain, roots, and grasses. 



In a Life of Bakewell, it is conjectured (p. 321.) that the idea of his having 

 bred in-and-in might have originated in an attempt, on his part, to protect 

 his interests by an evasion. " He had, to a certain extent, bred in-and-in ; 

 and while the question was proposed, probably with much latitude, he could 

 reply in favour of that system, without a violation of truth ; but had he been 

 asked how long he could proceed in that course, another answer would 

 probably have been given. But the question was not, * Mr. Bakewell, how 



