21 4 Catalogue of Works 



Steele, Andrew, Esq. of Crosswoodhfll, Member of the Natural History and 

 Agricultural Societies of Edinburgh : the Natural and Agricultural His- 

 tory of Peat-moss or Turf-bog ; to which are annexed, corroborative 

 Writings, Correspondence, and Observations, on the Qualities of Peat 

 or Fen Earth as a Soil and Manure ; and on the Methods used in Scot- 

 land for converting Moss Soils into Arable and Pasture Grounds, Plant- 

 ations of Trees, &c. Edinburgh. 8vo. pp.401. 10s. 6 d. 



A magazine of papers on the subject of peat, and of the improvements 

 which the author made on the moss farm of Crosswoodhill, near Edin- 

 burgh ; preceded by 107 pages,' which constitute the natural and agricultural 

 history of peat moss. The information is solid, plain, and practicable ; but 

 as it includes nothing that was not perfectly well known before, it might 

 have been more usefully conveyed in a fifth of the space of paper and 

 print, and at less than a third of the price. 



Draining is the radical improvement of moss lands, and will alone and 

 after some time change the kind of plants which grow on their surface. If, 

 it addition to draining, the surface can be pared, burned, limed, and sown with 

 white clover and a mixture of perennial grass seeds, almost all is done that 

 is advisable to do under ordinary circumstances. Other than ordinary 

 circumstances will admit, or may render advisable, the subjection of 

 moss lands to a rotation of crops, or to planting with trees ; but these are 

 not likely to be of frequent occurrence, especially in the present times. 



The best sorts of trees for planting on moss lands are evidently the 

 birch, alder, willow, and indigenous poplars. The Scotch pine is found to 

 do well, and also the spruce, but not the larch. 



"At Whim, in Peebleshire, the seat of Sir James Montgomery, Bart, 

 .there are as fine spruce firs, perhaps fifty years old, growing on a deep moss 

 soil, as I ever saw. There are likewise many other good trees growing 

 there, and I was informed that the moss is so very deep that their roots 

 could not possibly touch the solid ground." 



France. 



Desormeaux, Paulin M. A. : Les Amusemens de la Campagne, contenant 

 1. La Description de tous les Jeux qui peuvent ajouter aTAgrement des 

 Jardins, servir dans les Fetes de Famille et de Village, et repandre la 

 Joie dans les Fetes Publiques ; 2. L'Histoire Naturelle, les Soins qu'exige 

 la Voliere, l'Art d'empailler les Animaux, le Jardinage, la Peche, les 

 diverses Chasses, la Navigation d'Agrement, des Recreations de Physique, 

 des Notions de Geometric pratique, d'Astronomie, de Gnomonique, des 

 Principes de Gymnastique amusante, d'Equitation, de Natation, de 

 Patinage, des Lecons surles Artes de la Menuiserie, du Tour, du Dessin, de 

 la Perspective, des Recettes agreables a. connaitre, &c. ; et generalement 

 tout ce qui peut contribuer a charmer les Loisirs de ceux qui habitent la 

 Campagne; recueillis par plusieurs Amateurs. Paris. 12mo. 6 vols.- 

 40 pi. 24 fr. 



This work is favourably spoken of by the French critics. " We find in 

 the first volume treatises on the poultry-yard, recreative gardening, the 

 language of flowers, the art of riding, hunting, and snaring animals. Shoot- 

 ing, fishing, the culture of silk-worms, and bees, form the second. The 

 third treats of natural history, the art of swimming, amateur navigation, 

 geometry, amusing astronomy, the construction of sun-dials, joinery, turn- 

 ing, the fabrication of arbour-work and fire-works ; finally, the fourth 



