310 DR. ANGUS SMITH ON PEAT. 



lighter colour than the old (p. 42) . The rootstock of Arundo 

 phragmites is abundant in the young peat of Greifswald. 



" It is known for certain that the part of the Alt-Warm- 

 bruch moss belonging to the city of Hanover has been cut 

 twice over, and that where it was cut 30 years ago there is 

 from 4 to 6 feet of new growth." He says that a moss may 

 grow ten feet above the water-level. Perfectly dried peat, 

 he adds, stands between wood and coal as a heat-producer. 



' Rationelle Torf-Verwerthung/ by Dr. Ernst Schenck 

 zu Schweinsberg and Dr. K. Karmarsch, being chiefly 

 concerning the apparatus for preparing and using peat, I 

 have not given it attention. 



In ' Die Torfmoore Oesterreichs/ by Dr. George Thenius, 

 p. 46, there is mention made of peat to be obtained after 

 from 20 to 30 years either by " Stechen w or " Baggem/' 

 cutting or dredging. When dredging, as one may call it, 

 is used, the peat must be in a fine state of division : this 

 shows that decomposition of the fibre has gone to a great 

 extent ; the method cannot be employed for fibrous peat. 

 It is added that the fact (that is, the rapid growth) has been 

 proved in many mosses, in the Salzburg moss, the Biihr- 

 moos, and the Pass-Thurmoos, as well as other places. 

 The author advises to retain the deep mosses and to remove 

 the shallow by cultivation. There are many interesting 

 points in this volume, and a description of new plans ; but 

 I cannot enter on the questions of machinery or price. 



The German literature itself is extensive ; and I cannot 

 pretend to exhaust it here, still less to examine that of all 

 our other neighbours. The English is even less known to 

 me ; but one of the earliest works I have found is from Scot- 

 land, by " William Aiton, Writer in Strathaven " (Lanark- 

 shire), and published at the desire of the Highland Society. 

 It is entitled "A Treatise on the Origin, Qualities, and 

 Cultivation of Moss-earth, with Directions for converting 

 it into Manure. Air, 1 8 1 1 ." 



