89 



subject with me, and not now encountered by me for the 

 first time ; yet, Herculean as the labour may be that is re- 

 quired for reclaiming- such formidable morasses, I fear it 

 is not so manageable as to serve tlie purpose of the Board 

 of Agriculture, by affording prompt employment for the 

 industrious and unoccupied. 



My speculations on the subject shall be hmited to two 

 fields of action ; — the immediate surface of these bogs as 

 they now stand, and the lower surface that remains after 

 the unwieldy mass of peaty matter is carried away. 



The soil of these great bogs, like all the surfaces wc 

 have hitherto encountered, is loaded with undischarged 

 water, which must be let off with much caution ; fordrought 

 is an enemy equally formidable and, I fear, not to be sub- 

 dued, where the fibrous light spongy peat reaches to the 

 depth of a very few feet ; nor would I be tempted to the 

 encounter of such a bog. 



Where we find the sponge of the upper surface very 

 shallow, and the fibre of the peat in an advanced stage of 

 decomposition, we may hope to give it such consolidation 

 as will fit it for agricultural purposes ; for the danger of 

 our drought is not here so great ; and this can only be done 

 by carrying in great quantities of earthy or clayey mate- 

 rial from the exterior, to be well mixed up, and blended 

 with the actual surface peat. 



, The late Bog Commissioners, in their instructions, refer 

 much to the subsoil for these consolidating materials, and 

 talk warmly of hme-stone gravel, which they seem to expect 

 to find beneath the peaty moss. 



I never was fortunate in my searches for a valuable sub- 

 stratum, though I know it sometimes exists, but always 

 inaccessible ; for so soon as we open a pit, it soon fills with 

 water, and from that time we are disabled from availing 

 ourselves of the lower material, however valuable for 



