145 



more importance than any. of those that have been men- 



tioned; to endeavour to account for it, shall be my object 

 " in the following Essay." Again, " The conviction of 

 ** the absolute sterility of moss is so deeply rooted in the 

 " minds of nine-tenths of mankind, that every attempt to 



convert it into a soil is regarded as foolish, and given 

 ** up as a forlorn hope,'' He proceeds, 



" The very name of that substance, in all languages, 

 " and all ages, signifies sterility." 



Chemistry affords this gentleman powerful aid in his 

 war with peaty soil; for he elaborately shews, that every 

 deleterious principle, every noxious element, are all assem- 

 bled in this unhappy substance— joeaf. 



I shall quote but one passage more : — " The man who 

 ** discovers the latent causes of this sterility of all moss 

 *' in general, and of each species in particular, will deserve 

 " well of his countr}% perhaps of all Europe." 



I am curious to know what claims this gentleman will 

 pronounce me to have on my oivn countr^y and upon all 

 Europe, when I shall make it appear, not only that this 

 sterility has no existence, but that I can raise on peat soil, 

 in its natural state, and in the very area condemned by the 

 Highland Society, as beyond the bounds of national 

 industry, crops of hay, more valuable than any now raised 

 in the county of Middlesex, with the aid of London 

 dung. 



To . shew that I can actually do so, has been long a 

 favourite object with me ; and all I ask is a fair opportu- 

 nity to make the trial in the face of the world ; and I hope 

 the vicinity of the field of action to our metropolis (the 

 peaty mountains just above it) may tempt the proprietors 

 of the soil, perhaps our Viceroy himself, to make expe- 

 riments, the result of which, if favourable, would be of 

 such incalculable national importance. 



