1921.] The Improvement of Peaty Soils. 1107 



dumping places for its refuse, whilst there is the possibility 

 of further income from the sale of peat. 



Another area worked on the same principle is near Edin- 

 burgh, where city refuse is carted out and then used for 

 farm land. Again the increased agricultural value does not 

 pay the whole of the cost of the reclamation, the city having 

 to pay for the advantages of having a dump for refuse, and a 

 place where relief works can be carried out. 



Carr Soils. — These form an interesting example of peat soils 

 that present some difficulty in management. The name is 

 given to low marshy peat land containing the remains of old 

 trees, birch, alder, &c. The word " Carr " is of Scandinavian 

 origin denoting a marsh. In Nottinghamshire the " Carr " 

 forms a strip of land about 2 miles wide and 15 miles long, 

 lying south of the river Idle and north of the Trias escarpment 

 on which stand Everton, Gringley, &c. The top 9 in. of peat 

 appear to be formed from grass and rushes; the lower 9 in. 

 to 15 in. from decayed wood. There can be little doubt that 

 the upper layer was much thicker when the land was first 

 drained during the Napoleonic Wars, and the original venturers 

 were well repaid by the bounteous crops of rape and oats. The 

 cropping seems to have been of an exhausting nature, and it 1 

 was made worse by the paring and burning which accompanied 

 it.* With the disappearance of this layer of grass and rush 

 peat through shrinkage and oxidation the lower layer of wood 

 peat has been brought into prominence, and is found not to 

 be very satisfactory material. From the mechanical point of 

 view the tree stumps and roots are a great nuisance, holding 

 up the plough, sometimes even throwing it out of the ground. 

 Regarded chemically, peat formed from wood is of little 

 promise, comparing very unfavourably with that formed from 

 grass or rushes. Without definite trial there could be no 

 certainty that methods successful on a fen would answer on 

 the " Carr." There appears to be evidence of definite plant 

 poisons in the peat, oats and mustard having failed 

 unaccountably.! 



The analysis of the soil is as follows: — (Uvver lover) 



(Upper layer). 

 (Mid. Agric. Coll.) 



Nitrogen 

 Potash ... 

 Lime ... 

 Magnesia 



Organic matter (loss on ignition) ... 



Phosphoric acid 



57-8 

 211 

 0-60 

 106 

 0-28 

 0-26 



* P. W. Corrinpham. J. Roy. Ag. Soc. 1845. Vol. 6. p. 40 

 t E. E. Stokes, J. Bd. Agric. 1913, 20, 672 



