1921.] The Improvement of Peaty Soils. 1113 



It is, however, by no means certain that the improvement 

 in the grassland can be effected only by breaking up and 

 resowing after two or three years interval. On some of the 

 old fields basic slag has been used, and the contrast betweeni 

 the slagged and the unslagged part is very marked; the original 

 herbage is poor, but after addition of slag the white clover becomes 

 very prominent without breaking up or reseeding. There 

 is a heavy demand for slag throughout Great Britain for normal 

 farming, but mineral phosphates can be had in quantity and 

 they would be well worth trying. It might be desirable to 

 break up strips of land in among the unbroken grass and then 

 sow with a suitable mixture ; these would furnish starting points 

 for colonisation of the wild areas with better grasses and 

 clovers. 



At present the Dartmoor farmers take in sheep and cattle for 

 summer grazing on the " Newtakes " and they winter a few 

 beasts of their own; the winter beasts pay the rent and the 

 summer beasts furnish money for living — the grocer's bill, how- 

 ever, being met by eggs, poultry, milk, &c, often by a process 

 almost amounting to barter. The sum payable for summer 

 grazing for the cattle used to be 5s. each, now it is 7s. 6d. or 

 sometimes even 10s. for the season, June to September; for 

 sheep the payment is 80s. per score. The owner bears the loss 

 of the sheep (if any) the farmer being paid for all sent, not 

 simply for those returning (as in the Weald). On one farm of 

 1,200 acres the farmer was expecting to receive £127 for summer 

 grazing, though in a previous year the tenant had taken 250 

 cattle and 3,000 sheep, which then brought in £270 ; this, how- 

 ever, proved too great a strain on the land to allow of repetition. 



It seems clear that the introduction of more arable land would 

 increase the amount of roots and hay, and therefore allow T of 

 the wintering of more stock; further, that the improvement of 

 the fenced in grassland by means of phosphates w T ould allow of 

 more summer grazing. Thus considerable improvement could 

 be effected without altering the system of husbandry which has 

 the merit that it accords with the psvchology of the moorland 

 people, and with their holdings and financial resources. Any 

 increase in the head of stock wintered would necessitate the 

 growing of more oats, and it would be well to try experiments 

 with some of the newer sorts, such as " Yielder," &c, well 

 manured with phosphates to see if they would give better results 

 than the present variety. 



