148 



Utilisation of Peat Land. 



[JUNE, 



moor farms of about 20 acres each for demonstration purposes. 

 This Society has 3,352 members and receives a State grant. 



Apart from these private associations there are a number 

 of experiment stations in Germany and Austria. In Bavaria 

 there is the Royal Bavarian Moor Cultivation Institute at 

 Munich, which has four experimental stations at Bernau, Pulling, 

 Erding, and Karlshuld. There is also an experimental station 

 at Bremen which dates from 1877, and one at Admont, near 

 Salzburg in Austria, which is a branch of the Imperial Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station at Vienna. 



The classification,* which is usually adopted on the Continent, 

 recognises two principal types of peat land, according to the 

 plants from which they are formed, viz. : lowland moor (Flach- 

 moor), swamp, marsh, or bog land, and upland moor (Hoch- 

 moor). 



The first is chiefly formed from the following species : — 

 Phragmites, Carex, J uncus, Equisetum, and Hypnum. This 

 type of moor or marsh naturally occurs in districts liable to 

 floods from rivers and small watercourses, and in the neigh- 

 bourhood of ponds, lakes, &c. 



Upland moor, not liable to floods, is formed of Sphagnum, 

 with which cotton-grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) frequently 

 occurs. Other plants which are found are the Vaccinium Oxy- 

 coccos, Vaccinium uliginosum, Vitis-Idea and Myrtillus, Andro- 

 meda polifolia, Rhynchospora alba, Scheuchzeria palustris, and 

 Ledum palustre. In dry places, Calluna vulgaris, Molinia, and 

 Cladonia are frequent. Moors in which both types are inter- 

 mixed are also common. 



Moorland in general may be regarded as land poor in nutritive- 

 elements with unfavourable physical conditions, and the first 

 step is to change as far as possible the physical conditions so 

 that cultivated plants may be able to exist. This can only 

 be effected by drainage, which admits the air and allows of the 

 decomposition of the peat. The matted structure of the turf 

 breaks down and the peat turns finally after cultivation into a 

 black crumbly mass. Moreover, after draining, the peat con- 

 tracts and the moor settles, frequently to a very noticeable 

 degree. Several methods of removing the superfluous water 

 can be adopted, such as deep open ditches, pipe drains, and 



* See " Anleitung zur Durchfuhrung Moorstatistischer Erhebung." Zeitschrift fur- 

 Moorkidlur und Torfverwertung, Part I, Vol. IV, 1906. 



