154 



Utilisation of Peat Land. 



[JUNE, 



13J cwts. in 1905, while those planted in 1903 yielded about 

 6 J cwts. in 1904 and 1905. These figures are stated to com- 

 pare favourably with the yields obtained in hop-growing 

 districts in Bohemia, and the quality is also quite satisfactory. 

 The success which has attended the cultivation of hops here, 

 if not necessarily applicable to moorland elsewhere, affords an 

 example of the capabilities of such soils when properly 

 cultivated and suitably situated. 



Reference may also be made to the method of reclamation 

 practised at the Swedish Experiment Station at Jonkoping,* 

 Here the draining is done by open drains 1 J ft. deep, about 40 ft. 

 apart, which are led into a large main drain The heather 

 is then cut and removed and some levelling done. Next sand 

 is carted or brought by light tramway and spread 2 or 3 in. 

 deep over the levelled ground and about 30 barrels of lime per 

 acre are also used. As soon as possible this is worked into the 

 soil by means of cultivators or disc harrows, and it is allowed 

 to rest for a season. The ground is then manured in accordance 

 with the results obtained from the experimental plots, and 

 afterwards cropped. The crops most cultivated are peas, 

 beans, rye, oats, mangolds, potatoes, rye grass and clovers. 

 It is not considered advisable to leave the land in grass more 

 than five or six years. As the bog is reclaimed, the intention 

 is to portion it out in holdings of 20 to 25 acres each and let 

 them to tenants. 



The system of sanding the surface of the bog is much practised 

 in Germany, ■ where it was first introduced by Rimpau on the 

 Cunrau Moor. Here the subsoil consists of sand, which is thus 

 available at a very low cost, and it is only where this is the case 

 that the method can be adopted with success. Generally 

 speaking, however, experience on the Continent shows that the 

 reclamation of moorland, when properly carried out, proves a 

 very satisfactory undertaking, both from a financial and an 

 economic point of view. Economically it is, of course, very 

 desirable to bring this waste land under cultivation, and 

 financially the capital invested in the* improvement returns 

 a very fair rate of interest. The Prussian Forest Adminis- 

 tration, for instance, which has improved some 15,000 acres, 



* Journal of Irish Department oj Agriculture, Vol. IV, p. 463, March, 1904. 



