206 



Reclamation of Moorland. 



[JUNE, 



attention to the subject, but the method was found to be only 

 applicable to certain soils and places. In the next decade, 

 the need for dealing with some extensive moors in Hanover 

 led to official action being taken, and the Central Moor Com- 

 mission was formed in 1876 to act as technical adviser to the 

 Agricultural Ministry. In the following year, at the request 

 of the Commission, the Experimental Station at Bremen was 

 established in order to work out the manifold theoretical and 

 practical problems connected with the rational cultivation of 

 moorland. The funds placed at the disposal of the station 

 were at first only ^"500 per annum, but they have been 

 gradually increased until they amounted to over ,£5,000 in 

 1907. The influence of this station has been very great; at 

 its first establishment the small staff had very little previous 

 experience at their disposal, and they had before them the 

 solution of such questions as the best methods of drainage 

 and of cultivation, the choice of manures and of suitable 

 varieties of plants, as well as the investigation of the chemical 

 and physical properties and botanical characteristics of these 

 moorland soils. Rapid progress was made, and in 1884 a 

 sub-station was established at Ems, and another in 1905 at 

 Aurich, together with several experimental farms and fields 

 on different types of moor, heath, and marsh land. From 

 the commencement an endeavour was made to enlist the sym- 

 pathies of agriculturists by bringing the knowledge of im- 

 proved methods to their notice by means of demonstration 

 fields. THese efforts proved very successful, and the fields 

 now number several hundreds. A further step in this direc- 

 tion was the establishment of model farms under the direction 

 of the station. 



Apart from the expenses of the Central Moor Commission, 

 the grants made by the Prussian Government for the en- 

 couragement of moor cultivation amounted in 1907 to .£9,500, 

 and the Government have also undertaken the reclamation of 

 large areas of State lands. In the case of the Forestry Ad- 

 ministration, some 15,000 acres have thus been dealt with and 

 converted into good grazing land; at first the system of 

 sanding the surface was adopted at a cost of about £11 per 

 acre ; subsequently the less expensive method of draining, 

 cultivating, and applying artificial manures was employed, 



