Reclamation of Bog and Moorland in Galicay. 213 
Monthly Eainfall at Kylemore in 1877. 
HaIN-GAFGE 1 FOOT ABO^T: GROUND AND 105 FEFT ABOVE SEA-LEVEL. 
Greatest Fall in 
Number 
Month. 
Total 
Depth. 
Twenty-fc 
mr Hours. 
of Days on 
which 'Ol or 
Depth. 
Date. 
more fell. 
January 
18 
33 
1 
94 
QO 
February 
8 
31 
94 
14 
28 
March. 
6 
72 
1 
03 
10 
29 
April 
5 
77 
1 
21 
24 
22 
Alay . . . . • • 
8 
70 
1 
95 
26 
17 
1. 1 
June 
7 
12 
1 
75 
28 
16 
July 
7 
40 
1 
26 
21 
31 
August 
7 
64 
1 
56 
27 
24 
September 
3 
10 
88 
12 
15 
October 
11 
68 
1 
73 
20 
23 
November 
18 
25 
1 
88 
10 
30 
December 
13 
01 
2 
•23 
5 
30 
Total 
lie 
03 
295 
As the reclamations have been carried on, the drains have 
been put closer and closer together, and some years must yet 
elapse before it is certain that those last put in, at 20 feet apart, 
will keep a peat soil sufficiently dry beneath such a weeping 
sky. 
One great lesson taught by past experience has been that 
wherever peat is found, the work of leclamation must not be 
hurried ; it is useless to attempt cultivation until the excess of 
water has been got rid of ; and, since peat holds water like a 
sponge, this cannot be done without allowing it time to become 
partially dry. 
The first operation must be to cut the main drain along the 
lowest level ; if this can be cut through the peat, into gravel or 
sand, the rest of the drains can be cut at once, but if the peat is 
deep and soft, it may be some years before the work can be 
carried further. At Addergoole there is a plot of 50 acres to 
be drained : a big trench was dug in 1874 down the centre of 
this land, 9 feet wide and 4 feet deep, at a cost of 2s. Qd. per 
perch of 7 yards. The bog being soft, it partially filled in at 
once, and at the end of a week it was only 6 feet wide and 
2 feet deep. In 1875 it was deepened again to a depth of 6 feet. 
In 1876 the sides were cut wider at the top, so as to give them 
more batter. The trench now stands 5 feet deep and 9 feet wide 
at the top ; the peat in its immediate vicinity has become more 
