On Reclaiminff Heath Land. 83 
small heaps (the less* the better) from 2s. Gc^. to 3^-. Q)d. per acre. 
The burning, as before stated, requires to be carefully attended to, 
and regularly kept up with as fast as the parings become dry 
enough. They can sometimes be done with very good effect if set 
fire to when lying, without having recourse to heaps. I have seen 
many acres done occasionally in this way in the course of a few 
hours ; but it is a method which requires to be acted upon with 
caution, and should only be had recourse to on thin black-topped 
land, where the ashes are usually light and deficient in quantity. 
Upon such they are frequently so light that they are actually 
blown away with the wind, and every shower of rain takes a tithe 
out of them. By igniting them lying they do not get so thoroughly 
consumed, but quite enough if the heath be entirely destroyed and 
the parings fully charred. The fire necessarily consumes the lingy 
side which is undermost, and chars the surface of the soil, which 
tcill make ample amends for .the deficiency of ashes. In order to 
confine the burning by this method to the black-fopped parts of 
the land, where alone it is advisable, a person should go all round 
them and throw ofi" the parings to one side, for a clear space of 
five or six feet, to prevent the fire from extending its ravages be- 
yond the prescribed limits, as I do not recommend it on stronger 
soils where we have a sufficiency of ashes : on such it cannot be 
advantageously used, the soil and parings being of a very diflferent 
character; and if tried, the latter will only get singed, as it were, 
and deprived of the heath which is indispensable to burn them in 
proper sized heaps. Without it they cannot be effectually burnt 
nor adequately charred, owing to their more incombustible nature, 
without having recourse to large heaps and a strong fire — a fault 
frequently committed. By burning parings in large heaps, where 
there has been an admixture of clay in them, 1 have frequently 
seen lumps turned out of the ash-heaps baked as hard as fire- 
bricks, owing to the great body of heat required to burn them. 
Red ashes are produced by a strong fire, and black ashes by slow 
combustion ; the latter are invariably the best, and possess much 
higher fertilizing qualities, owing, I think, to the great quantity 
of carbon they contain. 
The next step to paring and burning is the liming of the 
ground, in all ordinary cases where it is possible to obtain it at 
anvthing like a reasonable cost, or within a moderate distance. 
I shall more particularly state my reasons for recommending the 
general use of lime in a subsequent part of this Essay. The quan- 
tity per acre I must in some measure leave to the judgment and 
discretion of the party using it, which may be varied from about 
* Not more than fi om half a perch to a perch of land ought to be cleared 
for each heap when the surface is all pared. 
G 2 
