206 Treatment of the reclaimed Bog-land of Whittlesea Mere. 
liere. The three inches of clay bestowed upon it has produced 
excellent effects, and, readily amalgamating with the existing 
top-soil, has formed a rich and fertile mould. 
The treatment of the rough bog, which had only just been 
levelled and prepared to receive the clay, has been, to a great 
degree, exceptional and experimental. It is unadvisable to 
attempt to bring land in this raw condition too quickly under 
the system or rotation of crops adopted in the case of land which 
has long been under tillage. 
Next to the thorough drainage of the land, the complete amal- 
gamation of the peat with the clay being all important, it has 
been found that, to this end, it was a mistake to sow, as was 
largely done for a first crop, either rye-grass and clover, or 
mixed grasses. It was proved to be a better plan, after giving 
the newly clayed land as much cultivation as could be fairly 
bestowed upon it previously, to sow coleseed, if possible, early in 
July ; and, there being no sufficiency of straw as yet on the farm 
to make manure of, to feed it off" with sheep requiring oilcake, 
that is to say, with fatting sheep or lambs, rather than ewes ; to 
plough, as the weather might permit, in the winter, and in the 
spring to sow oats. These should not, however, be sown early, 
as experience proves that such lands, being generally low, are 
peculiarly liable to suffer from spring frosts. In May a mixture 
of red and white clover, timothy, parsley, trifolium, pacey, and 
Italian rye-grass, should be sown and hoed in. These seeds 
should remain only one year down. It is bad economy, with the 
land in such a crude condition, to keep them even a second year, 
for not only do they deteriorate quickly themselves, but a year of 
cultivation and mixing of the soil is lost. 
In the former of the two cases mentioned, where grass was 
sown as a first crop, wheat, to a limited extent, was tried after 
the second, and even third year of the seeds being down ; but, 
as might have been expected, with very poor results. 
In the other case, where the cropping has begun with coleseed, 
followed by oats and seeds, it has yet to be proved what the 
wheat crop sown this autumn will be. The plant looks well at 
present, and the extra cultivation which the soil under this plan 
has received will doubtless tell its story at harvest time. 
Speaking generally of the assistance to be derived from 
artificial manures for land of this quality and in this condition, 
it has been found that superphosphate of lime is by far the best 
to use, although phospho-guano, obtained from Messrs. Lawson 
of Edinburgh, has produced very good results, Peruvian guano 
has almost wholly failed, alike on the clayed and unclayed land. 
The phospho-guano is as nearly as possible double the price of 
the superphosphate used, the cost being lis. Gc/., and 6s. per cwt. 
