On Peat Charcoal. 
541 
draining, claying, and good cultivation of being converted into the 
most productive soil. The decomposition of the vegetable matter 
of which peat is formed is very tardy, and it diSers widely from 
the action which takes place when we heap a large quantity of the 
common vegetable or animal substances together ; when this is 
done, heat is produced, and the putrefactive fermentation comes 
on. But the vegetable remains of which peat is composed seldom 
or never take on the putrefactive fermentation unless it is by the 
addition of some other materials ; the want of this is one cause ot 
the iimtility of peat, when used as manure before it has undergone 
any preparation. The non-decomposition of peat arises from the 
low temperature caused bv the great excess of water with which 
it is saturated, as well as from the tanmn property contained in the 
plants of which peat is composed ; and it is to these causes it owes 
its antiseptic, or preservative quality, by which animals, trees, and 
other substances have been kept in an undecayed state for several 
hundred years from the time they were first imbedded under the 
surface. 
Having thus given a short description of peat, we shall proceed 
to consider the property of charcoal. Chemically considered, 
carbon or charcoal, either prepared from wood or peat, may be 
said to derive its use as a manure from its property of absorbing 
moisture, as well as from its power of taking up the different gases, 
particularly ammonia- Charcoal, by absorbing moisture, keeps 
the soil sufficiently damp for the vegetation of the young plants, 
besides giving out its stores of ammonia and other gases to assist 
in their future growth. Another valuable purpose to which peat- 
charcoal may be applied is that of fixing the ammonia and other 
volatile bodies that arise from liquid manure ; and it may also be 
used for the same purpose by mixing it witli the common manure 
heap. A celebrated chemist says, " that wood-charcoal, l educed 
lo powder, charred sawdust, and charred peat, are all capable of 
being used with advantage in extracting the ammoniacal and other 
salts which give its value to the liquid of the farm-yards. Experi- 
ment has shown that, when filtered through a bed of such char- 
coal, the liquid escapes without colour, and almost without taste ; 
while the charred peat or sawdust is itself converted into fertilizing 
manure." 
We learn from men of science the theory of the use of charcoal 
as a manure ; and practical men have, in many instances, proved 
its efficacy. Drilled with turnips, or the seeds of other roots, it 
is found to cause a quick vegetation of the seed, which is often the 
only thing wanting to secure a good crop ; the plants, by their 
quick growth, stand a much better chance of escaping the fly 
and many other enemies which destroy them in a young state. 
An instance of the quick vegetation of the seed, produced by 
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