408 
Lime. 
of  improvement,  and  how  immediate  is  the  return.  The  cost  of 
thus  claying*  in  1841  was  put  at  54s.  The  effect  is  stated  as 
follows  : — 
Yrs.  Produce  old  state.  Produce  after  Clayin';.  . 
J ° m3  rears. 
£■  s.  d.  £.  s.  d.  £.  s.  d. 
1st.  5 qrs.  light  oats,  20s.  .5  0 0 6 qrs.  oats,  21s..  ..740 
2nd.  Seeds(4  sheep  per  acre)  14  0 Seeds  (7  sheep  per  acre)  2 2 0 
3rd.  20bshls.very  lightseed  30  bshls.  wheat,  60s.  10  17  6 
wheat,  50s 6 5 0 
£12  9 0 £20  3 6 £7  13  6 
The  outlay  is  54s.,  the  yearly  return  51s.,  or  about  95  per 
cent,  profit.  The  figures  indeed  of  the  produce  would  now  be 
lower,  but  the  difference  must  be  the  same.  There  is  a great  deal 
of  land  in  the  wide  eastern  fens  which  may  still  be  so  treated. 
The  mosses  of  Lancashire  are  more  difficult,  being  poorer, 
softer,  and  deeper,  like  the  Irish  bogs  ; but  they,  too,  are  begin- 
ning to  yield.  Mr.  Wilson  Ffrance  has  reclaimed  700  acres  of 
this  barren  waste.  The  expense  has  been  greater,  because  the 
marl  has  been  led  upon  a railway,  but  it  has  paid  well,!  and  the 
potatoes  are  worth  20/.  an  acre,  being  exempt  from  disease  on 
the  peat.  In  another  corner  of  England,  Somersetshire,!  a 
different  course  is  pursued  ; there  peat  finds  a sale  as  fuel. 
The  peat  is  sold  to  purchasers,  who  pay  for  it  20/.  per  acre  as  it 
stands  in  the  ground,  cutting  and  removing  it,  as  well  as  levelling 
the  ground  afterwards  at  their  own  expense.  The  peat  is  being 
dug  away  to  a depth,  perhaps,  of  15  feet,  and  the  river  floods 
gradually  deposit  silt  on  the  bottom;  a very  cheap,  or  rather, 
profitable  process,  certainly,  producing  excellent  land  into  the 
bargain,  which  lets  at  40s.  an  acre.  There  is  yet  another  mode 
of  improving  moory  land — 
§ 6.  Lime. 
I do  not  speak  of  lime  as  an  ordinary  manure,  in  which 
character  it  is  considered  indispensable  on  the  west  side  of  Eng- 
land, and  is  generally  found  utterly  useless  elsewhere.  Whether 
this  difference  arise  from  soil  or  climate,  I know  not  ; but  I 
believe  lime  to  answer  best  in  rainy  climates  on  wet  soil  of  primi- 
tive strata.  In  western  districts  when  land  is  first  brought  into 
use  from  waste,  a heavy  dressing  of  lime  is  a sine  qua  non,  and 
hence  the  discovery  of  a limestone  rock  is  a public  benefit. 
Lime,  too,  there  has  a peculiar  effect  in  sweetening  and  strength- 
ening grass.  As  an  example  is  always  useful,  I may  cite  again 
* Journal,  ii.  406. 
t Consult  an  interesting  account  of  Mr.  Ffrance's  operations  in  Mr.  Garnett’s 
Report  on  Lancashire. — Journal,  x.  25. 
J See  Report  on  Somersetshire  in  the  present  Number. 
