216 [Assembly 
Cords. 
10, Bog 1 mile nonli of the above, on the north branch of 
the south fork of Black creek, in Paltz, Ulster county, 10,000 
1 1 . Bogs on Black creek, near the Poughkeepsie and Paltz 
turnpike, 60,000 
}2. Bog in the valley of the east branch of the Delavi^are in 
Roxbury, Delaw^are county, on Mr. Stratton's farm,.. 10,000 
13. Bog in Marlborough, on the south road from Marlbo- 
rough to Pleasant Valley, on land of G. Birdsal, Mrs. 
Bingham and D. Cassman, in Ulster county, 20,000 
I would again urge upon our farmers and other citizens, the impor- 
tance of making use of peat for fuel and manure. It is a cheap and 
valuable article for fuel, and w^hen properly prepared, it also makes one 
of the best renovators of the soil. 
It has been recommeuded to burn this combustible in heaps in the 
field, and scatter the ashes over the ground. A great loss is thus sus- 
tained, for the earthy and saline portions only of the peat are obtained, 
while by far the largest portion of the mass, that part, in fact, that 
would afford food to plants, is consumed and dissipated in the atmos- 
phere. 
The best mode of preparing peat for manure is, to make it into com- 
post heaps, with some lime and stable manure, or, to have cattle and 
hogs yarded on it, where it is exposed to the weather and frost. In 
order to set this matter in a proper light, and enable our farmers to 
profit by the experience of others, I subjoin two letters to Dr. Jackson, 
the State Geologist of Maine, from gentlemen who are strictly practi- 
cal farmers, and who are considered among the best farmers in Massa- 
chusetts. 
Lexington, January ^Oth, 1839. 
Dear Sir : 
" I herewith send you a sample of my peat. I am very 
desirous of availing myself of the benefit to be derived from a chemi- 
cal analysis of the same, which you kindly offered to make. A more 
intimate knowledge of the nature and properties of peat, which can 
be obtained only by a scientific examination of its constituent parts, 
would enable farmers more justly to appreciate this valuable species of 
land. It is from a want of this knowledge, that our extensive tracts of 
low meadow and swamp lands have hitherto been esteemed of little or 
