growers, however, demand a moss peat of sound character. Their 
ideal is a substance of flaky, spongy texture which granulatea 
easily and is free from that acidity which is common to many 
kinds. Nature’s reserves have been tapped, an ideal horticultunjf 
moss peat was secured, compressed, and put on the market ready 
for immediate use. * 
What, then, are the uses of this material? In the first place 
it is an absorber of water. The most absorptive of all forms of 
humus, it takes up moisture like a sponge, and holds it under 
the most trying conditions for an extraordinary length of time. 
Thus, added to a sandy or otherwise light, hot soil, it not 
only keeps this moist and cool, but it binds the particles together, 
and in conserving the moisture, prevents the otherwise inevitable 
loss of plant foods by seepage. It becomes a reservoir for both 
the natural fertilising elements of the soil and any artificial 
stimulants we may put into it. 
EFFECT ON HEAVY SOILS 
* 
On the other hand, this moss peat is no less beneficial in 
effect upon stiff, clay ground, which it will render freer and more 
workable. In such soil it breaks up the clods, accelerates drai¬ 
nage, prevents caking and. cracking, and so transforms a cold, 
adhesive medium into a warm and friable, easily-worked loam, 
which will ensure earlier and better crops of most things. For 
improving both light land and heavy the efficacy of moss peat 
has been so satisfactory in results, so economical in application, 
that its regular use in all phases of garden work may be enthusi¬ 
astically advocated. 
There are various forms of moss peat, differing in their 
texture and other attributes. It is as great an advantage to secure 
the best as in the case of loam or potting sand. Our moss peat 
jts' virtually pure sphagnum in a state of suspended decay. It is 
W)ft and flaky to handle, crumbles to a loose brown mould when 
C{amp, and so absorptive is it that it will soak up and retain more 
than twelve times its own weight of water. Of no other natural 
hjimus can so much be said. One may go further and emphasise 
the significant fact that the best sphagnum peat offered for garden 
use is in a state of such perfect sterilisation that it contains not 
a suspicion of weed seeds, insect pests, fungus spores, or any 
other of those risks which accompany the use of manures and 
various other forms of humus. 
As a mulching material, this purity is obviously of the very 
highest value, but sphagnum peat here again proves in a mecha¬ 
nical way its unique merits as a holder of moisture. In summer 
— and especially with dry soils — it will so check evaporation 
and retain water that, whether used in the kitchen garden the 
orchard, among choice shrubs, or the flower borders, it is often 
the means of averting failure and bringing about success. It is 
also utilised for covering the roots of tender plants against frost. 
In both cases, the effect may be regarded as very similar, for the 
peculiar function of the moss is to provide an insulating jacket 
against both heat and cold. And, no matter how it is applied, 
it will soon be obvious to the user that here is a material which 
tends to aerate rather than to pack and bind, a feature of signal 
importance, whether it is used in the soil or upon it. 
Among the many other virtues of this sphagnum moss peat 
is its amazing durability. Just as it has lain for countless ages 
in the storerooms of earth, defying the most potent agents of 
destruction, so, when put into the soil, it still resists disintegration, 
and its influence can almost be regarded as permanent. Thus, 
