THE CULTIVATOR. 
175 
although the dressing be abundant; yet they nevertheless mechanically 
improve stiff soils, by rendering them more porous. But spread in the 
cattle yard for a season, they become intimately blended with stimulating 
substances, and fitted to rlevelope all their fertilizing powers. Lord Mea¬ 
dow banks gave to the subject a scientific investigation, and alter various 
experiments, left directions for the preparation of peat earth in composts, 
with dung, &c. of which we extract the following summary from British' 
Husbandry. 
COMPOSTS or PEAT EARTH. 
“ The .peat of which the compost is to be partly formed, should be 
thrown out of the pit some weeks, or even months, previously, in order 
to deprive it of its redundant moisture; By this means it is msfde lighter and 
less compact when made up with fresh dung for fermentation; and accord¬ 
ingly less dung is required for the purpose than if the preparation be 
made with peat recently dug from the pit. It should be taken to a dry 
spot, convenient to the field which is to be manured; and placed in a row 
in the place intended for the midden. When ready to be made up into 
compost, half the quantity of dung must be carted out, and laid in a par¬ 
allel row at such a distance as will allow the workman to throw the rows 
together by the spade; the compost may thus be laid in.the centre, and 
will form the area of the future heap. 
“ Let the workman make a layer or bottom of peat about six inches 
deep, and extending further than the base of the proposed midden, 
(which is but another term for dunghill) which is to be thrown up in al¬ 
ternate layers: first, ten inches of dung over the peat, then peat six inch¬ 
es, dung four inches—thus diminishing each layer of dung until the heap 
rises to a height not exceeding between three and four feet, when the 
whole should be covered—top, ends and sides—with the remains of the 
peat; the whole to be put loosely together, and made quite smooth. 
In mild weather, seven Cart loads of common farm yard dung, tolerably 
fresh made, is sufficient for 21 cart loads of peat moss; but in cold wea¬ 
ther, a larger proportion .-of dung is desirable. The dung to be used 
should either have been recently made, or kept fresh by the compression 
of cattle or carts passing over it; and as some sorts of dung, even when 
fresh, are much more advanced into decomposition than others, it is ne¬ 
cessary to attend to this, for a much less proportion of dung that is less 
advanced will serve the purpose. 
After the compost is made up, it gets into a general heat, sooner or 
later, according to the weather and the condition of the dung: in summer, 
in ten days, or Sooner; in winter, not perhaps for so many weeks, if the 
cold is severe. It always, however, has been found to come on at last; 
and in summer it sometimes rises so high as to be mischievous by becom¬ 
ing fire fanged. Sticks should therefore be kept thrust into different 
parts, as by drawing them out occasionally the progress of the fermenta¬ 
tion may be ascertained; and if so rapid as to approach to blood heat, it 
should be either watered or turned over, and a little moss be added. The 
heat subsides after a time, and with variety proportioned to the season and. 
the perfection of the compost; but, when cool, it may be allowed to re¬ 
main untouched till within about three weeks of being wanted: it should 
be then turned over, upside down, and outside in, and all the lumps bro¬ 
ken; after which, it comes into a second heat, but soon cools, and may 
be taken out for use. In this state the whole appears a black mass, like 
garden mould, and, it is said, may be used, weight for weight, like farm 
yard manure, with which it will fully stand a comparison throughout a 
course of cropping.* Sixteen single horse cart loads per acre are, in¬ 
deed, said to have produced comparatively as good a crop as twelve of 
farm yard dung.f” 
EXPERIMENTS. 
“ The following experiments upon composts of peat combined with va¬ 
rious substances, communicated to Sir John Sinclair by Mr. Arbuthnot, of 
Peterhead,' will tend to show the power of fermentation in occasioning 
its decomposition, and its consequent probable effect upon the land:— 
1/ Peat moss was mixed, in the month of November, with rotten sea- 
ware., in the proportion of 300 cartloads of the former, to 50 of the lat¬ 
ter. In January, the midden, having attained the heat of 90° Fahrenheit, 
was turned; in March, the operation was repeated; and in the latter end 
of April, the compost was spread upon 18 acres of land, and immediately 
ploughed in. On the 15th of May, the field was sown with barley, 
which produced one-third more than any similar crop from the same land 
when manured with dung. 
2. Another field was manured in the same proportion of composition, 
* Essay by Lord Meadowbank, pp. 148 to 151. To every 28 loads of com¬ 
post, when made up, it is also recommended to add one cart load of ashes, or, 
if these cannot be had, half the quantity of finely powdered slaked lime may¬ 
be used; but these additions are not essential to the general success of the 
compost, though they will tend to quicken the process. 
t Gen. Rep. of Scotland, vol. ii. n. p. 550. In Holland’s Survey of Che¬ 
shire, it is also mentioned, that three tons of compost, made from moss and 
dung, have been spread on part of a meadow, and three tons of rotted dung 
upon an equal portion of the same field, it was found that, although the grass 
on that part which was covered with dung only, came up as soon, and upon 
the whole grew rather higher than that on the other part, yet the latter was 
of a darker green, and yielded nearly an eighth more when it came to be cut. 
with equal parts of cow-dung and sea-ware; the ground was planted with 
potatoes, and the produce was large and of excellent quality. Turnips, 
mangold wurtzel, and cabbages, were tried with the same manure, and 
the crops were all luxuriant. 
3. The foundation of a midden was laid on the 1st of May, with 800 
cart loads of peat moss, and 150 of cow dung. The cattle had been lit¬ 
tered with green rushes; which, although they had lain in the dung pits 
for more than nine months, showed no signs of decomposition. About 
the middle of June, 50 hhds. of salt water Were, therefore, thrown upon 
it, and the fermentation then began very quickly. The heap was first 
turned in the middle of July, and some newly slaked lime added to it. 
By the latter end of August, it was all grown over with chickweed, when 
it was again turned, and showed the appearanee of a total decomposition 
of all the mass, into mould of a'unifovm, smooth, soapy like consistence, 
of a strong smell. 
4. Consisted of 300 cart loads of peat moss and 50 of town dung. The 
decomposition was completed as soon as in the former experiment; but 
the appearence was not equal throughout. 
5. Was composed of 200 cart loads of rough peat sods, with a leafy 
sward, mixed together in July with 30 loads of horse dung, and the fer¬ 
mentation came on more rapidly, than in either of the foregoing experi¬ 
ments; probably, however, owing partly to the heat of the Weather, as well 
as to the nature of the dung. 
6 . In this experiment, 300 cart loads of peat moss were put in three 
layers of equal quantity. The foundation was laid one foot deep with 
moss', and then 150 gallons of the urine of cattle was thrown upon it. 
The fermentation came on almost instantaneously, attended with a hiss¬ 
ing noise. The other two layers were then put on, when the same ef¬ 
fect was produced; eight days afterwards, it was turned, and to all ap¬ 
pearance was completely fermented.” 
Having thus furnished to our readers the information we deem most 
important, to enable them to employ peat earth as a means of enriching 
their uplands, we shall proceed, in our next, to speak further of the man¬ 
ner of bringing peaty soils into a productive and profitable state. 
INFLUENCE of EDUCATION UPON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS 
Among the prominent causes of the superiority of British husbandry, 
enumerated in Brewster’s Encyclopaedia, is the suitable education which 
the principal farmers receive in modern times. The rule will hold good 
every where, that improvement in agriculture will be in proportion to the 
attention bestowed upon the education of the agriculturist. “ A man 
of Uncultivated mind may hold a plough, or drive a harrow” our author 
remarks, “ in a sufficient manner; but he will seldom introduce an im¬ 
provement, or be the means of effecting any change in the system of rural 
economy. In former times it was objected, that farmers were an obsti¬ 
nate and bigoted class of men—[as is too much now the case with us] 
averse to every kind of innovation upon establishedpractice, and persist¬ 
ing in ancient practices, even after their deficiency and inutility had been 
ascertained in the most decisive manner. Whatever truth there might 
formerly be in the objection, its force is now completely removed; there 
being no set of, men whatever more open to conviction, or more willing 
to adopt new practices, than British farmers of the present day. This 
change of disposition has been accomplished by a general circulation of 
agricultural knowledge, since the establishment of the national board of 
agriculture; by numerous periodical publications upon rural economy; and 
by that increase of wealth which flowed from the exertions of the far¬ 
mer, and which naturally stimulated a search after new improvements.” 
Extent and effect of agricultural improvements in Scotland. _Since 
the conclusion of the American war, in 1782, improvement has proceeded 
with singlar rapidity in every district; and while the rental rolls of pro¬ 
prietors have been doubled^, tripled and quadrupled, the condition of the 
tenantry, and of the lower'ranks, has been ameliorated almost in a pro¬ 
portional degree. These circumstances are sure tokens of agricultural 
prosperity, and demonstrate-in the most favorable terms, that husbandry 
is a main pillar of the state; and that the happiness and welfare of the 
community depend greatly upon the manner in which the art is execut¬ 
ed. No nation, whose husbandry is feeble and imperfect, can be regard¬ 
ed as realty prosperous, however considerable may have been the ad¬ 
vances they'have made in other arts, because, when the art of raising 
food is neglected, all others must ultimately be forsaken. In short, to 
promote and encourage husbandry, to remove every obstacle that stands 
in the way of exercising it, and to secure those concerned in carrying on 
the art, are duties obligatory upon the government of every country; and 
according as these duties are discharged, so will the wisdom of such a 
government be estimated, by every man, who feels for the prosperity of 
the state, or is attentive to the sources from which that prosperity pro¬ 
ceeds— Brewster. 
Agricultural Surveys —The numerous agricultural surveys, executed 
under the authority of the [British] Board-[of Agriculture,] were of sin¬ 
gular advantage, because they brought .to light the practices of every 
county; and, while they pointed out the obstacles which lay in the way 
of improvement, they stated the most effectual methods of removing 
