THE CULTIVATOR. 
191 
writers consider those of Europe antideluvian, and composed of primitive 
earth. Others consider them vegetable matters, which grow and increase 
till they swallow up and destroy all other soils. Others, again, that they 
are composed of ligneous and aquatic plants, brought into action by the 
destruction of extensive forests, which abounded there in former times. 
However these speculations may apply to Great Britain and Ireland, it is 
pretty evident that what we denominate peaty and swampy earths, have 
generally originated from the accumulation of vegetable matters brought 
from the surrounding forests, during the lapse of ages, through the agency 
of water, and of lignious and aquatic plants, which have successively 
grown upon the ground, perished, and undergone a greater or less decom¬ 
position. Many of our swamps have undoubtedly once been the sites of 
lakes or ponds, which, in the process of time, have become filled with al¬ 
luvial matters to the level of their outlet, and have afterwards become 
clothed with vegetation—first with marsh herbage, and afterwards, in ma¬ 
ny cases, with forest timber. 
These soils have, however, been divided into classes, differing not only 
in the decomposition which they have undergone, but in the foreign mat¬ 
ters which they contain, and requiring somewhat a different mode of treat¬ 
ment. Thus they are denominated fibrous, conjpact, bituminotis, calca¬ 
reous, i. e. abounding in lime or gypsum, sandy or clayey, &c. 
Having in our last described the modes of profitably applying peat earth 
to increase the fertility of uplands, we now proceed to give directions for 
rendering peaty grounds productive and profitable, by 
PARING AND BURNING. 
Thorough draining is the first and an indispensable requisite. An ex¬ 
cess of water has in a great measure caused the accumulation of vegetable 
matter, by retarding decomposition; and the soil cannot be rendered fer¬ 
tile in wholesome products till this cause of infertility is removed. This 
operation will alone induce fertility where there is much clay and sand 
blended in the soil, or where the peaty matter is so superficial as co be 
mixed with the subsoil by the plough. In other cases, a top-dressing of 
caustic lime, particularly where the peat is feruginous, or abounding in 
iron, harrowed or ploughed in with a light furrow, will bring on fermenta- 
tation ar.d induce great fertility. But in most cases the surface of swamps 
and marshes consists of a coarse, tough net work of the roots of bogs and 
other marsh plants, which it is difficult to manage or subdue. In this case 
the most approved practice is, after the bogs have been cut up and re¬ 
moved, to plough or pare the surface, and when sufficiently dry to burn 
it, and to spread the ashes over the ground. At this juncture either the 
lime or manure may be applied with great benefit, in aid of the peat ashes, 
to bring on fermentation, and induce fertility. Where the plough can be 
used, it is. to be preferred; and the furrojvs should be lapped, so as to give 
the greatest effect to the drying influence of the sun and winds. Where 
the ground is not sufficiently firm to bear a team, resort may be had to the 
common European mode of paring the surface, with the breast plough, 
which is effected by manual power. Where the plough is employed, it is 
sometimes passed also crosswise, to cut the sods into squares. And it is 
proper, whatever instrument be employed, to go to the depth of the sod, 
or roots. The ploughing or paring ought to be-done before August, that 
the sods may be sufficiently dry to burn in that month or early in Septem¬ 
ber. 
In performing the operation of paring by manual power, the common 
bog hoe, or paring-mattock, with a broad edge, is used for bogs, bushes, 
or tough sod, while the breast plough (fig. 48,) is the principal implem nt 
Fig. 48. 
otherwise employed, which is generally pushed by the breast of man. The 
blade of this implement is described in British Husbandry as “ about thir¬ 
teen inches long, terminating in a broad angular point. On the left hand 
side of the tool, there is a small edge, turned up like a coulter, which cuts 
the furrow in straight lines. The parts which form the blade, or share and 
coulter, are both of one thin plate, which is required to be of good metal, 
as the instrument must be kept extremely sharp. The flat, or sharp part, 
is somewhat more than a foot broad at its insertion with the handle; the 
coulter is turned so that it stands right up when the share is flat upon the 
ground, and cuts the edge of the turf as the share does the bottom. The 
shaft is of wood, made with a considerable curve upwards, and it is about 
seven feet in length; at the upper end of which is placed a hilt about two 
feet long, not thicker than a man can conveniently grasp with either hand, 
and by which he guides it. It is thus pushed forward, cutting the surface 
of the land as thinly as it is possible to do it, taking care, however, that 
no herbage is left uncut upon the pared ground, and when in pieces of 
about a couple of feet in length, it is turned over on the right side by a 
wrench of the spade, given by the workman; by which means the turf lies 
hollow, and the ground shows that the whole face of the land has been 
cut clean. The sods, when turned over, should be laid with the best pos¬ 
sible exposure to the sun and air, in order that they may dry, which re¬ 
quires two, and sometimes three weeks, according to the state of the 
weather and the nature of the turf.” 
The great points to be aimed at in burning are, to have the combustion 
progress slowly, to exclude the air wholly from the fire, and completely 
to burn all the sods. With this view the piles are made of different sizes, 
from four to twenty-four cart-loads each; the centre is made to contain 
brush, or other readily combustile material, and when the fire is well es¬ 
tablished here, all the apertures are closed, and fresh sods are added as 
circumstances warrant, till the whole is expended. In most of our swamps 
there are large stumps, which, if dry, form excellent centres for a turf 
heap; and piles of roots or brush may be used advantageously for the pur¬ 
pose; but in both cases great care will be required to keep the air from 
the fire, by piling on fresh sods, lest the fire get vent, and thus impair the 
value of the ashes. 
Curwin thus describes the operation of paring and burning in Ireland: 
“ Round a space from six to ten feet in diameter, a trench of a foot deep, 
and of the same width, is dug, the soil of which is laid on the adjoining 
surface of equal breadth. Beyond this another circle of sods is taken out, 
and laid to dry in the same manner; and thus the work proceeds, till the 
quantity dug, with that which is left undisturbed for a floor, is as much as 
can be properly burnt on the space in the centre. As soon as the sods 
are sufficiently dry, they are gathered together, the heap is set on fire, and 
additions are made of wet and dry sods from time to time, so as to keep a 
regular, moderate, and smothered fire, in proportion to the attention paid 
to which particulars, the husbandman is rewarded by the quantity of pota¬ 
toes he will procure.” 
The quantity and quality of the ashes vary, according to the quality of 
the peat earth and the care in burning. The quantity has amounted to 
2,000 to 2,400 bushels on an acre. On analysis they are found to contain 
considerable carbonate of lime and gypsum. The expense in Great Bri¬ 
tain varies from 1Z. to SI. per acre, say equivalent to $1.50 to $13 the 
■acre. 
The ultimate object in reclaiming peaty or swampy soils, should be, after 
they have been suitably prepared by a few tillage crops, to improve them as 
grass lands. The tillage crops employed to bring them into good condi¬ 
tion, are oats, potatoes, turnips, rye, carrots, clover, &c. and the seeds 
proper for meadow and pasture, timothy, herds-grass, (red-top,) clover, 
&c. Several indigenous grasses, particularly of the agrostis family, will 
come in natually. These grounds should be preserved in grass so long as 
they yield a fait return. When they cease to do this, they should be again 
subjected to the plough for two or three years, and then stocked anew. 
We have the authority of Sir John Sinclair, for saying, that by suffering 
the second crop of grass to rot upon the ground, that is, neither to cut nor 
feed it off, an immense product of hay is insured for the succeeding year, 
and that swamp land may thus be made a perpetual hay meadow; and that 
this important fact has been corroborated by experiments which have been 
made in Flanders, where the same effect has been produced, by leaving 
the second crop on the ground every second or third year; the grass pro¬ 
duced the succeding year being of extraordinary length. This result 
would no doubt be facilitated with us by the addition of gypsum, in the 
spring, upon the old fog. 
We close this article with the following, given in British Husbandry, as 
a summary of the best practice: 
“ lstly. To drain the land perfectly, and to lay it dry, before commenc¬ 
ing the operation. 
“ 2dly. To regulate the depth of the paring by the nature of the turf, 
and the thickness of the mat of coarse sward. 
“ 3dly. To burn the turf slowly, but completely, so as to reduce the 
whole to ashes; yet carefully to guard against allowing the fire to take 
such hold of the ground under the heaps, as to harden it into pits. 
“ 4thly. To spread the ashes upon a shallow ploughing, and as fresh as 
possible—even hot; as they.operate more powerfully in a caustic state 
than afterwards. 
“ 5thly. To mix lime in a moderate proportion with the ashes. 
“ 6thly. To sow the seeds as promptly as may be convenient after the 
ashes have been spread and ploughed in. 
“ 7thly. To commence the cultivation—if the time of the year and other 
circumstances will permit,—with turnips or cole—but if oats or barley be 
taken as a first crop, to follow it with two successive green crops; and ne¬ 
ver to sow wheat until the land be brought into a fine tilth, and perfectly 
clean. 
«« 8thly. To apply the whole of the manure produced by the crops to 
the ground, and to manage it, generally, in the usual course of regularly 
cultivated arable land.” 
