| 
| to the depth at which it lies. 
monly from 4 to 8 feet, sometimes from 8 to 16 feet, 
and very rarely more than 20 feet ; but that of the 
red bogs of Ireland is seldom less than 12 feet, 
sometimes about 42 feet, and on the average about 
25 feet. “The bog,” say the Irish Commission- 
ers, in reference to the latter, “ varies materially 
in its appearance and properties, in proportion 
The upper surface 
is covered with moss of various species; and, to 
the depth of about ten feet, is composed of a mass 
of the fibres of similar vegetables in different 
stages of decomposition, proportioned to their 
depth from the surface, generally however too 
open in their texture to be applied to the pur- 
poses of fuel. Below this generally lies a light 
blackish-brown turf, containing the fibres of 
| moss, still visible though not perfect, and ex- 
| tending to a further depth of perhaps ten feet 
under this. At a greater depth, the fibres of 
| vegetable matter cease to be visible, the colour 
_ of the turf becomes blacker, and the substance 
' much more compact, its properties as fuel more 
valuable, and gradually increasing in the degree 
of blackness and compactness proportionate to 
its depth. Near the bottom of the bog, it forms 
a black. mass, which when dry has a strong re- 
| semblance to pitch or bituminous coal, having a 
conchoidal fracture in every direction, with a 
black shining lustre, and susceptible of receiving 
a considerable polish.” In Plate LX. are a view 
and explanations of a section of a turf-bank i 
the Bog of Allen, which particularly alucida’, 
this statement, and at the same time afford some 
illustration of the general account we have given’ 
of the formation of bogs. 
The question of the reclamation of bogs has been. 
a subject of keen debate, and cannot be-regarded 
as yet settled. The Commissioners on the Bogs of 
Ireland say, “It may naturally be expected that 
we should express our opinion whether any, and 
what general measure should be adopted to fur- 
ther the reclamation of this great extent of land, 
at present so unprofitable, and which the con- 
current testimony of every person, except one, 
whom we have employed, represents as not 
merely susceptible of improvement, but as pro- 
mising to afford a greater profit on the operation 
than perhaps any other application of agricul- 
tural skilland capital. Various as are the modes 
of improvement, and the estimate proposed by 
our different engineers, we consider that the fair 
average of their opinions, that by an expenditure 
of from £1 to £20 per acre, the reclamation 
would secure to the improvera permanent rent 
of from 10 to 15 per cent. on the expenditure. 
Some of them on whose judgment we place great 
reliance, are even of opinion, that the whole of 
the capital employed would be returned by the 
produce of the first crops which effected the im- 
provement. Supposing, then, the capital em- 
ployed to be finally lost, still the rent obtained 
would abundantly compensate for its application ; 
Bit on the other supposition, of the capital itself 
469 
being repaid, it would follow that the rent would 
finally become the reward merely of the skill and 
labour of the improver. Nor is it on mere theo- 
retical speculation that these premises are rested, 
Our engineers uniformly adduce the example of 
hundreds of acres actually improved within their 
respective districts, to justify their estimates. — It 
may, perhaps, then be inquired, why all these 
bogs have not long since been improved? or it 
may-be asserted, that their present desolation in 
the midst of so much apparent inducement, is in 
itself a sufficient proof that such premises must 
be practically fallacious. We are convinced, 
however, that this circumstance may be other- 
wise accounted for, and that it is not to physical 
obstacles that the present situation of these wastes 
is principally to be ascribed. The arable lands 
around the extremities of each bog, belong, pretty 
generally, to.a great variety of proprietors, the 
mearings of whose estates, it is generally admit- 
ted, must be contained within the area of the in- 
terior bog, but the precise situation of which is 
seldom ascertained. The external boundary of 
the bog forms a turf bank ; the interior is a quag- 
mire, in its present state inapplicable to any 
other purpose than the affording a very scanty 
summer pasture to a few wandering cattle, who 
are turned in to seek for it, at the risk of being 
lost. The cultivators who occupy the contiguous 
farms have usually annexed to the enjoyment of 
the lands a right of turning in their cattle on the 
part of the bog adjoining to their respective | 
farms; and when these are tempted by hunger to 
wander further, reciprocal convenience forbids 
its being considered asa trespass. These farmers 
have usually terms of lives or years in their hold- 
ings too short to tempt them, ever if possessed 
of capital and of skill, to enter on the permanent 
improvement of the bog, while they are yet abun- 
dantly sufficient to render such an operation im- 
practicable for the landlord. The landlord has | 
demised to the tenant a vague possession of what 
he considered of little or no value ; the shortness 
of the tenure obliges the tenant to leave his 
holding in its unprofitable state ; but were the 
landlord to propose to improve it, the tenant 
having a present right to prevent him, that right 
would become valuable just in proportion to the 
intended exertions of the landlord, and would in- 
evitably be set up by the tenant.” 
A writer in MacCulloch’s Statistical Account 
of the British Empire, says, by way of critique 
on this statement of the Commissioners, “The 
bogs are generally, indeed, at such an elevation 
above the sea as to allow of drains being cut toa 
depth sufficient to permit the escape even of the 
bottom water. But the Commissioners observe, 
that ‘the bogs partake of the nature of a sponge, 
and are completely saturated with water.’ Al- 
though, therefore, a vent were made for the bot- 
tom water, it does not follow that the water held 
In suspension by the bog could also be carried 
off. On the contrary, experience shows that, 
2G 
