PEAT : Economical Use& Pest is a substance of vegetable origin, found wherever the soil has been long soaked with water which has no outlet and does not completely evaporate by the heat of the sun. When dried peat is examined, it is found to consist of coats and fibres in every stage of decomposition, from the natural wood to tho com pletely black vegetable mould. From the nature of its formation under the surface of water, it acquires a portion of tannin, which has the property of preserving animal and vegetable matter from decom position. Hence large branches and trunks of trees are found imbedded in peat, which have no mark of decomposition, except what may have taken place before the wood was completely immersed in the peat. Peat contains all the elements of the richest manure, and may by an easy process be converted into humus : for this purpose the agency of alkalies is the most effectual. If the tannin be decom posed, decomposition of the vegetable fibre will go on, and soluble humus will be formed. When peat is newly dug up, if caustic lime be added to it before it is dry, the moisture of the peat slakes the lime, which acts on the gallic acid in the peat and neutralises- it. If this mixture be then excited to fermentation by the addition of animal matter, such as urine or dung, oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid evolved ; and the residue is converted into an excellent manure, con taining much soluble humus. The same may be effected more slowly by mixing peat with clay or marl, and allowing the mixture to remain exposed to the atmosphere for a considerable time, frequently turning it. But nothing accelerates this process like the addition of putrescent animal matter, which acts as a ferment and greatly hastens the decom position. The soils for which peat forms the best manure are the chalky and clayey. Sand has too little tenacity ; it lets the gases produced by the decomposition escape, instead of attracting them, as clay and chalk do, and preventing their escape.
The burning of peat destroys the vegetable matter and leaves the earths and salts behind. They are accordingly very strong stimulants to vegetation, especially that of clovers and herbaceous plants, of which the leaves and stems are the most valuable parts. If the soil is well furnished with vegetable matter, and capable of bringing an abundance of seed to perfection, it may be very useful to apply stimu lating manures, such as peat ashes, to increase the verdure ; but on poor soils destitute of humus, the increase of the stems and leaves does not ensure a proportionate increase of seed. Hence it is often
remarked that soot, potash, saltpetre, and similar substances produce a deceitful growth, giving a rank green leaf, which is not succeeded by a heavy ear ; but, on the contrary, the produce in seed is rather diminished than increased by the use of the manure. Whenever a stimulating manure is used, the soil should be naturally rich, or enrich ing manure should be applied at the same time.
Where a great extent of peat-moss renders the improvement of it desirable, there are various ways in which it may be reclaimed. In some places the peat has been removed, and the loam which lay below it was found of a very fertile nature. This could only be done on the banks of rivers, into which the peat was floated by means of small canals dug through it, and communicating with the river. Iu all other eases the mode adopted has been that of draining and consolidating. In draining a peat-moss the water must not be let off too rapidly, for in that case the surface may become so loose and dry, that no vegeta tion can take place in it. If the water is drained off so as to leave two feet of peat dry above its level, this is all that is required for a beginning. The best improvement, and the most rapid, is produced by bringing sand or gravel in sufficient quantity to cover the surface with two or three inches of it. This will make a beginning of a soil, in which potatoes may be planted. At first tho surface will not bear the wheels of a cart nor the tread of a horse; but in a short time a solid crust will be formed, which will Increase in strength and thick nese as cultivation advances. There are many fine pastures in Scotland which once were brown peat-mosses, on which it would have been dangerous for a man to walk, but which now bear heavy oxen, and seem as solid as any pasture on a clay subsoil. Manuring and liming are the most effective operations in bringing about this great improvement. Potatoes and oats are usually the first crop on reclaimed peat-mosses.