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is a large extent of high ground, declining towards a flat moss,the influx of water being considerable, it lays the earth it bringsalong with it, on the edges of the moss, with every flood ; and,making gradual advances, sometimes covers the whole with themud which it deposits. After this mud is increased to such athickness, as to consolidate the moss, the parasitical plants, andtheir companions, by which moss is formed, perish, and landherbage succeeds, less or more agreeable to pasturing animals, asthe surface is worse or better freed of excess of water. As thesimple unmixed moss above described, is the most useless,,so thisis the most valuable, for the different purposes of rural economy.From its bowels a solid, warm, and lasting fuel may be obtain-ed. When exposed for some time to the weather, it makes anexcellent ingredient of compost manure. Its surface is easilyconverted into valuable meadow or pasture j and by proper cul-ture, is capable of yielding plentiful crops of roots or corn.
As a contrast to the former, some description of a peat mossof tills last kind shall here be given, by which some judgmentmay be formed of the intermediate gradations between the two.
For this purpose, a low moss was chosen, about three milesdistant from that before described. It is situated in a narrowvalley, between two ranges of high land. It appears to havebeen originally formed over a lake : for the water rising frombelow, will not suffer those who dig peat for fuel, to go beyonda certain depth ; and the declivity of the country, does not ad-mit of that water being drained aw r ay. The moss is certainly ofconsiderable depth, as a pole of 12 feet long did not reach thebottom. In a perpendicular section of this moss, a mixture ofits earths is seen, more than 10 inches under the surface ; and,for the uppermost 6 inches, "there was little mixture of moss.The surface has a thick cover of land herbage, very sweet onthe dry places, and coarser in the watery hollows. The mossmust be very ancient: for there are the marks of trees, whichhave been planted on its present surface, grown to a considerablesize, and now gone. The box above mentioned, was filled withthe black peat, about 4 feet under the surface, and weighed G1lib. 14 oz. Exactly 4 lib. of this was weighed, and exposed todry ; for little water could be squeezed out of it by compression:and this water, when submitted to all the forementioned tests,contained no more acid than the former. The 4. lib. of peat,when fully dried, weighed just 1 lib. ; and the weight of thewhole, divested of water, would be 15 lib. 7b oz. It wouldhave been desirable, to have made a number of experiments onthis anomalous substance, in all its various conditions, and withdifferent mixtures, to try if, by any means, the true cause of itsnatural sterility, and the mod practicable -mode of correfting it,would be difeovered. But the feafon was too far advanced, for car-rying thefe proceffes to 5 proper extent, - or to bring them to a final