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dressing of lime, which is well incorporated with the soil, bywhich means it is enabled to produce abundant crops ef wheat,beans, barley, See. for several years. It has been already strong-ly insisted upon in the chapter on arable land, that the best modeof managing fertile soils is carefully to preserve their fertility andproductive power uninjured, and not to exhaust and fertilize themalternately.
It is proper to state, that a gentleman of this district madean attempt, some years ago, to improve a considerable portionof his moss after the Ayrshire method,-by draining the surface,digging it up, and laying on lime ; but the experiment did notsucceed. Another proprietor tried also to improve two acres af-ter the same method, one acre on the upper fioxv stratum or high-er moss, the other on the spread field. In both of those he hadtolerable crops of potatoes ; but oats and grass did not succeed.Indeed it is not surprising that attempts at surface improvementin these mosses should fail. It cannot be expected that any ma-nure will convert much of their upper wet spongy substance into asoil fit for vegetation ; and even though, by accumulating ma-nure upon the surface, an adventitious stratum of good soil couldbe created, still the inert cold wet moss which lies below musthave the effect of chilling the surface, and destroying vegetation.The Ayrshire method may do, and has actually proved effectualin reclaiming mosses of small depth, and having a favourable de-clivity. But in the deep level mosses of Airth, St Ninians, Kip-pen, and Kincardine, the only certain method of improvementappears to be to remoye the whole mass, and to lay bare die sub-jacent clay.
No. II .—Moss of Kincardine.
The moss of Kincardine, in the parish of that name, lies be Ttween the rivers Forth andTc-ith, in that part of Perthshire call-ed Monteiih. The lower extremity is about a mile above theconfluence of these rivers, whence it extends about four milesin length, and from one to two in breadth ; and, before the com-mencement of the operations for its removal, comprehended near2000 Scots, or 2500 statute acyes, of which about 1500 Scots acres, or 1875 English , belonged to the estate of Blair Drum-mond, the property of the late illustrious Lord Karnes, by hismarriage with Miss Drummond, the heiress of that estate. '
This extensive moss lies upon a field of clay, which is a con-tinuation of the rich extensive flats in the neighbourhood of Stir-ling and Falkirk , distinguished by the name of Corses. Thiscarse clay, which is one uniform homogeneous mass sinking to agreat depth, consists of different colours, and is disposed in pay-ers or strata. The uppermost layer is grey ; the next reddish ;and the lowest, which is the most fertile, is blue. Not a pebble