59
ly rolling, is of great fervice to peat, under grafs or corn ; andthat by fand, gravel or clay, fpread over the furface of a peaty foil,Hill more fo.
4. Miscellaneous Observations on Moss Culture.
It may be proper to give a sketch of the observations made byMr Aiton on the various crops which may be grown on cultivat-ed moss. *
Wheat has been grown of excellent quality, and abundant inquantity, on the cultivated mosses of Lancashire , but does notappear to have been hitherto attempted on the reclaimed mossesof Scotland .
Oats appear to be the grain best adapted for moss culture. MrAiton reckons 48 bushels the acre as only a medium crop on moss,and speaks of 70 and 80 bushels an acre as no unusual crops ;and even says that the best crop he ever saw grow was on culti-vated moss during its second rotation.
Barley , and bear or big, grow well on moss after lime is ap-plied; and great crops of rye have been produced on estivatedmosses.
Peas and beans are said to produce excellent crops, and tohave most beneficial effects in rotting the peat, so as to render itvery productive for the succeeding crops of oats,
Potatoes, cultivated in the way termed lazy-bed, have been longgrown with much success on moss soils in Ireland and Scotland ,both as to quantity and quality of produce.
Turnips, and rata-baga, grow with great luxuriance on mosssoils, so as to equal the best crops in the neighbouring real tur-nip soils. Doubts, however, are entertained concerning the prac-ticability of consuming turnips on moss soil, or carrying themoff, without vast difficulty and injury.
Carrots are considered to grow better on moss soil than onany other; and an instance is given of a crop in Lancashire weigh-ing 84 tons the statute acre, which could have been sold at therate of 70 1 .; some of the carrots being three feet long, and eleveninches in circumference at the thick end.
Greens, cabbages, and cauliflowers, grow well on moss ; and MrAiton mentions having seen a luxuriant crop of coleseed on im-proved moss in Caithness, the property of the President of theBoard of Agriculture.
With regard to the grasses which should be cultivated on im-proved moss, Mr Aiton states hose-grass, the holcus lanatus, asproducing a valuable return both in hay and pasture. But herecommends the American Timothy grass, or phleutn pratense, +•
* Second Treatise, p. 56. et s°q.
t Very heavy crops of this grass have been grown by the Rector of the Apa-dvmy of Close-burn, in Dumiries-shire, on peat.