Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

118 PEAT.
season, something- to add to the heap. But if once
thoroughly pared and laid bare, the g-rowth ceases, as
no seeds can easily attach themselves to it; and now
that this is understood, the pared surface is removed and
again replaced on that of the cavity whence it has been
dug. In land so formed as to permit its being drained, it
is firm; if otherwise, it becomes a semi-fluid paste or soft
bog. It is from this cause that such bogs are rare in the
Highlands, and almost always of small extent; the form
of the country in general, being such as to admit of its
easy drainage. It is from these fluid bogs that the erup-
tions, such as that of Solway Moss and the recent ones in
Ireland, proceed ; and thus peat occasionally finds its
way to places where it would not have grown.
Mountain peat, if formed on the declivities of hills,
or, what amounts to the same thing, on dry moorlands,
is rarely more than a foot in depth, and frequently
not many inches. It is generally of an incompact tex-
ture, and often, very imperfect ; containing a large pro-
portion of half decomposed vegetables. From its state of
drainage, it is generally easy to bring it into cultivation ;
but its fertility is much regulated by the extent of its de-
composition and by the fineness and laxity of its texture.
The plants which form it, are chiefly the usual heaths
and rushes of these soils. Where Forest peat is pure, it
is easily known by its flaky texture, even if there should
be no roots or fragments of trees present. The wood is
commonly that of fir; sometimes also, birch, alder, and
oak. But, in general, this peat is of a mixed quality;
being formed conjointly, of the fragments and trunks of
trees, and of the plants which grow under their shade or
have succeeded on the swampy spots which usually follow
the destruction of a wood in a mountainous country.
Marsh peat is among the most noted, both for its extent