n for all who may see fit to labor for its success. I trust
that all differences will speedily be harmonized, and that the friends
of the movement, once more united, may urge it forward to a most
complete and beneficent triumph.

PEAT MANUFACTURE.

The Peat Bogs of Ireland cover some Three Millions of Acres of its
surface, mainly in the heart of the country, though extending into every
part of it. Perhaps One Hundred Thousand Acres, chiefly in the
north-east, have been brought into cultivation; of the residue, some
yields a little sour pasturage, but the greater portion is of no use
whatever, save as it supplies a very poor but cheap fuel to the
peasantry. These bogs are of all depths from a few inches to thirty or
forty feet, though the very shallow have generally been reclaimed. This
is effected in some cases by removing the Peat or Turf altogether; but
sometimes, where it is quite deep, by ditching and draining it, and then
cutting and heaping up some six to twelve inches at the top, so that it
can be thoroughly burned, and the ashes spread over the entire surface
for a soil. This is not so deep as could be desired, but the climate is
so uniformly moist and the skies so rarely unclouded that it suffices to
insure very tolerable crops thereafter.

I do not know how the origin of these Bogs is accounted for by the
learned, but I presume the land they cover was originally a dense
forest, and that the Peat commenced growing as a sort of moss or fungus,
carpeting the ground and preventing the germination of any more trees.
In the course of ten or fifteen centuries, the forest trees (mainly of
Oak or Fir) decayed and fell into the Peat, which, dying at the top,
continued to grow at the bottom, while the perpetual moisture of the
climate prevented its destruction by fire. Thus the forest gradually
disappeared, and the Peat alone remained, gaining a foot in depth in the
course of two or three centuries until it slowly reached its present
condition.

Many efforts have been made to render this Peat available as a basis of
Manufacture and Commerce, but hitherto with little success. The
magnificent chemical discoveries heralded some two years ago, whereby
each bog was to be transformed into a mimic California, have not endured
the rough test of practical experience. There is no doubt that Peat
contains all the valuable elements therein set forth--Carbon, Ammonia,
Stearine, Tar, &c., but unfortunately it has hitherto cost m