tical purposes this treatment with carbonate of soda may be
dispensed with, since the amount of undecomposed fiber is gathered with
sufficient accuracy from careful inspection of the peat.

Special examination of the organic acids is of no consequence in the
present state of our knowledge.

4th. The _proportion of nitrogen_ is of the first importance to be
ascertained. In examinations of 30 samples of peat, I have found the
content of nitrogen to range from 0.4 to 2.9 _per cent._, the richest
containing seven times as much as the poorest. It is practically a
matter of great moment whether, for example, a Peruvian guano contains
16 _per cent._ of nitrogen as it should, or but one-seventh that amount,
as it may when grossly adulterated. In the same sense, it is important
before making a heavy outlay in excavating and composting peat, to know
whether (as regards nitrogen) it belongs to the poorer or richer sorts.
This can only be done by the complicated methods known to the chemist.

5th. The estimation of _ammonia_ (actual or ready-formed,) is a matter
of scientific interest, but subordinate in a practical point of view.

6th. _Nitric acid_ and _nitrates_ can scarcely exist in peat except
where it is well exposed to the air, in a merely moist but not wet
state. Their estimation in composts is of great interest, though
troublesome to execute.

7th. As regards the ash, its red color indicates _iron_. Pouring
hydrochloric acid upon it, causes effervescence in the presence of
_carbonate of lime_. This compound, in most cases, has been formed in
the burning, from humate and other organic salts of lime. _Sand_, or
_clay_, being insoluble in the acid, remains, and may be readily
estimated.

_Phosphoric acid_ and alkalies, especially _potash_, are, next to lime,
the important ingredients of the ash. _Magnesia_ and _sulphuric acid_,
rank next in value. Their estimation requires a number of tedious
operations, and can scarcely be required for practical purposes, until
more ready methods of analyses shall have been discovered.

8th. The quantity of _matters soluble in water_ has considerable
interest, but is not ordinarily requisite to be ascertained.

6.--_Composition of Connecticut Peats_.

In the years 1857 and 1858, the author was charged by the Connecticut
State Agricultural Society[8] with the chemical investigation of 33
samples of peat and swamp muck, sent to him in compliance with official
request.

In the foreg