Neglected Peat A more or less new sort of land
reclamation'is,being urged on °us by the Danes who, front necessity during the war, burnt peat in place of coal. One Danish lecturer (quoted in the Estates Magazine) alleges that over 1,000,000 acres of peat could be exploited in England, and it is added that such work would be thrice or more than thricehles,sed. The peat would be invaluable for gardeners, would keep the home fires burning and its extraction would enable the land to be used for agrictilture. In two districts overseas I have watched the process of converting peaty bogs into farmland—in Newfoundland and in Western Australia, not so far from Perth—and if peat can be secured during the process the work of such reclamation ought to be much reduced. At the /same time there are few scenes of desolation—or so it has 'seemed to ne—more distressing that the derelict peat mines in parts of West Ireland, where peat-digging is an essential of the rural economy.
Previous page
