In the Parliamentary
Session of 1835, a Committee of the House of Commons on public works
reported that "no experiment was necessary to persuade any scientific
man of the possibility of carrying into effect the reclamation of
bogs." Nor is this strongly expressed opinion to be wondered at,
founded, as it was, upon such evidence as the following:--
Mr. Griffith deposed that--
"The mountain bog of the south of Ireland--the moory bog--varies in
depth from nine inches to three feet, below which there is a clayey or
sandy subsoil. On the average, about L4 per statute acre is required to
bring it from a state of nature to one of cultivation, and then it will
fetch a rent of from 5s. to 10s. per English acre."
Again:
"L1 4s. an acre is the highest estimate for the draining of this land in
covered drains; the remainder of the expense consists in the trenching
up the surface, turning up the subsoil, and mixing it with the bog; no
manure is wanted, a portion of the bog being burned for that purpose."
With regard to deep bogs, his testimony was as follows:
"The expense of reclaiming deep bogs per acre may be estimated
thus:--Drainage of an English acre, in the most perfect way, about L1
4s.
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