be found. Indeed, wherever vegetation can be sustained, there they are,
affording protection to the roots and seeds of more delicate vegetables,
and, by their spongy texture, retaining a moisture which preserves other
plants from the withering drought of summer. But even in winter we find
them enlivening, by their verdure, the cold bosom of Nature. We see them
abounding in our pastures and our woods, attaching themselves to the
living, and still more abundantly to the dead, trunks and branches of
trees. In marshy places they also abound, and become the medium of their
conversion into fruitful fields. This is exemplified by the manner in
which peat-mosses are formed: on the surface of these we find them in a
state of great life and vigour; immediately below we discover them, more
or less, in a state of decomposition; and, still deeper, we find their
stems and branches consolidated into a light brown peat. Thus are
extensive tracts formed, ultimately to be brought into a state of
cultivation, and rendered subservient to the wants of man.