The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1903-03-14
Some New Uses of Peat.
From the Scientific American.

From the Scientific American.
One of the most interesting and attrac-
tive exhibits at the Vienna exposition of
last year was a building containing the
most diverse articles made from peat.
Everything in the building, from the car
pets on the floor to the curtains at the
windows and the paper on the wall, had
been made from peat. These were but
representatives of what will undoubtedly
soon becomes great industry and give to
the peat hogs of the world value never
dreamed of.
Credit for the discovery of the possibil-
ities Of peat belongs chiefly to Vienna
gentleman, Herr Carl A. Zschorner His
investigations into its nature began some
II years ago with study by means of the
microscope of what is called in Austria
''torfstreu This is the layer of moss
which covers the most peat bogs. 1t has
hitherto, by those who have made use of
the peat for fuel, been, at considerable
expense, removed and thrown away. Herr
Zsehorner' $ examination showed that the
plant remains which make up this layer
abound in hollow, spiral cells. These alb
sorb water and other fluids with great
ayidity While ordinary straw cannot
absorb over four times its weight of fluids,
this peat straw viii absorb ten times its
weight The peat straw, moreover, pos
sesses the antiseptic aud disinfeetant quail
ities of peat, qualities which have been
known. but of which little use has been
made
Herr Zschorner accordingly hit upon
the idea Of drying the straw and using it
as an absorbent in stables, breweries and
various manufactures For such purpose
it proved most admirably adapted, and the
demand for the product soon grew large.
Having greater absorbtive power than or
dinary straw, the peat straw can be used
much longer in any given place, and yet
will have proportionately greater manurial
value, Ii gives healthy, resilient foot
ing also for animals, For packing of both
perishable aud breakable articles it is also
better than ordinary straw, since it is more
elastic and less easily penetrated by heat
aud cold
Herr Zsehorner did not rest his investi-
gations here. 4 further study of the peat
itself showed that it was very largely made
up of 6bers. These fibers come from the
remains of reeds and grasses, which, grow
ing aud drying in successive generations,
form the peat In their submergence the
reeds and grasses suffered no anatomical
change, but their physical and chemical
character became entirely different. The
organic substance of the plant became in
organic, - that nothing capable of fer
mentation or decay was left, while the
fbrous structure remained intact. These
fihers then were found to have unusual
physical properties They were found to
be very durable, very elastic, to be non
conductors of heat and noncombustible.
If fabric could be woven fron them,
it would be one possessing unique proper
ties To the toughness of linen it would
add the warmth of wool, an absorbent
power greater than that of cotton and the
indestructibility of asbestus. 1t must,
however. be woven without the aid of oils
or water, or much of its value would be
lost
After II years of experimenting Herr
Zschorner succeeded in making the peat
fbers weavable. There is now, therefore,
scarcely any textile article which cannot
be made from peat. Coats, hats, carpets,
rugs, ropes, mating and pillows are some
of the articles which have been made and
have been found useful What superiority
these will prove TO have in practice over
fabrics made from other fbers only time
will tell Some of them have, however,
already been proved to be immensely su-
perior to any other fabrics. This is es-
pecially true of the blankets and other
coverings used for horses and cattle, for
they greatly excel in warmth, absorbent
power, cleanliness and durability. The
unspun fiber promises to be valuable
substitute for absorbent cotton, since it
will not only absorb much greater guam
tity of blood and other fluids than cotton,
but it possesses powerful antiseptic proper
ties as we'll The coarser fiber it is ex-
pected will come into favor for use in up
holstery work, its extraordinary elasticity
making it most valuable for this purpose.
The latest achievement of the discoverer
of the uses of peat has been the making of
paper from the fiber This has been car
ried to such an extent that paper of almost
every variety of weight and quality can be
made, while the toughdess and durability
of each is equal to that of paper from any
kind of vegetable pulp. The above are
but a few of the uses to which this re-
markable fiber can be put, but they indi-
cate possibilities which may yet rank peat
bogs among tie most valuable of the
world resources