The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1906-02-02
Peat Beds Cover 4 Big Portion Of
.3s Southern MINI, sofa and
Northern Iowa.
Lands Now Await Commercial
DeveIopment..Se several Good
,g+-s1 - -szz,Es5, Il 5s'et," ~,
Towns in Region. *.

Minnesota ana northern iowa tn9r0
| i'd a peat bed of such area that should
every fire place in the two states
|nse peat for fuel for. one. entire
winter, the supply would be barely
uncovered. - !" -, ~. g, . ~,.,.
Between %, 900, 600 and IS, 600, 600
tons Of dry peat fuel await CONNER
lcial development and mark eting in
l;this REGION. In the nine northern
counties of Iowa, according TO the
Estate geological survey in a recently
ISSUED bulletin, there are from 600
TO 1000, tons Of good peat on every
Eacre of land. 800 .5zs' W.T. W.T.
Cerro Gordo county. leads IS
counties Of Iowa in the supply Of
this unused fuel, so far as quantity
Igoes, though the quality is similar
lin each county. In 10 counties the
Igreat accumulation of the ages
exists - r.
The greater number Of boys
where the peat is found are dry,
or almost so. In. some no: water
was reached at a depth of nine or
ton feet. The dryness is partially
due to artificial drainage, and
partly to the prevailing arid con-
ditions which exists now, but wer 9
unknown so years ago. Many of
the areas support a heavy growth
lof sedges and slough grass, and
are utilized for wild or pasture ge,
while few have been under the
Iplow.
Although there is quite wider
lrange in the character cf the peat
found in these marshes, the most
lof it is somewhat tibrous brown In
color, and consists of very pure
vegetable debris, with scarcely a
particle of mud. It also showed
very little evidence of oxidation due
ito the drying Of the bogs and the
lexposure to the air. --.
The fortunate distribution of the
peat in reference to towns is very
/ favorble to the perfect exploration
Of the material as fuel, r.
Clear Lake. Emmetsburg, Ruthve,
Sheldon, Sibley, Primghar, Lake
Mills and other towns in northern
Iowa, together with several good
Minnesota towns with the best
railroad connections, will prove a
boom to- the capitalist who dares to
develop this astamount of nature g
heat for: use in the ranges and
heaters Of the modern residences.
Little has been done towards
utilizing the peat deposits in this
state. Small quantities of cut peat
have been burned at various places.
al Bows . fuel company prepared
some amount Of the peat in small
way. Several tons OF the cut peat
were gathered from q bog and manu-
featured: into peat fuel. Special
machinery to mould the peat into
bricks Of various sizes are being
perfected and when the time arrives
for their testing, the country may
expect TO be asked to receive the
new and novel kind of coal. It is
estimated that prepared peat can
BIZ furnished to the consumer at a
good profit for % per ton.
The geological survey does not
entertain the belief that the beds of
peat in Iowa will be developed
Immediately, but hold to the belief
that lie the near future it will be
desirable article Of commercialism.
IN Ireland and England the people
have long been burning peat fuel,
and havealways found it very salts
factory There holds to the belief
that in the future many towns in
the peat fields will be utilizing the
products from the boys to produce
gas FOR light heat end other pur-
poses, as gas is a by-product OF
this material. The vast amount ct
the material would indicate that
the development of the peat would:
some day provide a means OF
livelihood for many thousands Of
workmen. "
A man who once had rough horny
hands made them smooth. with
Witch Hazel Salve, but he used the
genuine that bearing the name ''E.
G.. Dewitt q Co. Chicago" For
sores, boils, cuts, burns, bruises, etc.,
it has no equal, and affords almost