The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-03-21
WORKING OF "REDsn WOULD RE-
LlEvE FUEL DEMAND.
MUCH USED IN OTHER LANDS
United States Has Extensive Deposits
That Could Be Worked To Ad-
vantage and Profit.--LittIe
Now Produced.

the commercial development of the
vast peat deposits in the United States
would materially relieve our present
shortage of fuel Although peat has
never been largely used as fuel in this
country because of our abundant sup
ply Of coal which can be more readily
prepared for consumption and in nor
NAL times more cheaply brought to the
consumer, it has long been used in
Europe were 100000 to 10000, 900
tons are consumed annually in gener.
ating heat and power.
The attempts made in this country
TO manufacture peat fuel on com
llercial scale have not been successful
but the failure appears to have been
due not to a lack of market for the
product but to the lack of sufficient
capital, to the inexperience of the OPP
orators, and to preventable engineer
ing errors. 1t is said that air.dried
machine peat. which is but little in
ferior in calorific value to many grades
OF Ignite coal, can be produced at a
cost ranging from rs cents to $3.50 a
ton, the exact figure depending on the
size and the efficiency of the plant;
and it is believed that in some parts
of the country it could successfully
compete with other fuels for both do
nestle and industrial use. 1t burns
with little smoke and ash. and wher
ever it has been used in this country
it has proved very satisfactory and
has found ready sale as fast as it has
been produced.
Much Used In Europe.
The wide interest felt in the large
use of peat in the United States is ex-
pressed in recent messages from the
governors of Maine and Massachusetts
to the legislatures of those states,
recommending an investigation of the
local deposits of peat and its possible
use. to relieve the present shortage of
fnel.
The lack of other fuel in many Eu-l
rcpean countries is now being SUPP
piled in part by an increased use OIL
peat According to United States Com
merce reports ZIG peat machines were
in operation in Norway in 1917 COM,
pared with SO in 1916 and SO in 1914.
chimes each costing $13,4O0, having
a daily capacity of 80 to 40 tons of
fuel, and requiring only two men for
its operation. /
Peat consumed in a property design
ed gas producer yields gas of good
quality and in abundant quantity in
comparison with the yield from coal,
as we'll as many valuable by-products.
This is perhaps the most effective util-
ization of peat fuel for generating
heat and power, because peat that is
to be used in this way does not need
10 be carefully prepared nor as thor
oughly dried as peat that is to be con-
sumed under steam boilers.
Specific information with regard to
the use of peat in gas-producing plants
and for other purposes is given in
bulletin prepared under the supervis-
ion of the United States Geological
Survey but published as Bulletin IL of
the Bureau of Mines, from which
copies of it may be obtained.
Nature and Distribution of Deposits
Peat is a dark-brown or black resi-,
DUN produced by the partial decom-
position of mosses, sedges and other
vegetable matter in marshes and like
wet places Most of the peat deposits
of this country occur in depressions
and poorly drained areas in regions
where the temperature OF the air ana
the soil is low in summer and the hui
Nudity of the air is high. The most
extensive peat beds are found in New
England and around the Great Lakes,
where the climate and the topography
are favorable to the accumulation OF
partly decomposed vegetable matter,
Many deposits are found also in the
Atlantic Coastal Plain, from New
Jersey southwark to Florida. In re.
CONS of heavy rainfall along the Pa
cific coast peat boys wherever the
drainage is so greatly interrupted that
the soil becomes permanently satur-
ated with water.
The Second Annual Report OF the
Public Utilities Commission OF Maine
contains descriptions of many peat
boys in that state. Detailed informa-
ton relating to the occurrence OF this
material in Maine and map showing
the location of workable deposits in
fllatd State can also be found in United
states Geological Survey, Bulletin 376,
which, though no longer available for
free distribution, may be obtained
from the Superintendent Of Docu-
ments, Government Printing oftice,
Washington. d. c., for 20 cents
copy
Extent Of Deposits.
II is estimated that more than 1000
square miles of swamp land in the
United States contains peat beds OF
good quality, and that the total avail
able fuel in these deposits would
; amount to more than 12,OO0,OOO,OO0
tons, quantity that. II 1t could be dis
tributed. would furnish heat and pow
err for the entire country for many
years. Much Of this material is IN