MINERAL INDUSTRIES 1' EAT. 



59 



PEAT. 



The investigations of the peat deposits of the State made dur- 

 ing 1908, 1909 and 1910, b}^ the State Geological Survey in cu-oper- 

 ation with the United States Geological Survey, not only demon- 

 strated that extensive peat deposits are widely distributed through- 

 out the State, but also showed that the fuel value of the Florida peat 

 is well up to the average of that of other countries. The original 

 report on the peat deposits of the State was published in the Third 

 Annual Report of the State Geological Survey,* from which is 

 taken the following table of analyses of Florida peats together 

 with the explanation of the samples and comments on the analyses. 

 The onlv plant mining peat in Florida at present is that of the 

 Ranson Humus Company, Pablo Beach. , 



Fig. 20. — Peat prairie covering several huirdred acres (locality No. l-i), 

 about a mile northwest of Haines City, Polk County. 



ANALYSES OF FLORIDA PEAT SAMPLES. 



The subjoined table shows the percentage of water, mineral matter, vol- 

 atile combustible matter, fixed carbon, sulphur, and (in a few cases) nitro- 

 gen, and the fuel value, of the samples of Florida peat collected by the writer 

 in 1908-1910 and analyzed in the peat laboratory of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey at Pittsburgh, Pa., mostly under the direction of Dr. F. M. Stanton. 



In the number assigned to each sample the figures before the decimal 

 point indicate the consecutive number of the locality, the first figure after 

 the decimal point the number of the hole from which the sample was taken, 

 and the last figure the number of the sample from that hole. In most cases 



*A Preliminary Report on the Peat Deposits of Florida, by Roland M. 

 Harper. 



