ECONOMY OF PEAT FUEL. 331 



Blackstonc Valley with fuel, at a greatly reduced cost from that 

 at which it is now attainable. 



ECONOMICAL ADVANTAGES OF PEAT FUEL. 



Through the facilities afforded by such machines as we have 

 already described, or which may be brought into use hereafter, 

 it seems that the period is not very far distant when it is to be 

 hoped that the people of Massachusetts will realize the value 

 and importance of the immense deposits of fuel within the 

 borders of their own State, and hasten to enjoy the advantages 

 to be derived from its preparation for use. Should the question 

 arise, as it doubtless will) in many minds, why a material pos- 

 sessing so much value and importance as peat, should have been 

 so long neglected and overlooked, even in localities where wood 

 and coal are scarce and dear, our reply must be, that the fulness 

 of time had not arrived for their development, until American 

 mechanism had triumphed over the obstacles which prevented 

 its economical production. It seems to us, that precisely in the 

 same maimer, if not in the same degree, that the inventive skill 

 of Eli Whitney enhanced the value of lands adapted to the 

 growth of cotton, and gave an impetus to the agriculture of the 

 country, such as it never received before or since ; that the appli- 

 cation of suitable machinery to the immense deposits of excel- 

 lent fuel which lie all about us, is destined to work out similar 

 grand results. Peat in the bog, dependent upon hand labor 

 alone for its preparation and development into fuel, is as value- 

 less as cotton in the seed before the days of the cotton-gin. But 

 with the aid of proper machinery and steam-power combined, it 

 may, in a very short space of time, be converted into a market- 

 able commodity at a handsome profit, and having a specific 

 value like that of all the other productions of our fields, forests, 

 and mines. The peat question has, in our opinion, passed the 

 experimental stage. We take it for granted that the people 

 have no need to inquire what it is good for, because the adapt- 

 ability of condensed air-dried peat to all the domestic purposes 

 for which coal and wood are used, has been so completely 

 demonstrated during the past few years in so many different 

 localities. In saying this we do not intend to convey the idea 

 that peat fuel is to drive coal and wood out of the market, but 

 we do say that it is capable of furnishing a cheap and convenient 



