494 AXMAf. RIOrOKT OF THE Off. Doc. 



while not encouraging any expensive investigation, may, nevertheless, 

 in a local way, contain oil or gas or both; such, for instance the 

 Findlay district, in Ohio and Indiana, wherein the Lower Silurian 

 Limestone formations supplied for a long season and may yet fur- 

 nish gas and oil, much to the surprise of geologists ; these limestone 

 rocks being variously from 12,000 to 15,000 feet geologically beneath 

 our Devonian rocks which supply most of the oil and gas in this State. 

 Moreover, it appears that our oil and the oil from many of the states 

 and countries is largely of vegetable origin, while a notable excep- 

 tion is found in one district at least in California, where the fact 

 that the oil will nurture larvae seems to indicate the marine animal 

 as its main source, while, of course, California has other fields por- 

 ducing oil similar to our own, but, as is the case with many other 

 states, the California oil is inferior to ours in commercial value and 

 various products. 



It is well to bear in mind the facts herein stated, and realize that 

 it is only by the gradual process of investigation, drilling and careful 

 study that we acquire additional knowledge and discover new fields 

 of oil and gas for our present benefit, and much yet to be disclosed 

 for the well being of those that succeed us and whose names as well 

 as our own have long been 'Vritten in the book of Creation." 



THE PEAT BEDS OF NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA 



By DR. WM. FREAK, Chemist 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture: — 

 Pennsylvania with her constant increase in population places upon 

 the farmer the responsibility for providing a steadily increasing food 

 supply, in which variety as well as quantity must be regarded as im- 

 portant factors. As far as conditions of production and transporta- 

 tion will allow, these supplies should be produced within our own 

 borders. In view of the growing food demand, it is of great im- 

 portance to the continued prosperity of the State as a whole that not 

 only the methods of handling her present cultivated areas be im- 

 proved, but also that the great areas within her borders that have 

 not yet been brought under subjection and planted with food crops, 

 be carefully studied to the end that they may be used for such purpose 

 wherever their nature is such that they may be used for such purpose 

 contribute to these supplies. The recent work by the State Experi- 

 ment Station in co-operation with the United States Bureau of Soils 

 in the study of the lands adaptable to the production of the apple 

 and peach represents one promising effort of this kind. There are, 

 however, numerous other promising subjects of study having the 

 same end in view. Among these the development and use of the peat 

 beds of the State are worthy of serious consideration and, judging 

 from the growing number of applications made to the Experiment 

 Station for analysis of these beds, public interest in them is 

 growing. 



