1899] Mineral Resources of the Ottawa Valley. 19 



and the profits from its mining are proportionately reduced. 



In conection with the flat-lying deposits of the Pahuo/.oic 

 formations important mineral deposits are rarely found in this 

 part of our country, with the exception of certain areas of 

 Bog-iron ore, such as are seen near Vaudreuil; but the 

 liiTiestones and sandstones from the Potsdam to the Trenton 

 furnish abundant supplies of building stones often of quite as 

 much importance as sourcesof revenue asarethe mineral deposits 

 of the older crystalline rocks. 



Before taking up the question of the distribution of the ore 

 deposits in the older rocks it may not be out of place to say a 

 few words in reference to the development of a new industry 

 which in some localities has already been entered upon with 

 good prospects of remunerative returns. Unfortunately for 

 this at the present day, the glamour which surrounds our 

 mining areas in the west tends to draw away attention from 

 possible fields for profitable investment nearer home. I 

 refer to the utilization of our peat bogs, which form a con- 

 spicuous feature over many miles of our generally level country 

 between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. As much as thirty 

 years ago. the question of utilizing these peat bogs was brought 

 prominently forward in the country east of the St. Lawrence, 

 and a large quantity of the material was extracted and prepared 

 for fuel, principally for use on the Grand Trunk railway. The 

 operations in this direction were carried on at three principal 

 points, viz., ist., on the line of the Three Rivers branch railway, 

 2nd., in the great bog lying between the city of St. Johns and 

 Farnham, and 3rd., on the St. Lawrence River, near the village of 

 Port Louis, in the county of Huntingdon. A good demand arose 

 for the fuel and tests made b/ the Grand Trunls* railway were 

 apparently satisfactory to the company, who were quite prepared 

 to adopt it for the work of their road. The great objection how- 

 ever to its use at the time was its bulky nature, and the industry, 

 which at one time promised to assume great proportions, was 

 allowed to dwindle away. Recent experiments have, however, 

 shewed that, by a proper system of compression, a really excellent 

 fuel can be made, having a density nearly equal to that of 



