1S8 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



usually originate on flat bogs, but that the latter necessarily give origin 

 to the former if they grow large enough, a raised bog always arising 

 when the available mineral substances have been used up in the form- 

 ation of flat bog. Once started, the Sphagnum, if backed by an abund- 

 ance of mineral-free water, grows ujjwards, taking the water by capil- 

 larity with it. The water falling in rain upon it settles, especially towards 

 the edge, and the growth is there active, so that it overflows its basin, 

 joins with the moss from other overflowing basins, fills new ones, and 

 flows down and up slopes. If a forest stands in its way, as is usually the 

 case, it is overwhelmed. The limit to the growth in height depends on 

 water suj^ply, and may be reached either when the utmost height to 

 which the moss can raise water by capillarity is reached, or when by 

 climatic or other changes the supply is diminished. The lateral growth 

 would be limited only by geographical conditions or water supply, but it 

 could go on long after the growth in height has stopped. 



I hope to make fui'ther studies upon the flat bogs of the pro- 

 vince, especially those of the North Shore, which show natural sections 

 cut by the sea. 



Finallj' the Economies of the raised bogs merit some attention.^ In 

 Europe the moss from them has long been used, and in great quantities, 

 as a bedding for horses and for various sanitarj- purposes, for which its 

 antiseptic qualities and great absorptive power make it especially adapted. 

 It can absorb some twenty times its own dry weight of water, and in 

 stables, by absorbing all liquid matters and allowing the water to 

 evaporate, it retains the nitrogenous matter and becomes a valuable fer- 

 tilizer. Considerable quantities are imported into New York from Ger- 

 many for stable use. but no attempt to utilize our own bogs for this pur- 

 pose appears to have been made until a few years ago, when a company, 

 attracted by the great jnirity of the Spruce Lake bog, attempted to work 

 it. It was soon found that natural methods of drying the moss as prac- 

 tised in Europe are nt)t here practicable, partly on account of the cost of 

 labour, partly on account of the foggy weather. Five years ago the bog 

 came into the hands of :\Ir. W. F. Todd, of St. Stephen, N.B., who 

 atte?ni)ted to make steam and machinery supplant hand labour, and arti- 

 ficial replace natural heat. After long experimenting an ingenious system 

 of machinery was constructed by which moss was dug from the bog, passed 

 through presses and hot air chambers and over hot air cylinders, and 

 ]iressed into bales and read}' for shipment, all within three hours from the 



. 1 See note on this subject by Chalmers. Report, 189.5. M. 121. 

 Important data on the usefulness of the moss for sanitary purposes, etc., are 

 contained in Bulletin No. 49, 1897, of the liaboratory of the Inland Revenue Depart- 

 ment, Ottawa. Attempts have been made to work a bog in AVelland Co., Ontario 

 of which a full account with other matter of value is contained in an article 

 Thos. W. Gibson in Proc. Canadian Institute, 1897, .51 -.54. 



