NATURE STUDY. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 



Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



Voiv. IV. December, 1903. No. 7. 



Peat Bogs. 



BY WILLIAM H. HUSE. 



When the supply of coal begins to fail to such an ex- 

 tent as to materially increase its cost, peat, the first state of 

 all coal, will come into more general use, either by simply 

 drying as is done in Ireland and some other countries now, 

 or b}^ pressing into briquettes, producing a condition sim- 

 ilar to that of some varieties of coal. The extent of peat 

 bogs is hardly comparable with that of the coal fields, but 

 it is large, more so than is generally supposed. One tenth 

 of the entire surface of Ireland is covered with peat, as well 

 as large portions of Scotland, England, France and other 

 countries on the continent. 



In this country peat bogs are common. Prof. Dana es-. 

 timates that in Massachusetts alone there are 15,000,000- 

 000 cubic feet of peat. In the north the vegetable deposit 

 is made by moss and shrubs. In the south the swamps 

 support large trees only, whose falling leaves and branches 

 do not completely decay in the water. When an old tree 

 topples over, its bulk is added to the general deposit. 



