204 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



hydrogen, and other feted gases in great volume. Provide upon 

 wheels boxes of about one cubic yard contents, and arranged to be 

 easily emptied ; one of which boxes fill with the prepared peaty 

 matter, and place one or more of each along side of the purifying 

 chest. The chest being opened, empty the contents sieve by 

 sieve into the empty box, an attendant standing by the peat and 

 throwing over the lime from each sieve about an equal quantity of 

 the peat, until the box is full, when it is removed to the place of 

 deposit, and another subsituted in its stead. The work of open- 

 in<T the chest and removing its contents should be as expeditious 

 as possible, for which reason it will be well if the chest be so 

 placed that it can be worked on each of its four sides. To render 

 this process complete and most efficient, a grinding mill should be 

 used convenient to the works, and to which mill the mixture 

 should be conveyed in the boxes and dumped over the hopper. 

 The mill is for the purpose of thoroughly and quickly incorporat- 

 ing; the lime in uniform fineness by breaking up all lumps. From 

 the mill the mixture should be placed in barrels and headed up 

 for sale. By this operation there will be a very slight escape of 

 gas, and then for only a brief interval, and a valuable mixture is 

 obtained, which will not only serve in a great degree to meet the 

 expense of the lime to the gas companies, but will preserve for 

 ao-ricultural use a valuable commodity now absolutely wasted." 



Peat — ITS Uses and Cost of Manufacture — its Value as Fuel 



fOR Farmers. 



Mr. Solon Robinson submitted an article upon the subject of 

 Peat which he said had given rise to a great deal of inquiry, and 

 had already convinced some farmers that lands M^hich they had 

 heretofore considered w'orthless were the most valuable they 

 possess. Mr. Kobinson asked to have the article submitted to a 

 committee to inquire whether it was not worthy of being incorpo- 

 rated into the volume which contains the reports of this club. 



In the same connection he read a letter from Mr. Delos Dunton, 

 Pekin, Niagara county, N. Y., which details the "operations of 

 Mr. S. Robert's Peat machine which you mention in your valuable 

 article on Peat. I give you some details of the working of the 

 machine, which is operated by three men and a boy, the latter 

 moving the spreader, and one of the men acting as engineer and 

 fireman, the other two digging the peat from the bog and placing 

 it upon the elevator which carries it from the top of the mill Avhere 



