36 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



they exercise a marked influence on both agriculture and 

 forestry. Their importance from this point of view, which is 

 only beginning to be appreciated, has been clearly demonstrated 

 by Georg Roth.* According to this author, the mosses tend 

 to diminish floods and to reduce the gullying of the soil, at 

 the same time preserving its porosity. They are also of value 

 in adding to the richness of the soil through their decay and 

 in assisting in the disintegration of rocks. The Sphagnales, 

 through their peculiar place and habit of growth, are active 

 in converting lakes and ponds into bogs, which afford a foot- 

 hold for higher plants and eventually yield a serviceable soil. 

 From a commercial standpoint the Sphagnales are by far 

 the most important of the Bryophytes. In countries where 

 they are abundant they yield the best quality of peat. This 

 is produced by the death of the older portions of the Peat 

 Mosses, the living stems continuing their upward growth 

 indefinitely. As the dead layer becomes thicker, it becomes 

 more and. more compressed, and finally forms a firm and com- 

 pact mass at the bottom of the bog. This mass is cut into 

 bricks, which are dried and constitute the peat of commerce. 

 Of course the chief use of peat as a fuel is for domestic 

 purposes. In certain localities, however, it is charred and then 

 used in steel and copper mills, where its purity from foreign 

 substances and its power to produce an intense heat make it 

 especially effective. 



• The Peat Mosses are also useful as a packing substance. 

 In a dry form they are sometimes employed as a filling for 

 pillows and mattresses, especially those used by invalids. They 

 may also be wrapped around steam pipes or pacl^ed in the 

 walls of houses, where they act as a non-conducting sub- 

 stance. In a moist form they are being more and more used 

 by gardeners and florists as a packing material for vegetables 

 and other cultivated plants. Owing to their great power of 

 absorption. Peat Mosses are sometimes substituted for straw 

 in stables, and they have also been employed to a limited extent 

 in surgical dressings. The same peculiarity makes it possible 

 to use them for lamp-wicks in the far north. 



♦Die europiiischen Laubmoose. 1:62-77. Leipzig, 1905. 



