OF WHAT VALUE IS IT? 23 



1,000,000, the remainder, 2,000,000 tons an- 

 nually, being produced in the other northern 

 portions of Europe, principally England, 

 Ireland, Denmark, and Holland. 



A marked development in the utilization 

 of peat for the manufacture of fuel, illumin- 

 ating and producer gas, for the production 

 of ammonium salts and other byproducts, 

 has recently taken place in Sweden, iGer- 

 many, Russia, and other countries of Europe, 

 and has aroused new interest in the possi- 

 bilities of the full latent value of peat de- 

 posits as public resources. 



Davis* estimates that the total area of 

 swamp land in the United States is nearly 

 140,000 square miles. Of this, 8 per cent, or 

 about 11,200 square miles, is assumed to have 

 peat beds of good quality this is peat prob- 

 ably under the best muck in the United 

 States averaging at least 9 feet in depth 

 and containing 200 tons of dry fuel per acre 

 for each foot in thickness. This equals 

 12,888,500,000 tons of dry fuel. Its value at 

 $3 a ton, if compressed into bricks, would be 

 $38,665,700,000. 



* Bulletin 394, U. S. Geological Survey 



