PEAT AND ITS USES 43 



and it is unnecessary to provide for a long experi- 

 mental development. It is apparent therefore that 

 the more fibrous kinds of peat, when they are found 

 in Ohio, may be put to a number of profitable uses, 

 besides making them into fuel; while the black 

 plastic types, which are of frequent occurrence, have 

 other possibilities, although they are not adapted 

 to the same uses for which the first may be recom- 

 mended." 



Dr. Dachnowski's comments are of considerable 

 interest and importance from my present standpoint. 

 While they show that there are a considerable num- 

 ber of uses to which peat can be put, they indicate 

 clearly that they are not sufficiently important to 

 make any large demand on the world's peat resources, 

 and that the agriculturist who wishes to make use of 

 bacterized peat for the improvement of his land need 

 not fear that it will be necessary for him to compete 

 with other peat users for the raw material. 



In discussing the uses of peat I have made no 

 reference to the possibility of its being used for its 

 own sake as a fertilizer for the land. Peat, as such, 

 is useless for the purpose. The nitrogenous and 

 other organic substances in it are almost insoluble, 

 and are not available as plant foods, while the facts 

 that it is acid and antiseptic render its employment 

 raw definitely harmful. As peat-moss manure, 

 however, it has been employed on the land, but it 

 must be used with suitable precautions. In Decem- 

 ber, 1911, the Journal of the Board of Agriculture 

 brought this out very plainly, as the result of an 

 experiment accidentally made at Kew Gardens. 

 Speaking of the litter, the Journal states: "It is 



