54 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



regulated by the admission of cold air. The hot blast, after passing over the moss, 

 emerges, laden with moisture, into a wooden shaft, and so into the outer air. At 

 the end of the drying tunnel the moss falls into a conveyer, from which it is ele- 

 vated into a weighing bin, or hopper, situated above a baling press, or packer. The 

 hopper works automatically, and as soon as a sufficient weight is received it de- 

 posits its load in the press, which isia machine of peculiar design, worked by 

 steam power. On a revolving circular platform are four stout wooden moulds. In 

 one of these wooden slats are placed to assist in securing the bale after it is pressed ; 

 it passes under the press, the workman above moves a lever, and a plunger descends 

 with a pressure of 200 tons, forcing the moss firmly into the mould. The platform 

 makes a quarter revolution, and while the second mould is being filled, number one 

 is being secured with wire, and at the third turn the finished bale is removed, 

 ready for shipment. The weight of a bale is 250 to 260 pounds. A knuckle-joint 

 press is subsidiary to the steam press, but is seldom required. The bales are stored 

 in the sheds, whence they can be shipped as called for, over the Michigan Central 

 Railroad, a spur of which runs into the property. 



In the finished state the litter contains about 30 or 35 per cent, of moisture, 

 and in this condition it goes into use. It is said to take up liquids more readily in 

 this state than when the cells of the plants are completely deprived of water, 

 and it is not so easily broken up under the feet of horses. The output of the factory 

 is about 40 tons per day of ten hours, but can easily be increased. The consumption 

 in America is about 18,000 tons a year at the present time, and the article, has 

 hitherto been imported exclusively from Europe. New York, Brooklyn, Boston, 

 Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other large cities, are the chief places of use 

 in the United States, but the market for litter is rapidly growing. It is employed 

 in the stables of milk and transportation companies, liverymen, and other large 

 owners of cattle and horses,- and even in the stables of many private individuals. 

 The Canadian Peat Fuel Company has entered into a contract for supplying an average 

 quantity of 22,000 tons per year, for five years, in the United States. They do not an- 

 ticipate any trouble in marketing this quantity. One 'difficulty in the way of a more 

 general use has been the cost of storing cargoes at the point of importation. Moss 

 litter is a bulky article, and the rates charged for storage in large cities are high. These 

 will be evaded in the case of the Welland factory, as the litter can be kept on hand 

 there and shipped only as required to customers. The price at which it retails in 

 New York is $15 per ton. In London, England, it sells at 35 shillings per ton. The 

 factory at Welland is the only one of the kind in America. The machinery used in 

 it is from the designs of Mr. A. A. Dickson, the President of die company, and is 

 patented in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and other countries 

 of Continental Europe. Beneath the layer of moss suitable for litter on the Welland 

 bog, lies a very large quantity of dark, decomposed peat, which it is the intention of the 

 company to manufacture into fuel. The depth of this peaty section varies from a foot 

 or two at the edge of the bog to 20 feet in the centre. The process of converting the 

 crude peat into fuel is also one patented by Mr. Dickson, and, as now perfected, docs 

 away with the use of artificial heat. The peat is cut and air-dried, after which it is 

 pulverized by being passed through a picker and automatically deposited in a hopper, 

 which feeds a steel tube about two inches in diameter, and fifteen inches long. The 

 pulverized peat, is forced through this tube by pressure and formed into cylindrical 

 blocks about three inches in length, almost equal in density to anthracite coal. 

 This part of the business has not yet been brought into operation. Below the bed 

 of peat lies a deposit of clay, which experiments have shown to be of fine quality 

 for the manufacture of vitrified brick, pottery, etc. The prospect is that a very 

 large business will be done by the company in the manufacture of moss litter, and, 

 (Oerhaps, eventually also in peat fuel. In the utilization of such dormant resources 

 this company by its operations is really adding to the wealth of the community, and 

 whether it can command success or not, it certainly deserves it. 



