98 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 
are owned by the Strafford County Improved Peat Company. This company was incor- 
porated during the civil war, when the price of coal was greatly advanced. After the 
war, coal was again cheap, so that it was thought impossible to prepare peat for the 
market at a profit, and no work was ever done by the company. Mr. E. J. Mathes has 
used this peat two or three years as fuel for his house. It is cut with a spade shaped 
like the Irish slane. The pieces are spread to dry, for which they need to be turned 
over after two or three days. In this way the water, to the extent of 75 per cent. of 
their original weight, is evaporated, and they shrink one third in size. Thus prepared, 
the peat is very spongy. A better process, also employed by Mr. Mathes, is to grind 
the peat and break up its vegetable fibers, in the manner that clay and sand are mixed 
for brick-making. Thus ground and moulded like bricks, pieces 4 by 6 by 8 inches in 
dimension shrink in drying to 2 by 4 by 6 inches, or to one fourth their original size. 
The peat thus prepared is compact and hard, requiring a hammer to break it. It yields 
a considerable amount of ashes, which are very light and dusty. They are found use- 
ful for polishing. 
Several peat-bogs occur in Stratham. The largest is the Temple meadow in the 
south-east part of the town, covering 60 acres, the depth of peat averaging about 4 feet; 
its greatest depth is 6 feet. This peat has never been used. Another peat-swamp, 
occupying about Io acres, lies one mile north of the village. This was used for fuel 
to some extent about fifty years ago. Its only use now is as a manure, for which about 
too cords are dug yearly. About half a mile east from the last is the Heath swamp, 
containing about roo acres of peat. This was never used for fuel. About 50 cords are 
employed yearly for manure. The depth of peat in these swamps exceeds 20 feet. 
Other localities, where peat is conspicuously abundant, are South Lancaster, Spring- 
field, Grantham, Enfield, Lebanon, and many others in Rockingham, Strafford, Hills- 
borough, and Merrimack counties. 
