r66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



i 



Mining of peat 



Where peat is to be used for purposes which are not agricul- 

 tural, some profitable and rapid means of extracting the 

 material becomes necessary. 



If the bog is sufficiently dry, the peat can be dug in blocks and 

 stacked up to air-dry as much as possible. When a spade is 

 used to dig the peat, one of special form is employed, consisting 

 of a long, narrow blade, which has a tongue at right angles to it 

 on one edge. This is known as a alane in Ireland, and as a 

 peat-spade in Scotland. 



The bog is usually drained by a series of ditches before the 

 digging commences. 



Where the bogs are worked on a large scale, it is usually 

 found desirable to use some form of cutter or excavator, drawn 

 by horses. 1 



In some bogs there is such a large quantity of water, that 

 attempts have been made to collect the peat with dredges set on 

 floating scows, and then extract the water from it by screening, 

 pressing, or drying. In some cases the dredged mass, which 

 comes up as thin mud, is discharged on land, in a thick layer, 

 and this when dry, by the draining off of the water, is cut up 

 into blocks. This process was patented in Canada in 1864 by a 

 Mr Hodges. 2 



The writer has also been informed that a similar process was 



tried near Fishkill village and also north of Syracuse about the 



same date. 



Uses of peat 



It is not unnatural to expect that many applications have 

 been found for peat, for, being a common material in most 

 northern countries, it is noticed by many people, and inquiries 

 made concerning its possible value. 



Peat for fuel. This is perhaps the best known use to which 

 peat is put. Its value for this purpose depends on the density, 



*A nuimber of these are described by Koller in Die Torfindustrie, p. 33 

 et seq. 



2 Mineral Industry, 2:492. 



