REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1901 r69 



the specific heat of the metal of the same, adding this product 

 to the weight of water. 



Thurston in speaking of peat says: "Dried in air, peat, like 

 the lignites, retains moisture persistently, and is usually found 

 to contain 30$ after drying. A pound of charcoal and 1.66 

 pounds of peat have nearly the same heating value. When used 

 for fuel, it is usually cut from the bog with sharp spades, ground 

 up in a special machine, and then spread out in the sun and 

 air to dry. It is frequently compressed by machinery till its 

 density approaches that of the lighter fuels, and it is then used 

 in blocks of convenient size. Its specific gravity is about .5." 



Johnson 1 states that in using peat as fuel regard must be had 

 to its shape and bulk. Flat blocks are apt to lie closely 

 together in the fire and obstruct the draft. A fireplace con- 

 structed properly for burning them should be shallow, not ad- 

 mitting of more than two or three layers being superimposed. 

 According to the bulkiness of the peat, the fireplace should be 

 iroomy as regards length and breadth. Fibrous and easily 

 •crumbling peat is usually burned on a hearth, either in stoves 

 or open fireplaces. Dense peat burns best on a grate, the bars 

 of which should be thin and near together, so that the air may 

 have access to every part of the fuel. The denser and tougher 

 the peat, the better is its heating power. 



Pressed peat. It has sometimes been found desirable in the 

 aise of peat fuel to press the material into bricks, instead of 

 rising it in the porous condition in which it is found in nature. 

 The advantages which pressed peat possesses are, that a given 

 volume of the material has much greater heating power; the 

 folocks of the material dry out very rapidly and do not absorb 

 much moisture; in the transportation a given quantity of peat 

 in the present form takes up much less room than the uncon- 

 solidated material, and furthermore, not only stands the trans- 

 portation better, but is stronger and can therefore be built or 

 piled up much higher on the freight cars. It requires much less 



1 Peat and its Uses, p. 102. 



