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as they have a tendency to crumble and lose their consis- 
tency ; but the upper and middle strata may, when thoroughly 
dry, be compressed under an hydraulic press. " The most 
effective plan, however," Mr. C. Wye Williams informs me, 
" is to take the peat from the bog in cut pieces about four 
inches thick ; these are placed, a ton weight at a time, in a 
large hydraulic press, in layers, as you would lay bricks 
beside each other on the floor. Between each layer is 
placed a coarse cloth and deal planks, that each layer may 
be kept separate. The press being filled with these layers 
four or five feet high is worked gradually, and the great 
volume of water forced out, leaving the peat sufficiently dry 
and hard to be piled in ranges like half dried bricks, to be 
dried by the air but under covered sheds. The pieces are 
then the shape of bricks of about 1 to 1 inch and a-half 
thick. In this way they are hard and do not spring back to 
their former size, as would be the case had they been partially 
dried before being pressed." Much praise is due to Lord 
Willoughby de Eresby for his exertions in promoting the 
use of peat as fuel, by his indefatigable endeavours to 
perfect machinery for the compression of peat. By means 
of his hydrostatic press, 27,000 peats may be compressed in 
one day, with a high pressure steam engine of six horse 
power. 
The compressed peat obtained by Mr. Cobbold's process 
is very compact and dense. By this process, the peat is 
taken as dug, regardless of quantity or quality, and thrown 
into a hopper, at the bottom of which are rollers furnished 
with strong teeth : these being set in motion, and water at 
the same time being admitted in a full stream into the hop- 
per, the peat and water are drawn down together through 
the crushing rollers, by which means the peat is partially 
disintegrated. The mixture of peat and water is then 
conducted into a vessel furnished with revolving bars, set 
