Peed and its Products. 
761 
(Eriophonm or cotton sedge, Ccdluna vulgaris or ling, Erica 
tetralix or cross-leaved heather, Andromeda , Ledum, Empetrum 
or crowberry, Vaccinium or whortleberry, and Sphaejnum cym- 
bifolium or bog moss). The decomposed remains of these plants 
form a dark soil overlying the yellowish-brown layers of moss 
peat, which often attain a thickness of several yards, and in 
their turn overlie the older and darker peat which is used as 
fuel. 
It is characteristic of the strata suitable for the production 
of moss litter that in them the process of decomposition is in- 
complete, and that they form an extremely porous and elastic 
substance, which is capable of absorbing water like a sponge. 
In the process of drying this material contracts very little, and 
consequently remains soft and elastic. 
It has been found that an ordinary peat sod which has been 
exposed to severe frost does not contract to the same extent in 
drying, and remains comparatively soft and elastic. Hence an 
inferior quality of litter may be produced, even from peat strata 
which would not otherwise be suitable, by allowing them to 
freeze through before drying. The resulting product cannot 
compete, however, with real moss litter. 
The success of the moss-litter industry in North-Western 
Germany induced the owners of peat bogs in other parts of the 
country to attempt the manufacture of a similar product from 
strata which appeared suitable, even if not composed of moss 
peat. Among others the Royal Forest authorities at Schus- 
senried, in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, found in the extensive 
bog near that place a layer of only partially decomposed remains 
of a reed bed, underlying black peat. This was manufactured 
into litter by. Hollmann’s process, and although the product did 
not quite possess the softness and elasticity of moss litter, yet it 
was undoubtedly superior to many materials which are commonly 
used in stables. 
The outlines of Hollmann’s system of manufacturing moss 
litter are briefly as follow : — 
The moss peat is cut out of the bog in sods, in precisely the same manner 
as fuel peat. The autumn and early winter are chosen for this work, so as 
to allow the moss peat to freeze before drying (for the reason above stated). 
It is dried in stacks in the open air. At Carolinenhorst about 6£ acres, 
58 inches deep, are cut each season, and yield about 3,000 tons of moss 
litter. 
The sods, when dry, are taken to the factory, placed in elevators, and 
carried to a machine called the “ Wolf,” winch tears them into small frag- 
ments. The mass thus produced is passed over sieves, to separate the peat 
dust (“ mull ”) from the fibrous substance which forms the litter. It is then 
brought into a press which «(at Carolinenhorst) is 10 feet high by 2| feet 
