38 
FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
Massachusetts peat it is deemed advisable to refer briefly 
to a more elaborate test of peat bricks obtained from 
Florida, the results of which tests have been obtained in 
time to be mentioned here, although the test was run sub¬ 
sequent to the date covered by the body of the report. In 
the producer-gas test of the Florida peat the producer 
was maintained in operation for fifty hours, and no diffi¬ 
culty whatever was experienced either in maintaining the 
load or in handling the fuel bed. The peat was furnished 
by the Orlando Water and Light Company and was 
secured from a bog near the city of Orlando, Orange 
County, Florida. 
“In starting the producer test the fuel bed was built up 
entirely of the Florida peat, and the usual preliminary 
run was conducted before the official test began. The 
total amount of peat consumed in the producer in the 
fifty-hour run was 29,250 pounds, or 585 pounds per 
hour. The average calorific value of the gas produced 
was 175 British thermal units per cubic foot. During the 
entire run the average electrical horsepower developed at 
the switchboard was 205. The amount of peat used per 
electrical horse power per hour available for outside pur¬ 
poses, including the estimated quantity required for the 
generation of the steam used in the operation of the 
producer, was 3.16 pounds, while 2.69 pounds were re¬ 
quired per brake horsepower hour at the gas engine, avail¬ 
able for outside purposes. 
“It should be stated that the peat bricks had been dried 
and that the moisture content of those used averaged 21 
per cent. The gas was particularly rich in hydrogen, run¬ 
ning 18.5 per cent, and comparatively low in nitrogen 
(45.5 per cent). 
“As there was a small supply of peat bricks left after 
the completion of the gas-producer tests, a short run of 
a little over four hours was made in the boilers. This was 
not sufficiently long to make any definite conclusions pos¬ 
sible, but the results obtained were exceedingly satisfac¬ 
tory so far as they went. No difficulty was encountered in 
