The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1573 
What Science Has Done For the Peat Bogs of Sweden 
Part I. 
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AN Important Subject. —It was near¬ 
ly dusk when our train reached .TonkSp- 
ing. Prof. Iljalmar von Feilitzen, the Di¬ 
rector of the Peat Experiment Station 
and an acquaintance of some years’ stand¬ 
ing. was there to meet us. We arranged 
to go out to Flahult, where the experi¬ 
mental bogs are located, early next morn¬ 
ing. At dinner that night, we discussed 
some of the pressing agricultural prob¬ 
lems of Sweden, the part played by com¬ 
mercial fertilizers in raising the level of 
production, the difficulties confronting 
live stock Farming, the imports of food 
from the United States, and particularly 
the importance of the peat soils of Swed¬ 
en in the national agriculture. 
Extent of Peat Lands. —More than 
one-eighth of the entire land surface of 
Sweden, namely, 12,500,000 acres, con¬ 
sists of peat bogs. The meaning of this 
is brought out strikingly by the fact that 
the total area of cultivated land is now 
represented by less than 10.000,000 acres. 
No further explanation is needed to show 
that tliis tremendous area of peat land, 
naturally rich in nitrogen, but poor in 
lime, phosphoric acid and potash, may he 
made, and, in fact, has been made, to 
play a vital part in the national economy 
of Sweden. That this fact was long ago 
recognized by the Government is evi¬ 
denced by repeated reference in Swedish 
literature to methods of cultivating peat, 
or. as they call it, “moor’’ soils. 
Early Reclamation Work. —In the 
seventeenth century Prince Carl Gustav, 
later Charles X of Sweden, interested 
himself in bog reclamation, and in 1052 
drained and made arable the extensive 
hogs on the Island of Oeland. The sods 
were dug up and repeatedly turned over. 
This released the meagre amounts of min¬ 
eral plant food locked up in the remains 
of the hog vegetation. But little, if any 
manure was applied. Oats were grown 
year after year, sometimes for 20 to 50 
years, until cropping became unprofitable. 
TTuder such treatment the hogs underwent 
serious shrinkage, much of the organic 
matter and nitrogen was dissipated by re¬ 
peated burning, and the texture of the 
hog changed very much for the worse. 
Only a few of the more progressive land¬ 
owners recognized the unwisdom of such 
treatment, and resorted to the use of ani¬ 
mal manure, clay, sand and marl, for main¬ 
taining their bogs in a productive condi¬ 
tion. Unfortunately, however, the supply 
of animal manure was hardly enough for 
the upland, and clay and marl were not 
always available at a reasonable cost. 
Use of Phosphates. —Toward the 
middle of the nineteenth century the out¬ 
look for bog cultivation and improvement 
became much brighter. In 1840 Liebig 
proposed the manufacture of superphos¬ 
phate from bone. Two or three years 
later John B. Lawes in England sug¬ 
gested the use of mineral phosphates for 
the same purpose. The phosphate depos¬ 
its in Belgium and France were soon used 
for the production of superphosphates. 
The utilization of the potash salts at 
Stassfurt, Germany, was begun in the 
middle sixties. It became possible, thus, 
to supply available phosphates and potash 
to the peat soils of Sweden and other Eu¬ 
ropean countries at a moderate cost. The 
burning of the bogs became unnecessary, 
for in the application of mineral fertil¬ 
izers. the organic matter and nitrogen 
could he utilized economically as a source 
of nitrogen only, instead of wastefully as 
a source of phosphoric acid and potash as 
well. 
Continuous Crops of Oats. —But 
even with the use of mineral fertilizers 
the temptation was too great to grow oats 
year after year. This crop seems to he 
well adapted to peat soils, is easy to sow 
and to harvest, and is relatively profitable 
on such land. The continuous growing of 
oats is bound, of course, to make the land 
foul with certain weeds, for hut little op¬ 
portunity is offered here to develop a 
clean seed bed. Hence in spite of the use 
of mineral fertilizers, something else was 
needed to place the cultivation of peat 
sods in Sweden on a rational basis. 
Co-operative Work.— -Such was the 
situation about 35 years ago when some 
of the progressive farmers in Sweden de¬ 
cided to organize the Moor Improvement 
Association (“Svenska Mosskulturforen- 
ingen”). Carl von Feilitzen, the father 
of the present director at .Tonkoping, was 
largely responsible for giving the needed 
impetus to the establishment of the so¬ 
ciety. lie outlined the plan of organiza¬ 
tion in 1SS5, and early in the following 
year the Svenska Mosskulturforeningen 
became as accomplished fact. The mem¬ 
bership rapidly increased from 178 in 3886 
to 2,305 in 3800. The present membership 
is about 3.000. The annual dues are 
about $1, but life membership may he ac¬ 
quired by the payment of $25. The mem¬ 
bers are entitled to receive, without addi¬ 
tional cost, the journal published by the 
society. Analyses of samples of soil are 
made for members at a nominal cost. The 
meaning of these analyses is interpreted 
for the members, and suitable advice given 
a« to liming, manuring, fertilization, drain¬ 
age. etc. Demonstration experiments are 
carried out by the extension specialists of 
the society. These consist of a drainage 
engineer, a botanist familiar with peat 
vegetation, and a soil and fertilizer ex¬ 
pert. The agricultural schools are pro¬ 
vided with the herbaria of plants com¬ 
mon in peat hogs. Popular lectures are 
given at farmers’ meetings on all subjects | 
pertaining to the cultivation of peat soils. 
Exhibits are made available for display¬ 
ing at gatherings of farmers or of agri¬ 
cultural students. Such exhibits include 
samples of different kinds of peat, of pro¬ 
ducts made from peat, like moss litter, 
peat-fuel, peat distillation products, insu¬ 
lating materials, etc. Many types of 
tools used in draining and cultivation are 
shown, as are also shoes for men and ani¬ 
mals to keep them from sinking into the 
bog. In the exhibits are. likewise, in¬ 
cluded specimens of weeds, insects and 
fungi common to peat soils. 
Increased Production. —The educa¬ 
tional activities of the moor association 
mentioned above and also educational 
work of other kinds have borne fruit in 
increased crop production. It is recog¬ 
nized that this educational work has been 
successful largely because it is based on 
the investigations carried on in the lab¬ 
oratories at Jonkoping and on the experi¬ 
mental bogs at Flahult under the direc¬ 
tion of Dr. von Feilitzen. 
Experimental Work. —The research 
laboratories, offices and museums are lo¬ 
cated near one of the main streets of 
.Tonkoping, a city of about 25.000 inhab¬ 
itants. The town itself is quite old and 
well known to tourists ou account of its 
large and beautiful lake. It is the seat of 
the oldest safety match factory in Swed¬ 
en. Adjacent to the main building of the 
“Peat Institute” are the attractive 
grounds, on which are located many ce¬ 
ment tanks. In these tanks are carried 
on experiments with different peat soils 
on the effect of lime, commercial fertiliz¬ 
ers of many sorts, inoculation, water sup¬ 
ply, etc. Valuable facts are established 
which, when necessary, are confirmed on a 
field scale at Flahult. The writer saw 
some very interesting differences caused 
by equal applications of ground limestone 
of varying degrees of fineness. I also 
noted that increasing quantities of lime 
improved the crops, but when the maxi¬ 
mum effect was reached, further additions 
of lime decreased rather than increased 
the crop. The distance of the water table 
from the surface is also shown to play a 
leading role in the development of plants 
in the peat soils. 
Field Study. —The experimental bogs 
of Flahult are about eight miles distant 
from .Tonkoping. Alighting at Nozzaham- 
mar, the nearest railroad station from 
Flahult, the writer accompanied Dr. 
von Feilitzen for a distance of nearly two 
miles until the hogs were reached. The 
road was mostly uphill through a forest 
of spruce and pine and of an undergrowth 
of heather in full „iOom. It was early 
morning and the air was chilly enough to 
make one forget that New York City 
was at that moment uncomfortably warm. 
Among the tall trees, mostly Douglas fir. 
the air was uncommonly still, with 
scarcely any signs of bird or insect life. 
Presently the neat tile-roofed cottages of 
the peat station came into view, and be¬ 
yond them in a pocket lay the level 
’stretch of bog. jacob u. lip man. 
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