Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 246, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1919 — FIND MANY USES FOR PEAT [ARTICLE]

FIND MANY USES FOR PEAT

War-torn Industry Gives Promise of .Great Development in the Years to Come. The output of peat In the United States last year far exceeded that of any preceding year and the general Increase, which was stimulated by the war, was shared by practically all branches of the industry. Though extensively used as fuel In Europe and widely known in the United States as a potential source of heat and power, peat has been unable to compete-.-with coal and many peat operators have directed their attention to the utilization of peat in agriculture with gratifying results. Peat fertilizer was first marketed in commercial quantities in 1908, and stock-food peat in 1912, and though there fs still some prejudice against its nse the agricultural branch of the industry has been successful and .the quantity of fertilizer and stock-food peat annually produced is increasing. Large quantities of these products were made last year, but the most striking development was the production of more peat in the New England States than hasjbeen manufactured In the entire United States in all preceding years. Almost equally striking was the widespread interest manifested in peat resources which had been generally regarded as of doubtful value. Large quantities of peat or sphagnum moss were produced and utilized for stable litter, packing material, and surgical dressing, and several hundred thousand acres of peat soils were used for the growth of crops. The -peat litter wnsproduced by-the own — ers of small hogs for their own use, but the packing material was, sold to florists for $25 a ton. According to J. W. Hotson of the Red Cros/s more than half a million peat pads were prepared in. this-country fo.r _th.at organization. Most of the moss was 'gathered by volunteers from bogs in and Maine, and the pads were used in military hospitals at home'and abroad.