OCR Text |
Show RECOGNIZES VALUE OF PEAT its Use for Commercial Purposes la-Becoming la-Becoming More Understood Throughout the World. , Peat is extensively used as fuel In-northern In-northern Europe and as fertilizer lathe la-the United States. In Europe gas, charcoal, coke and a number of valuable valu-able by-products are produced from It. Owing to the scarcity of raw materials mate-rials In Europe, peat and peat moss-are moss-are employed also as substitutes for absorbent cotton In the preparation of surgical dressings, for wool and for cotton and woolen cloth. In the United States peat Is utilized chiefly as fertilizer ferti-lizer filler, as stable litter and as an absorbent for the uncrystalllzed residues resi-dues of beet and cane sugar reflnerles-In reflnerles-In the manufacture of stock feed. Peat has long been used In fertilizing ferti-lizing the soli, having been either applied ap-plied as a direct fertilizer or used at a filler for commercial fertilizer. Analysis Anal-ysis of the peats of the United States show an average nitrogen content of about 2 per cent, a proportion somewhat some-what higher than that found in som commercial fertilizers. The valn8 of peat in soil fertlllza-3fn fertlllza-3fn is found In Its nitrogen content and In the beneficial mechanical effect ef-fect It produces upon certain lands. Black, thoroughly decomposed peats are most satisfactory for fertilizer, as such pents are generally heavier and more compact and contain more nitrogen ni-trogen and less fibrous material than the brown types. |