Peat and its Uses as Fertilizer and Fuel Part 9

TABLE II.-COMPOSITION OF CONNECTICUT PEATS AND MUCKS.

_Calculated in the dry state: the percentage of nitrogen calculated also on organic matters._

KEY: A - _In this table the matters soluble in water and the nitrogen are calculated to two places of decimals; the other ingredients are expressed in round numbers._ B - _Soluble in water._ C - _Insol. in water, but soluble in carbonate of soda._ D - _Insol. in water and carbonate of soda._ E - _Total._ F - _Total matters soluble in water._ G - _Nitrogen._ H - _Nitrogen in per cent. of the organic matter._

-------------------------+-----------------------+ ORGANIC MATTER. -----+-----+-----+-----+ A B C D E -------------------------+~~~~~v~~~~~+-----+-----+ 1. Lewis M. Norton. Goshen Conn. 20 40 60 2. " " " 75 15 90 3. " " " 60 35 95 5. Messrs. Pond & Miles. " Milford Conn. 81 15 96 5. " " " 79 19 98 6. Samuel Camp. Plainville Conn. 53 11 64 7. Russell U. Peck. Berlin Conn. 46 37 83 8. Rev. B. F. Northrop. Griswold Conn. 48 11 59 9. J. H. Stanwood. Colebrook Conn. 75 11 86 10. N. Hart, Jr. West Cornwall Conn. 69 13 82 11. A. L. Loveland. North Granby " 43 4 47 12. Daniel Buck, Jr. Poquonock " 33 60 93 13. " " " 41 49 90 14. Philip Scarborough. Brooklyn Conn. 61 30 91 15. Adams White. Brooklyn " 63 27 90 16. Paris Dyer. Brooklyn " 21 5 26 17. Perrin Scarborough. Brooklyn Conn. 62 8 70 18. Geo. K. Virgin. Collinsville Conn. 2.48 23 9 35 19. " " " 1.72 14 8 23 20. " " " 1.67 22 8 32 21. Solomon Mead. New Haven Conn. 3.70 48 9 60 22. Edwin Hoyt. New Canaan " 3.05 14 8 26 23. " " " 2.47 14 8 25 24. " " " 1.23 18 9 28 25. A. M. Haling. Rockville " 4.90 75 12 92 26. " " " 4.50 83 10 97 27. " " " 6.24 71 7 84 28. Albert Day. Brooklyn " 4.01 76 10 90 29. C. Goodyear. New Haven " 2.11 54 12 68 30. Rev. Wm. Clift Stonington " 4.56 71 13 88 31. Henry Keeler. South Salem N. Y. 2.66 56 15 73 32. John Adams. Salisbury Conn. 2.37 59 15 76 33. Rev. Wm. Clift. Stonington " 5.93 18 8 32 -------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+

-------------------------+-----------------------+-----+-----+----- INORGANIC MATTER. -----+-----+-----+----- A B C D E F G H -------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 1. Lewis M. Norton. Goshen Conn. 40 1.75 1.46 2.25 2. " " " 10 2.32 2.58 3. " " " 5 2.95 2.23 2.36 5. Messrs. Pond & Miles. " Milford Conn. 4 2.03 1.49 1.55 5. " " " ~~~~~v~~~~~ 2 3.97 1.09 1.12 6. Samuel Camp. 18 18 Plainville Conn. 36 3.08 2.58 4.03 7. Russell U. Peck. Berlin Conn. 17 3.27 1.96 2.34 8. Rev. B. F. Northrop. Griswold Conn. 41 1.88 1.50 2.49 9. J. H. Stanwood. Colebrook Conn. 14 2.77 1.99 2.15 10. N. Hart, Jr. West Cornwall Conn. 18 7.75 2.61 3.21 11. A. L. Loveland. North Granby " 53 .85 1.13 2.43 12. Daniel Buck, Jr. Poquonock " 7 3.58 2.92 3.15 13. " " " 10 2.16 2.89 2.23 14. Philip Scarborough. Brooklyn Conn. 9 1.70 1.42 1.57 15. Adams White. Brooklyn " 10 6.78 3.33 3.72 16. Paris Dyer. Brooklyn " 74 2.85 1.12 4.31 17. Perrin Scarborough. Brooklyn Conn. 30 17.59 1.00 1.43 18. Geo. K. Virgin. Collinsville Conn. 0.35 11 54 65 2.83 0.72 2.06 19. " " " .43 2 75 77 2.15 0.51 2.20 20. " " " .58 2 66 68 2.25 0.65 2.04 21. Solomon Mead. New Haven Conn. 2.92 11 27 40 6.62 1.70 2.90 22. Edwin Hoyt. New Canaan " 2.92 21 50 74 6.07 0.48 1.88 23. " " " 1.63 13 60 75 4.10 0.95 3.76 24. " " " 1.79 15 55 72 3.02 1.08 3.82 25. A. M. Haling. Rockville " .50 7 8 5.40 2.32 2.52 26. " " " .27 2 3 4.77 1.53 1.57 27. " " " .82 7 8 16 7.06 3.04 3.64 28. Albert Day. Brooklyn " .52 1 8 10 4.58 1.36 1.52 29. C. Goodyear. New Haven " .40 9 22 32 2.51 1.98 2.91 30. Rev. Wm. Clift Stonington " 3.86 8 12 8.42 1.29 1.46 31. Henry Keeler. South Salem N. Y. .97 5 21 27 3.63 1.98 2.64 32. John Adams. Salisbury Conn. 1.40 2 20 24 3.77 2.44 3.18 33. Rev. Wm. Clift. Stonington " 8.13 7 53 68 14.06 1.44 4.49 -------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

TABLE III.--DESCRIPTION, ETC., OF PEATS AND MUCKS.

_No._ _Color._

1. Lewis M. Norton chocolate-brown, .

2. " " " " 3. " " light-brown, 4. Messrs. Pond & Miles chocolate-brown, 5. " " brownish-red, 6. Samuel Camp black, 7. Russell U. Peck chocolate-brown, 8. Rev. B. F. Northrop grayish-brown, 9. J. H. Stanwood chocolate-brown, 10. N. Hart, Jr brownish-black, 11. A. L. Loveland black, 12. Daniel Buck, Jr chocolate-brown, 13. " " " " 14. Philip Scarborough 15. Adams White chocolate-brown, 16. Paris Dyer grayish-black, 17. Perrin Scarborough chocolate-brown, 18. Geo. K. Virgin light brownish-gray 19. " " chocolate-brown, 20. " " black, 21. Solomon Mead grayish-brown, 22. Edwin Hoyt brownish-gray, 23. " " " 24. " " " 25. A. M. Haling chocolate-brown, 26. " " " " 27. " " " " 28. Albert Day dark-brown, 29. C. Goodyear black, 30. Rev. Wm. Clift chocolate-brown, 31. Henry Keeler light-brown, 32. John Adams " 33. Rev. Wm. Clift dark ash-gray,

_Condition at Time of a.n.a.lysis, _No._ Reputed value, etc._

1. Lewis M. Norton air-dry, tough, compact, heavy; from bottom; 3 to 4 feet deep; very good in compost.

2. " " " tough, compact, heavier than 1, from near surface; very good in compost.

3. " " " coherent but light, from between 1 and 2, very good in compost.

4. Messrs. Pond & Miles " coherent but light, surface peat, considered better than No. 5; good in compost.

5. " " " very light and loose in texture, from depth of 3 feet, good in compost.

6. Samuel Camp " hard lumps, half as good as yard manure, in compost equal to yard manure.

7. Russell U. Peck " is good fresh, long exposed, half as good as barn-yard manure.

8. Rev. B. F. Northrop " light, easily crushed ma.s.ses containing sand, has not been used alone, good in compost.

9. J. H. Stanwood moist, hard lumps, used fresh good after first year; excellent in compost.

10. N. Hart, Jr air-dry, hard lumps, excellent in compost.

11. A. L. Loveland " hard lumps, contains grains of coa.r.s.e sand.

12. Daniel Buck, Jr " coherent cakes, good as top dressing on gra.s.s when fresh; excellent in compost.

13. " " " light surface layers of No. 12.

14. Philip Scarborough " after exposure over winter, has one-third value of yard-manure.

15. Adams White " hard lumps, good in compost, causes great growth of straw.

16. Paris Dyer " easily crushed lumps, largely admixed with soil.

17. Perrin Scarborough " well-characterized "vitriol peat;" in compost, after 1 year's exposure, gives indifferent results.

18. Geo. K. Virgin " light, coherent surface peat; sample long exposed; astonis.h.i.+ng results on sandy soil.

19. " " moist, crumbly, contains much sand, four feet from surface.

20. " " wet.

21. Solomon Mead air-dry, light, porous, coherent from gra.s.s roots; long weathered, good; fresh, better in compost.

22. Edwin Hoyt " loose, light, much mixed with soil, good in compost.

23. " " " No. 22 saturated with horse urine, darker than No. 22.

24. " " " No. 22 composted with white fish, darker than No. 23; fish-bones evident.

25. A. M. Haling moist, fresh dug.

26. " " air-dry, No. 25 after two year's weathering.

27. " " moist, fresh dug, good subst.i.tute for yard manure as top-dressing on gra.s.s.

28. Albert Day " coherent and hard; fresh dug, but from surface where weathered; injurious to crops; vitriol peat. (?) 29. C. Goodyear air-dry, very hard tough cakes; when fresh dug, "as good as cow dung."

30. Rev. Wm. Clift moist, from an originally fresh water bog, broken into 100 years ago by tide, now salt marsh; good after weathering.

31. Henry Keeler air-dry, leaf-muck, friable; when fresh, appears equal to good yard manure.

32. John Adams moist, overlies sh.e.l.l marl, fresh or weathered does not compare with ordinary manure.

33. Rev. Wm. Clift air-dry, from bottom of salt ditch, where tide flows daily; contains sulphate of iron.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The oxygen thus absorbed by water, serves for the respiration of fish and aquatic animals.

[3] This sample contained also fish-bones, hence the larger content of nitrogen was not entirely due to absorbed ammonia.

[4] Reichardt's a.n.a.lyses are probably inaccurate, and give too much ammonia and nitric acid.

[5] These a.n.a.lyses were executed--A by Professor G. F. Barker; B by Mr.

O. C. Sparrow; C by Mr. Peter Collier.

[6] _Sh.e.l.l marl_, consisting of fragments and powder of fresh-water sh.e.l.ls, is frequently met with, underlying peat beds. Such a deposit occurs on the farm of Mr. John Adams, in Salisbury, Conn. It is eight to ten feet thick. An air-dry sample, a.n.a.lyzed under the writer's direction, gave results as follows:

"Water 30.62 {soluble in water 0.70} Organic matter { } 6.52 {insoluble in water 5.82} Carbonate of lime 57.09 Sand 1.86 Oxide of iron and alumina, with traces of potash, magnesia, sulphuric and phosphoric acid 3.91 ------- 100.00

Another specimen from near Milwaukee, Wis., said to occur there in immense quant.i.ties underlying peat, contained, by the author's a.n.a.lysis--

Water 1.14 Carbonate of lime 92.41 Carbonate of magnesia 3.43 Peroxide of iron with a trace of phosphoric acid 0.92 Sand 1.60 ------ 99.50

[7] To the kindness of Joseph Sheffield, Esq., of New Haven, the author is indebted for facilities in carrying on these experiments.

[8] At the instigation of Henry A. Dyer, Esq., at that time the Society's Corresponding Secretary.

[9] Derived from the communications published in the author's Report.

Trans. Conn. State Ag. Soc. 1858 p.p. 101-153.

PART III.

ON PEAT AS FUEL.

1.--_Kinds of peat that make the best fuel._

The value of peat for fuel varies greatly, like its other qualities.

Only those kinds which can be cut out in the shape of coherent blocks, or which admit of being artificially formed into firm ma.s.ses, are of use in ordinary stoves and furnaces. The powdery or friable surface peat, which has been disintegrated by frost and exposure, is ordinarily useless as fuel, unless it be rendered coherent by some mode of preparation. Unripe peat which contains much undecomposed moss or gra.s.s roots, which is therefore very light and porous, is in general too bulky to make an effective heating material before subjection to mechanical treatment.

The best peat for burning, is that which is most free from visible fiber or undecomposed vegetable matters, which has therefore a h.o.m.ogeneous brown or black aspect, and which is likewise free from admixture of earthy substances in the form of sand or clay. Such peat is unctuous when moist, shrinks greatly on drying, and forms hard and heavy ma.s.ses when dry. It is usually found at a considerable depth, where it has been subjected to pressure, and then has such consistence as to admit of cutting out in blocks; or it may exist as a black mud or paste at the bottom of bogs and sluices.

The value of peat as fuel stands in direct ratio to its content of carbon. We have seen that this ranges from 51 to 63 _per cent. of the organic matter_, and the increase of carbon is related to its ripeness and density. The poorest, youngest peat, has the same proportion of carbon as exists in wood. It does not, however, follow that its heating power is the same. The various kinds of wood have essentially the same proportion of carbon, but their heating power is very different. The close textured woods--those which weigh the most per cord--make the best fuel for most purposes. We know, that a cord of hickory will produce twice as much heat as a cord of ba.s.s-wood. Peat, though having the same or a greater proportion of carbon, is generally inferior to wood on account of its occupying a greater bulk for a given weight, a necessary result of its porosity. The best qualities of peat, or poor kinds artificially condensed, may, on the other hand, equal or exceed wood in heating power, bulk for bulk. One reason that peat is, in general, inferior to wood in heating effect, lies in its greater content of incombustible ash. Wood has but 0.5 to 1.5 _per cent._ of mineral matters, while peat contains usually 5 to 10 _per cent._, and often more. The oldest, ripest peats are those which contain the most carbon, and have at the same time the greatest compactness. From these two circ.u.mstances they make the best fuel.