days more,
it is cut with sharp spades into sods. The peats are dried in the usual
manner.

The works at Langenberg yielded, in 1863, as the result of the
operations of 60 days of 12 hours each, 125,000 cwt. of marketable peat.
It is chiefly employed for metallurgical purposes, and sells at 3-1/3
Silver-groschen, or nearly 8 cents per cwt. The specific gravity of the
peat ranges from 0.73 to 0.90.

_Roberts' Process._

In this country attempts have been made to apply Challeton's method. In
1865, Mr. S. Roberts, of Pekin, N. Y., erected machinery at that place,
which was described in the "Buffalo Express," of Nov. 17, 1865, as
follows:--

"In outward form, the machine was like a small frame house on wheels,
supposing the smoke-stack to be a chimney. The engine and boiler are of
locomotive style; the engine being of thirteen horse power. The
principal features of the machine are a revolving elevator and a
conveyer. The elevator is seventy-five feet long, and runs from the top
of the machine to the ground, where the peat is dug up, placed on the
elevator, carried to the top of the machine, and dropped into a
revolving wheel that cuts it up; separates from it all the coarse
particles, bits of sticks, stones, etc.; and throws them to one side.
The peat is next dropped into a box below, where water is passed in,
sufficient to bring it to the consistency of mortar. By means of a slide
under the control of the engineer, it is next sent to the rear of the
machine, where the conveyer, one hundred feet long, takes it, and
carries it within two rods of the end; at which point the peat begins to
drop through to the ground to the depth of about four or five inches.
When sufficient has passed through to cover the ground to the end of the
conveyer,--two rods,--the conveyer is swung around about two feet, and
the same process gone through, as fast as the ground under the elevator,
for the distance of two rods in length and two feet in width gets
covered, the elevator being moved. At each swing of the elevator, the
peat just spread is cut into blocks (soft ones, however) by knives
attached to the elevator. It generally takes from three to four weeks
before it is ready for use. It has to lie a week before it is touched,
after the knives pass through it; when it is turned over, and allowed to
lie another week. It has then to be taken up, and put in a shed, and
within a week or ten days can be used, although it is better to let it
r