he
ordinary qualities of peat do not differ much from wood in heating
power; the heating effect of _equal bulks_ of this fuel, as found in
commerce, may vary extremely, ranging from one-half to three quarters
that of oak wood.

Condensed peat may be prepared by machinery, which will weigh more than
hard wood, bulk for bulk, and whose heating power will therefore exceed
that of wood.

Gysser gives the following comparisons of a good peat with various
German woods and charcoals, equal weights being employed, and split
beech wood, air-dry, assumed as the standard.[14]

Beech wood, split, air dry 1.00
Peat, condensed by Weber's & Gysser's method,[15] air-dried,
with 25 _per cent._ moisture. 1.00
Peat, condensed by Weber's & Gysser's method, hot-dried,
with 10 _per cent._ moisture. 1.48
Peat-charcoal, from condensed peat. 1.73
The same peat, simply cut and air-dried. 0.80
Beech-charcoal. 1.90
Summer-oak wood. 1.18
Birch wood. 0.95
White pine wood. 0.72
Alder. 0.65
Linden. 0.65
Red pine. 0.61
Poplar. 0.50

Some experiments have been made in this country on the value of peat as
fuel. One was tried on the N. Y. Central Railroad, Jan. 3, 1866. A
locomotive with 25 empty freight cars attached, was propelled from
Syracuse westward--the day being cold and the wind ahead--at the rate of
16 miles the hour. The engineer reported that "the peat gave us as much
steam as wood, and burnt a beautiful fire." The peat, we infer, was cut
and prepared near Syracuse, N. Y.

In one of the pumping houses of the Nassau Water Department of the City
of Brooklyn, an experiment has been made for the purpose of comparing
peat with anthracite, for the results of which I am indebted to the
courtesy of Moses Lane, Esq., Chief Engineer of the Department.

Fire was started under a steam boiler with wood. When steam was up,