ed to correspond. The direction
of the edges and of the notches in two diagonally opposite posts, is at
right angles to that of the other two. By this construction the frames,
being of the same size, when placed above each other, fit together by
the edges and notches of their posts into a structure that cannot be
readily overturned. The upper frame has a light shingled roof, which
completes the house. Each frame has transverse slats, cast in plaster of
Paris, 20 in number, which support the peats. The latter being tubular,
dry more readily, uniformly, and to a denser consistence than they could
otherwise.

The machine being readily set up where the peat is excavated, the labor
of transporting the fresh and water-soaked material is greatly reduced.
The drying-frames are built up into houses as fast as they are filled
from the machine. They can be set up anywhere without difficulty,
require no leveling of the ground, and, once filled, no labor in turning
or stacking the peats is necessary; while the latter are insured against
damage from rain. These advantages, Gysser claims, more than cover their
cost.

[Illustration: Fig. 17.]

The daily production of a machine operated by two men with the
assistance of one or two boys, is 2500 to 3000 peats, which, on drying,
have 9-1/2 to 10 inches of length, and 2-1/2 in diameter, and weigh, on
the average, one pound each.

c.--_Condensation of peat of all kinds._--_Weber's method with modified
machinery._

[Illustration: Fig. 18.--SCHLICKEYSEN'S PEAT MILL.]

_Schlickeysen's Machine._[26]--This machine has been in use in Germany
since 1860, in the preparation of peat. It appears to have been
originally constructed for the working and moulding of clay for making
bricks. The principle of its operation is identical with that of Weber's
process. The peat is finely pulverized, worked into a homogenous mass,
and moulded into suitable forms. Like Gysser's machine, it forces the
peat under some pressure through a nozzle, or, in the larger kinds
through several nozzles, whence it issues in a continuous block or pipe
that is cut off in proper lengths, either by hand or by mechanism It
consists of a vertical cylinder, through the axis of which revolves a
shaft, whereon are fastened the blades, whose edges cut and whose
winding figure forces down the peat. The blades are arranged nearly, but
not exactly, in a true spiral; the effect is therefore that they act
unequally upon the mass, and