"The upper portion of the box is divided by a series of horizontal partitions, the upper ones being open latticework, and the lower ones perforated with numerous holes. The upright shaft, which rotates in the centre of the box, carries a series of arms or blades, extending alternately on opposite sides, and as these revolve, they cut the peat, and force it through the openings in the diaphragms. The lower portion of the box, in place of complete partitions, has a series of corrugated shelves extending alternately from opposite sides, and the peat is pressed and scraped from these by a series of arms adapted to the work. By this series of severe operations the air-bubbles are expelled from the peat, and it is reduced to a homogeneous paste. When it arrives at the bottom of the box, it is still further compressed by the converging sides of the hopper, and it is received in light moulds which are carried on an endless belt." Mr. Leavitt has patented the use of powdered peat for the purpose of preventing the prepared peat from adhering to the moulds.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--LEAVITT'S PEAT MILL.]
This mill, it is asserted, will condense 40 tons of crude peat daily, which, at Lexington, is estimated to yield 10 to 14 tons of dry merchantable fuel. The cost of producing the latter is asserted to be less than $2.00 per ton; while its present value, in Boston, is $10 per ton. It requires seven men, three boys, and two horses to dig, cart, mill, and spread the peat. The machine costs $600, the needful buildings, engine, etc., from $2000 to $3000. The samples of peat, manufactured by this machine, are of excellent quality. The drying in the open air is said to proceed with great rapidity, eight or ten days being ordinarily sufficient in the summer season. The dry peat, at Lexington, occupies one-fourth the bulk, and has one-fourth to one-third the weight of the raw material; the latter, as we gather, being by no means saturated with water, but well drained, and considerably dry, before milling.
The American Peat Company, of Boston, are the owners of five patents, taken out by Messrs. Ashcroft & Betteley, for peat machinery. They claim to "make fuel equal to the best English Cannel coal," and really do make a very good peat, though with a rather complicated apparatus. The following statement is derived from the circular issued by the company. The machinery consists of the following parts:--