Easier Reading
PEAT
The bogs that surround McGreagor contain Peat.
Peat is dead and decaying plant material that accumulates in poorly drained land
and old Glacial lake beds. The stagnant waters retard the normal decompostion of the vegetation,
allowing peat to form. The United states has 51 million acres of peat: with seven million acres in Minnesota.
Reference to peat can be found in world Literature. Among the authors to mention it are Tacitus, Shakesphear and Emily Dickinson.
Perhaps the most familiar is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Hounds of Haskervilles", with the immortal
Sherlock Holmes venturing onto the moors.
Minnesota has three types of Peat. The first is Fibric Peat, which is Tan to reddish brown in color.
The second is Sapric which is very dark in color. Hemic, the third type is dark reddish brown.
it is derived from sedges, rushes and reeds.
Hemic bogs are found in the Mcgreagor area.
Used as fuel since Roman times. Peat has also been used as insulation, surgical dressings,
a bath to treat injuries, and other medical conditions and a way to treat sewage wastes.
Today the most common use is in horticulture. Various crops are harvested from peatlands.
including wild, rice, sod, cranberries and blueberries. Peat serves as a major component
of potting soil, soil conditioners and molded pots for the germination of seedlings.
Today the peat industry generates over ten million dollars of business in Minnesota.
It is a resource that will become as our fossil fuels are expended.
Finland, Ireland and Russia use Peat-burning power plants. Maine established a Peat fired power Plant in 1990
