Comparisons of physical and chemical characteristics of peats for agricultural utilization produced by domestic and for．eign manufacturers

Physical and chemical characteristics of domestic and foreign peats for agricultural utilization were compared．The results show that compared with the peat produced by foreign manufacturers，the domestic peat has a lower totalporosity，and higher bulk density and ash content．The domestic peat has less cation exchange capacity than the foreignpeat．Both pH and electric conductivity of the domestic peat are relatively higher．The N，P，and K contents of the domestic peat are 2，3～4 and 3～5 times higher than those of the foreign peat，while the domestic peat has similar available nutri-ents with foreign peat，except available iron．Foreign peat of which the pH is adjusted has much more available Ca than do-mestic peat does.