In accordance with the teachings of these patents, an absorbent structure comprising peat moss as a primary absorbent component is formed as a board by air or wet laying of fibers and calendaring the board to obtain a relatively thin, i.e. from about 0.01 to 0.10 inch thick, relatively dense, i.e. from about 0.2 to 1.0 gram/cm3 sheet-like structure.