Notes and Comment. 51 



of "in" before "breeding," middle of page 8, and by the omision 

 of "not" in the last sentence of the first paragraph on page 9, 

 and also from the sentence next to the last in the fololwing 

 paragraph. 



With the increased attention now being paid to the utiliza- 

 tion of neglected natural products it is of interest to note that 

 peat, which has been almost wholly unused in the United States, 

 now seems likelv to prove an important source of heat and power. 

 Among papers published by the United States Geological Survey 

 in 1909 is the one on the Peat Deposits of Maine already referred 

 to in this issue, and another on the Peat Resources of the United 

 States, by Charles A. Davis. From this latter paper it appears, 

 using the author's estimates, that reckoning eight per cent of 

 the total .area of swamp land in this country to bear peat beds 

 averaging nine feet deep, the aggregate is 11,188 square miles, 

 with an average possible production of 200 tons of dry fuel per 

 acre-foot, or a total of 12,888,500,000 tons, and that this quantity 

 of peat at three dollars per ton in the form of air-dry blocks 

 would have a value of $38,665,700,000. 



Such a possible value, which appears to have been conserva- 

 tively estimated, amply justifies the investigation of peat de- 

 posits which has been undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 It was also to be expected that capitahsts and others interested 

 in the natural resources of the United States would take up the 

 subject with a view to ascertaining what there is in it. A peat 

 society has been organized, and a new peat journal which has 

 reached several issues gives promise of a vigorous and useful 

 existence. Evidently an economic factor of very considerable 

 importance is beginning to receive wide attention. 



The whole history forms a chapter in the march of events 

 that is highly instructive. A few years ago, with the develop- 

 ment of ecological ideas, peat bogs were found to be very satis- 

 factory objects of study on the part of young botanists, owing 

 to their striking features, the sharp delimitation of their societies, 

 and the comparative ease with which much of their history is 

 capable of being deciphered. Then, too, they connected past 

 geological events with an entirely modern set of conditions, and 

 gave the hopeful investigator — or his instructor— an opportunity 

 to theorize without incurring much risk. Naturally enough, 



