490 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



the increasing interest in the couii)osition of these beds shown by 

 the Station's (^orresi^mdeuce, of the j^ieater experience now available 

 to guide their cullivation, and of the development of technical uses 

 for their materials, 1 have thought it rttting to speak brielly upon 

 some points relating to the preparation and cultivation of these 

 cumulose soils and also concerning a few of their technical uses for 

 certain of their products. 



As a fundamental fact limiting and at the same time suggesting 

 their adaptations, it should be recognized that these soils are formed 

 almost entirely, or at all events chietly, of vegetable matter which has 

 decayed without the full access of air and that its raw materials 

 have, for the most part, consisted of plants rather deficient in those 

 mineral materials to deficiencies in which our ordinary field crops are 

 particularly sensitive; and that furthermore, for a long period of 

 time, these decaying plants have been leached by slowly trickling 

 bodies of water so that such of their mineral materials as became 

 soluble during the decay, were likely to be removed by the leaching 

 process. Because of the small degree in which air had access to them 

 during their decay, these vegetable masses suffered a putrefactive 

 decomposition, rather than that gentle oxidation most favorable to the 

 conversion of plant remains into food suitable for succeeding plant 

 organisms. The putrefactive conditions have gone on very slowly and 

 while they have resulted in the loss of carbonaceous materials and 

 also of some nitrogen, they have left residues rich in the latter ele- 

 ment. Owing to the exclusion of air, the mineral materials of the 

 decaying plants have been reduced rather than oxidized. The iron 

 they contain, often in considerable quantities, has been either largely 

 removed from them to lower strata, or has been held in the form of 

 iron pyrites. The organic matters which remain are largely acid in 

 their character, and, while little is known of the individual substances 

 forming the organic complex in these soils, experience has amply 

 proven that they are not in condition to favor the growth of ordinary 

 crops, but rather to injure plants of such species. 



As a rule the upper layers of these cumulose soils are dark, some- 

 times almost black in color, while the lower layers, less freely exposed 

 to the air, are brown in tint. The upper layers are often covered by 

 mossy growths, commonly those of the Sphagnnm species, but the 

 main body of the mass exhibits only faint traces of the organisms from 

 which it was derived, except in the case of occasional large woody 

 roots which found their way among the other vegetation. In some 

 cases the material is of a dry, semi-resinous, or pitch-like con- 

 sistance. 



From the agricultural point of view the most interesting quality 

 of these soils is their richness in nitrogen. This element is not 

 present, it is true, in such condition that it is ready without im- 

 portant changes to contribute to the nourishment of ordinary crops ; 

 but the changes which must be brought about are such as can in many 

 cases be quite readily accomplished. In lime, phosphoric acid, and 

 potash, particularly the latter, the cumulose soils are particularly 

 deficient, and it is, therefore, a condition to their successful use for 

 agricultural purposes that liberate quantities of these less expensive 

 fertilizer materials be supplied. In a few instances, considerable 

 quantities of calcareous matter have been contributed to the cumulose 

 beds in the wash from the neighboring hillsides; but the latter 



