498 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OS. Doc. 



The water relations of these soils are especially important. They 

 have, in the first place, a very large water-holding capacity ; that is, 

 power to hold water without dripping. Those layers which are open 

 and spongy, particularly those composed chiefly of mosses little 

 decomposed, have an especially high water capacity amounting in 

 some instances to upwards of six times the weight of the soil, or four- 

 fifths of its dry volume. As the organic materials break down, how- 

 ever, they become less spongy, with a corresponding decrease in their 

 water capacity, which nevertheless amounts in many cases from one 

 hundred and thirty to one hundred and sixty parts by weight of the 

 soil or from fifty-five to sixty-seven parts by volume. Their resistance 

 also to the passage of water from one point to another in either a 

 horizontal or a vertical direction, differed with the degree to which 

 they have been decomposed, the movement being much more free and 

 rapid in the more porous, little decomposed soil. When the compact, 

 decomposed cumulose soil is broken up by cultivation instruments, 

 its capillarity, that is its power to lift water through its pores, is dis- 

 tinctly increased. Another fact of special importance is that, once 

 these soils are dry, they take up water very slowly, particularly when 

 they are reduced to a fine dust, which is readily produced by the too 

 frequent treatment of the surface of these soils with fine cultivating 

 tools. Because of the slowness with which they recover from a 

 drought and of the tact that they give up their water with consider- 

 able reluctance to growing plants, it is particularly important that 

 the cultivation and management of the water relations in these soils 

 be very carefully and systematically controlled. 



Another of their physical properties requires mention because of 

 its vital importance in limiting the range of production of these 

 soils, — that is that they exhibit a very great change in volume as they 

 dry or become wet and especially as they freeze and thaw. As a result 

 biennial plants or others that occupy land through the winter are 

 especially likely to be heaved out ; hence, these lands are not usually 

 suitable for the production of winter grain crops or for legumes 

 having more than a single period of growth. 



To prepare these soils for cropping, it is necegsary to get out the 

 excess of moisture, to admit the air with its warming and oxidizing 

 power, to free the soil from substances injurious to crops, and to apply 

 such amendments as will promote the availability of the nitrogen 

 held in an inert condition by these soils and to add such fertilizing 

 substances as they lack. 



The cost of preparation of these lands by drainage and by the 

 application of amendments and fertilizers is too great, in most in- 

 stances, to render economical the use of these lands for crops that 

 are now produced by extensive methods of farming. Where, however, 

 the transportation facilities, nearness to market, and labor conditions 

 make possible the growing intensively of onions or celery, it is well 

 worth while considering whether or not the peat beds in such localities 

 have drainage relations as will make their drainage possible without 

 a too great expenditure, so that they may be fitted for the produc- 

 tion of these crops. 



It is not my purpose in this brief paper to describe fully the several 

 methods which have been found useful in preparing such lands for 

 cultivation. Several of the more important principles which govern 

 will, however, be suggested. The first step is drainage and the 



