Development of the Vegetation of New York State 111 
7. The Swamp Forest Stage. 
Swamp forest comprised a material percentage of the 
“forest wilderness’ which was found occupying this State 
three hundred years ago. Some of this occupied built-up 
land which was, to begin with, lake bottom. Stream sedi- 
ment carried into lakes may have been the chief agency in 
the building up. Peat or muck deposits of greater or less 
depth show that vegetation was the agency in many cases. 
But, of course, a vast amount of land as left by glacial ac- 
tivity lay so low that the ground water level was at or very 
near the surface — was swamp land in short. There was, 
of course, no question of a sequence involving aquatic or 
perhaps even marsh vegetation. On the other hand the for- 
est did not develop as if it were a planted mixed stand. It 
vame on the ground gradually. What stages of vegetation 
preceded it and how and when the forest developed is specu- 
lation of course. This speculation naturally carries us back 
to the post glacial migration period when the life zones 
“expanded ”, i. e., floristic elements followed the retreating 
glacier as their respective zones moved northward. You 
will note that the theory is presented — page 166 — that this 
migration involved several “ waves”, e. g., tundra vegetation, 
conifer forests, and finally, deciduous forests. But so far 
as forest on built up land is concerned at least, the sequence 
was of the sort we have been following; that is, woody vege- 
tation invaded marsh meadow. Cicero Swamp — a large. 
filled basin or streamway lying south of Oneida Lake — 
furnishes a good illustration of the course of succession. In 
this swamp, which is really in part bog, built-up soil of clear 
peat and occasional marl beds has been put down to a 
maximum depth, as so far determined of thirty feet.* This 
great depth of peat has been formed in that part of the 
1 Hopkins, T. C. Geology of the Syracuse Quadrangle. Bull. N. Y. 
State Mus., 171:1914. On pp. 35 and 36, data obtained by Brainerd 
and Perry are given. 
