SOIL SURVEY OF ANOKA COUNTY, MINN. 27 



to adjacent lands. This provision is important to farmers who use 

 marshhind areas for growing wire grass, which flourishes only under 

 swampy conditions. 



The typical Peat supports a varied vegetation. In the wetter 

 open marshes there is a dominant growth of wire grass. The less 

 wet, partly drained open marshes have a cover of various marsh 

 grasses, with " brown top ■' often the dominant growth. These bet- 

 ter drained marshes are locally known as *" meadows," and at pres- 

 ent they are the source of most of the wild hay produced. About 

 two-thirds to three-fourths of the Peat area is open marsh. Much 

 of the remainder has a mixed cover of native grasses, with swamp 

 willow, alder and other brushy shrubs, and a second growth of pop- 

 lar on burnt-over patches. In some places there is a rather dense 

 growth consisting principalh' of tamarack trees ranging from 3 to 

 6 inches in diameter, with a scattering undergrowth of grass and 

 brush. The areas forested with tamarack at one time yielded con- 

 siderable timber for railroad ties and cordwood. 



Most of the tj'pe at present may be used, and much of it is used, 

 as pasture land. A considerable proportion is used for the cutting 

 of wire grass for the manufacture of matting and a large total area 

 is cut over for hay. Cultivation is limited to the growing of corn, 

 tame grasses, and some other crops in an experimental waj-, the total 

 acreage of deep Peat brought under the plow to date amounting to 

 less than 200 acres. Wild ha}^ is cut in August and September. 

 Under average conditions at this season of the j'ear even areas 

 ordinarily wet are sufficiently dry to permit the use of horses, shod 

 with bog shoes, in the cutting of wire hay, the spongy surface 

 material being sufficiently firm to carry the teams, even though 

 the peaty material beneath is wet and plastic. 



The yields of wild hay on the typical Peat range from about three- 

 fourths ton to IJ tons per acre. Any extensive utilization of Peat 

 for the growing of cultivated crops is dependent on adequate drain- 

 age. The land is ordinarily most completely drained in the fall, and 

 plowing and seed-bed preparation could well be done during that 

 season. When the land has been sufficiently drained, the use of 

 heav}' teams in cutting hay and the tramping of live stock in 

 pasturing are beneficial in breaking down and compacting the ma- 

 terial. In some other comities heavy traction engines are employed 

 on Peat to compress the mass. Where there is an abundance of 

 tough roots and brush, burning has been found beneficial. This must 

 be done at a time when only the surface 3 or 4 inclies is dry enough 

 to burn, as otherwise fires may get beyond contiol. According to 

 the limited investigation that has been made, phosphatic prepara- 

 tions and barnyard manure are the best fertilizers to use in farming 

 the Peat of Anoka County. 



