MASSACHUSETTS PEAT LANDS 41 



The rock formations and soils in the respective water sheds of 

 the state and at the head of the main rivers arising there, are 

 probably of no less importance in supplying the dominant mineral 

 constituents of springs and groundwaters than the soils underlying 

 the peat lands in the coastal plain section. The variations in 

 organic materials of estuarine peat lands and the amounts of their 

 inorganic impurities depend undoubtedly much upon the individual 

 streams, their varying currents, flooding power, and the specific 

 nature of the organic and mineral constituents carried in suspension. 

 Consequently analytical work would naturally be of deep interest 

 to those favoring the chemical side of the question in its relation 

 to problems of fertilizer requirement in the improvement of peat 

 lands. 



However, it is still an open question whether the conditions are 

 ripe for the closer chemical investigation which many soil students 

 desire, except in those more extreme and primary distinctions 

 between calcareous and ferruginous peat lands. Whether the 

 chemical method would yield the results in any way as definitely 

 correlated with the tilling qualities of pea^ lands and their 

 agricultural or industrial value, as for example, ecological or bac- 

 teriological investigations, is a problem which warrants further 

 investigation. 



The main questions from the geological standpoint, which seem 

 to require careful consideration are 



(1) the character and the condition of the underlying rocks and 

 mineral soils; 



(2) the variations in and the nature of the ground waters at the 

 various levels of the peat mass; 



(3) the direction and the distribution of the salts during trans- 

 port, especially along the lines of cleavage in the stratal ground 

 water drainage, and their place of deposition. 



IV. Some of the uses of Massachusetts •peat lands. 



There is today generally a greater interest in and a better appre- 

 ciation of the advantages which peat land has over soils of other 

 kinds in regard to cost of labor, ease of tillage, range, yield, and 

 market of crops. Some of the factors for which the farmer is 

 personally responsible and on which the permanent improvement 

 of these soils largely depends, have been described elsewhere 



