SOIL FORMATIONS 



21 



until the surface of the water is reached, when larger plants 

 take root, and it is not uncommon to find large forests 

 covering soil formed in this way. Cumulose soils, as may 

 be expected from their mode of formation, contain a very 

 large proportion of organic matter. On the basis of the 

 degree of decomposition of the organic matter they have 

 been divided into two classes — peat and muck. In peat 

 the stem and leaf structure of the original plants may still 

 be detected. In muck, however, decomposition has gone 

 so far that the organic matter forms a more or less homo- 

 geneous mass, and is mixed with a larger proportion of min- 

 eral matter than in peat. 



Peat is used extensively as fuel in some European coun- 

 tries, but is not of much value for agricultural purposes. 

 The degree of decomposition reached by the organic matter 

 determines its usefulness for both these purposes. Muck 

 cannot profitably be used for fuel, but some muck lands 

 are highly prized for market-gardening and other of the 

 more intensive agricultural operations. 



The following table shows the composition of some typical 

 cumulose soils : 



Table 4. 



Percentage Composition of Some Cumulose 

 Soils 



1 Not determined. 



