6 BULLETIN 802, U. S. DEPAETMEjSTT OF AGKICULTURE. 



tematically worked out by European scientists and their investiga- 

 tions contain a number of important contributions which are of vahie 

 for several lines of work in peat utilization. 



In this country the character of several of the peat materials of 

 both fresh-water and salt-water origin differs in various respects 

 from that of the European Continent. This difference would prob- 

 ably necessitate a special grouping and series of standards. Under 

 the varying conditions of environment existing over the great regions 

 of the United States in which peat materials may be found, the result- 

 ing types and their relative values must, obviously, vary quite as much 

 on account of the distribution of peat- forming vegetation and the ef- 

 fects of the regional geological conditions and climate as on account of 

 the local topography or the nature and position of the ground 

 water in and upon which the plant remains are accumulating. So 

 far, however, as the characterization is based upon differences of 

 botanical composition rather than the stratigraphic series or upon 

 differences in the vegetational surface cover or regional or local 

 modifying field influences, the lines of demarcation are simple and 

 sharp. The general recognition of the botanical composition of peat 

 materials would initiate a movement in the direction of effective use 

 of specific peat-land areas, and it might bring about a more satisfac- 

 tory coordination of scientific activities. There is little doubt that 

 on some such basis as this a closer union of the several lines of re- 

 search and farm practices would be mutually beneficial and scienti- 

 fically as well as agriculturally and economically profitable. 



How much there is need for information of this kind may well be 

 illustrated by consideration of the following facts. In many instances 

 projects of drainage and reclamation which appeared feasible from 

 an engineering standpoint have proved unprofitable as an agricul- 

 tural investment, mainly through the scant consideration of adequate 

 agricultural criteria which would render the work advisable or the 

 project economically sound. In most cases the result proved un- 

 satisfactory through lack of information concerning the merits and 

 adaptability of the peat materials and the nature of the field con- 

 ditions limiting their possibilities. It is easily ascertained whether 

 a deposit may be drained to the bottom or only through the deepen- 

 ing of the outlet channel or by diking and pumping. But the nature 

 of the plant remains, their disintegration capacity and resistance to 

 weathering, the amount of shrinkage to be anticipated, the influ- 

 ence upon them of marginal mineral soils, springs, and ground 

 waters, the features which might impair the value of the mineral 

 subsoil for future agricultural uses — ^these are not so readily deter- 

 mined. Too much care can not be taken in the preliminary exam- 

 ination of peat land before proposing improvements. Through ad- 



