IMPORTANT TYPES OF PEAT MATERIAL. 9 



necessary in the present instance because the characterization of any 

 native local or regional types of peat material has not as yet been 

 coupled with definite or even preliminary botanical, physical, bac- 

 teriological, or chemical studies. This is, indeed, a cause for regret, 

 as it is felt that a more comprehensive understanding of important 

 types of this material, if made accessible to workers in different 

 lines of peat utilization, might bring about a more complete coordi- 

 nation of their activities. Mere imitation and undue duplication of 

 effort would be removed through an intelligent conception by each 

 of the connection between the character of the peat deposits, their 

 diverse materials, their value, and the uses most likely to prove 

 successful. 



DEFINITIONS AND POINTS OF VIEW IN CLASSIFYING PEAT 



MATERIALS. 



In an endeavor to classif}^ in some degree the results obtained in 

 the field, a complete understanding is possible only by the considera- 

 tion of various viewpoints and the meaning of the terms used. Nat- 

 urally, when attempting a characterization and the grouping into 

 classes of peat deposits and types of their material, it is desirable 

 first to formulate clearly the fundamental lines of work along which 

 this problem may be approached. 



This consideration is important, since any controlling condition, 

 whether relating to peat-forming vegetation units and their present 

 distribution, to the character of initial stages of a vegetation series 

 and the corresponding mode of accumulation of peat materials, or to 

 the degree of disintegration and contamination of plant remains, 

 very often compels the formation of a tentative basis upon which 

 systematic observations ma}^ be secured. The nature of the results 

 will depend, therefore, much on the question whether the variant 

 plant material or the modifying, controlling, and differentiating fac- 

 tor of field conditions is to serve as the basis for a full characteriza- 

 tion. Should the emphasis be placed upon the product or upon the 

 formative process ? Would the water table which controls the accu- 

 mulation of peat and thus gives rise, among other distinctions, to 

 water-formed and land-formed types of material or would differ- 

 ences due to the botanical composition and the sequence of vegetation 

 units forming peat give a more satisfactory working method? Are 

 the quality and value of materials to be determined from the vertical 

 series or profile structure of peat deposits or from climatic and geo- 

 logic features? 



Two clearly related but analytically separable propositions seem 

 to stand out as the essential premises of future work in this field of 

 investigation. The order in which these propositions are stated is 



132927°— 19— Bull. 802 2 



