REPORT OP THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1903 .19 



It is in fact the first stage in the process of coal formation. The 

 definition given above gives only a vague idea of the character of 

 the substance, and, in order to understand its nature, it is neces- 

 sary to make a study of the conditions governing its formation^ 

 and to this end a classification and description of swamps and 

 marshes must be given. 



The value of the swamps in New York State is ordinarily 

 greatly underestimated both from lack of information in regard 

 to their extent and ignorance of the manner in which they may 

 be reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Ordinarily unimproved 

 swamp land is assessed at about |o per acre, but, when this same 

 land is drained, it sells ordinarily at from |200 to |500 jjer acre, 

 so that, when it is known that the estimated area of the swamps 

 of New York is more than 2V of the State^^ the enormous value 

 of these tracts is at once apparent. 



It is impossible to give a complete list of the swamps of the 

 State, because in many cases the deposits may cover only a few 

 acres or even less than an acre, but a study of the topographic 

 maps of the United States Geological Survey will give the location 

 of the more important ones, though it must ever be borne in mind 

 that all swamps are not peat deposits, though all peat deposits 

 are or have been swamps. Many of these swamps are spoken of 

 as muck swamps even when the best of peat is found in them,^ 

 and the term peat is not common in referring to swamp deposits in 

 this country. The reason for this is undoubtedly the fact that 

 peat is used in this country almost entirely as a fertilizer. The 

 original meaning of the word muck is moist manure. From its 

 resemblance to stable manure, peat came to have the same name, 

 more particularly because the two were commonly mixed to make 

 a compost. The name thus came to be applied to peat when used 

 as a manure. Again, peat containing a large percentage of ash is 

 known as muck, possibly from the fact that this kind of peat would 

 be used as a manure, while the better peat was saved for fuel. 



^Shaler estimates the area of inundated lands in New York State to bfr 

 between 2000 and 3000 square miles. U. S. Geol. Sur. 10th An. Rep't, p.311. 



