REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1903 83 



to interfere with the digging. At a depth of 3^ feet the peat 

 showed an excellent quality for fuel, but no trace of sphagnum 

 moss was to be seen either on the surface or in the partially de- 

 composed peat. The origin of this swamp is undoubtedly the 

 same as that of the swamp in the kettle on the Pinnacles in 

 Rochester and owes its existence entirely to rain water and 

 moisture from the air. 



Pinnacle marsh, Rochester. An interesting peat bog^ is found 

 in a depression or kettle in the Pinnacle hills within the limits 

 of the city of Rochester. Its total area is only about 1 acre, and 

 the surface is covered with a growth of yellow birch and her- 

 baceous plants. The depth of this bog is 25 feet, and the peat 

 is of good quality. Several sticks of wood were found, which 

 could be cut like soft cheese, but, when seen by the writer some 

 seven years after they were dug, they were very hard, though 

 badly cracked. One of these from a depth of 10 feet has beeru 

 identified as the red maple {Acer rubrum). 



Three analyses of material from various depths by Mr Edward 

 Hirschfield give the following results. 



Moisture Ash 



A from surface 14.47 2.15 



B " a lower depth 14.23 3.05 



C " still deeper 14.51 5.08 



This would give for organic matter, A 83.38^ B 82.72^ and 

 C 80.41^. 



Oak Orchard swamp. The Oak Orchard swamp in Genesee and 

 Orleans counties is divided into three distinct sections, which are 

 covered for the greater part with forest gi-owth and are under- 

 lain in most portions by peat. The eastern section is by far the 

 largest of the three, and the depth of peat is greater, but the 

 borings did not show the full depth of the peat. In this portion 

 I did not notice mosses, but am inclined to think it is because 

 careful search was not made. About the center of this section 

 is a large, open tract of grass land underlain by peat of the same 



^Fairchild, H. L. & Bamum, E. G. The Pinnacle Peat Marsh. Rochester 

 Acad. Sci. Proc. March 1900. v. 3. 



