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 classify 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 clearty 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 may 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 
