SELECTION OF PEAT LANDS FOR DIFFERENT USES 21 
out. Sedge marshes with unfavorable mineral subsoils should be 
left as wiregrass meadows or drained moderately to permit the cut- 
ting of wild hay. If areas of peat land with a substratum of this 
nature are naturally wooded they should be kept, preferably as wood- 
lot reserves. Areas of peat with excessive quantities of shell and 
Chara marl may become undesirable, on account of the deleterious 
effect of an excess of alkalinity on plant growth. 
Peat lands which accumulated over till, clay, or sandy-loam subsoils 
constitute, as a rule, the better grade for utilization. Neutral to 
slightly alkaline peat areas appear to fix larger quantities of fertilizers 
than the acid peat soils of the same type, but the degree of fixation 
and the compounds formed need further investigation. The presence 
as well as the character of thin layers of silt or marl and their loca- 
tion in the profile should not be ignored. In time they react favor- 
ably upon the surface layers, which are generally more or less acid, 
and they likewise influence the quality of crops. 
If the industrial use of a deep peat area is contemplated, only such 
deposits should be excavated of which the mineral substratum is in 
a condition suitable for future crop requirements or for the produc- 
tion of fishponds and aquatic crops. The latter is a field of work 
which so far has been little investigated. 
SUMMARY 
The problem of selecting peat lands for economic uses, like other 
problems of land utilization, demands reasonable forethought and 
planning. The chief hazards in the agriculture and industry of peat 
lands may be grouped into three classes: (1) Differences between peat 
lands in their distinctive structural framework; (2) lack of a proper 
method of controlling the supply of soil moisture; (3) the accumula- 
tion in the root zone of crops of excessive quantities of soluble salts 
from the mineral subsoil. These three difficulties may occur together, 
or any one of them may cause disastrous results. A clear under- 
standing of the nature and effects of these three classes of trouble 
that may develop on peat lands makes it possible to have a better 
basis for operations and to anticipate financial and other difficulties 
before they have progressed to the point of serious injury to the 
community. 
There can be no doubt that a definite attempt to find and locate 
peat land with the most favorable structural framework and field 
conditions would benefit the regional development of peat-land utili- 
zation. It would reduce economic waste and encourage the conser- 
vation of peat areas that are important and feasible for water-storage 
purposes, for reforestation, and for wild-life reserves. Even a casual 
survey of noteworthy attempts made by several of the States collab- 
orating with this department brings out the fact that the groundwork 
is already well laid for selecting desirable peat lands upon the basis 
of their stratigraphic framework. With proper attention to a related 
and continuously controlled water supply and like attention to the 
possible danger of an excess of active soluble salts from the mineral 
substratum, the prospect for effective advancement seems assured. 
The establishment of a well-considered program of selection will give 
to peat-land utilization the stability and permanence which it has 
not heretofore possessed. 
