INTRODUCTION 
The following report on peat deposits has been prepared by the 
State Geological Survey in co-operation with the United States 
Geological Survey. The aim of the report has been to supply 
a reliable although necessarily brief account of the peat deposits 
of the State. It has not been practicable to report separately 
upon each one of the very many peat bogs of the State since 
to do so would far exceed the limits available for this report. The 
objects were rather to determine the character of the peat, to distin¬ 
guish between the better and the inferior deposits, and to indicate 
the parts of the State in which peat may be expected to be found. 
The more detailed work of locating and describing individual bogs 
will follow as the peat industry grows, creating a demand for such 
information. 
The amount of time and funds that it was possible for the 
State Survey to devote to the investigation of peat was limited and 
it is only through fortunate circumstances that the report can 
be issued at this time. Dr. Harper, the author, has given un¬ 
sparingly of his time, and the results embodied in the paper repre¬ 
sent not only the information accumulated while in the employ of 
the State, but in addition he has included many supplementary ob¬ 
servations obtained in connection with other investigations, all of 
which he has freely contributed. The photographs in this paper 
and several of those in the preceding papers of this report have also 
been contributed by Dr. Harper. 
The report contains the analyses of fifty-three samples of peat. 
Forty-six of these analyses have been made in the fuel testing 
laboratory of the United States Geological Survey. In accordance 
with an agreement for co-operative work between the State and the 
National Surveys, these samples were collected and the field notes 
regarding the deposits made at the expense of the State Survey. 
In return the fuel tests and analyses were made by the National 
Survey. These analyses are included in the report and have added 
very materially to its value. Dr. Charles A. Davis, in charge of 
the peat investigations of the United States Geological Survey, has 
been particularly considerate and helpful in furthering the peat 
investigations. 
It is desirable to call attention at this time to the importance of 
peat and to the vastness of the deposits in this State. Large de¬ 
posits are found over a considerable area of the State, and the quality 
as shown by the fuel tests and analyses, is well up to, if not above 
the average. The manner of occurrence is such as to permit of 
