200 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY—THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 
excavating at a minimum expense. It is true that the development of 
the peat industry has progressed slowly, especially in America 
where other fuels are abundant. In Florida the chief fuel sup¬ 
ply originally was wood. At the present time, however, wood, 
except to those living in the country, is becoming an expensive fuel, 
and must become more and more expensive in the future. Coal 
is not found in the State, and must be imported for fuel from the 
coal-producing states, involving heavy freight charges. As a fuel, 
peat must ultimately become of value. Nor should the possibility 
of the use of peat as a source of power be overlooked. The pre¬ 
vailing general flatness of the country, while advantageous for 
agricultural purposes, has deprived the state of the large water 
power vouchsafed to the more mountainous states, and it is to be 
hoped that ultimately the peat deposits may be made to supply 
the power that nature has otherwise failed to afford the State. In 
view of these and the various other purposes mentioned in the report 
for which peat is or may be used, it is evident that the peat deposits 
must in time become a valuable resource to the State. 
E. H. Sellards, 
State Geologist. 
