PRELIMINARY REPORT ON PEAT. 
235 
SMALL TREES OR LARGE SHRUBS 
Ilex decidua Viburnum obova turn 
Adelia acuminata 
SHRUBS AND VINES 
Rhus radicans (poison ivy) Sebastiana ligustrina (in drier 
Sabal glabra (palmetto) spots) 
P\horadendron flavescens (mistle¬ 
toe) 
HERBS 
Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) Senecio lobatus 
These swamps contain no peat, but they are mentioned here 
simply to illustrate one extreme of the swamp series, and for com¬ 
parison with some of the other kinds. 
ESTUARINE SWAMPS. 
APALACHICOLA RIVER. 
(plate 19.2. fig. iy) 
The Apalachicola River near its mouth expands into a delta 
several miles wide, traversed by a number of crooked channels 
or bayous, some of which have distinctive names (East River, 
St. Mark’s River, etc.). Between these channels are thousands of 
acres of typical estuarine swamps and marshes, which were practi¬ 
cally impenetrable until about four years ago, when the Apalachicola 
Northern R. R. was built across them, with a trestle five miles long. 
The soil of this delta is a soft mud of great depth. I have been 
told that when the railroad trestle was being built some piles were 
driven to a depth of 170 feet without reaching a firm foundation. 
(This probably indicates that the land has sunk that amount with 
reference to the sea in the last few thousand years, for the river 
could never have washed out the solid sand or rock to any con¬ 
siderable depth below sea-level). It had been the intention of the 
railroad builders to drive the piles to a firm foundation and space 
the bents 15 feet apart in the usual manner, but the great depth of 
the alluvium necessitated a change of plans. Ordinary 6o-foot 
piles were then used, and the bents placed eight feet apart most of 
the distance, which was found to give sufficient support to the 
