MISCELLANEOUS SOILS. 
53 
CHAPTER VI 
MISCELLANEOUS SOILS 
PEAT 
(.Including the Shallow Phase) 
Description .—The material classified as peat consists chiefly 
of decaying vegetable matter in varying stages of decomposition, 
with which there is mixed a small but varying amount of min¬ 
eral matter or fine earth. In color the peat varies from a brown 
to black. The depth of the material forming this type is also 
extremely variable, and on the soil map has been grouped into 
two phases. The typical peat is over 18 inches deep and may 
be as great as 15 feet, although the average would probably be 
4 or 5 feet. The shallow phase of peat varies from 6 or 8 inches 
to 18 inches in depth. Usually the shallow peat is more thor¬ 
oughly decayed and when this is the case it is of a darker color. 
The earthy subsoil under most of the peat consists of fine sand. 
The color of the peat and the extent to which the vegetable 
matter has decayed are also variable, and these variations are 
of importance, although they have not been indicated upon the 
soil map, except as they are brought out by the differences in 
depth of the peaty material. By far the greater proportion of 
the deep peat, including the large tracts in the eastern part 
of the county, is brown in color having a raw, fibrous structure, 
showing that it has not reached an advanced stage of decompo¬ 
sition. It has about the color of fine-cut tobacco and it is so 
raw, fibrous or stringy that in many cases the stems, leaves and 
grasses or moss from which it is formed can still be recognized. 
This raw condition often extends to depths of from 3 to 6 or 
more feet, but usually the lower depths are somewhat more 
thoroughly decayed and of a darker color than the surface. As 
a whole, the peat of the shallow phase is somewhat more de¬ 
cayed and of a darker color than the deep peat, and in a few 
places, because of the larger content of fine earth approaches 
