GROUP OF POORLY BRAINED SOILS. 
53 
of slightly decomposed to well decomposed brown to dark brown 
vegetable matter, underlain by similar material which may be 
more decomposed, or may be in a very raw condition. 
The material underlying the peaty matter is variable, and 
ranges from sand to silt loam or clay loam. In general, its tex¬ 
ture is determined largely by that of the surrounding upland 
soil. In the regions of silt loam soils the underlying material 
is usually heavy and of a grayish to dark brown color. Through¬ 
out the sandy sections in most cases the peaty material is under¬ 
lain by grayish to nearly white sand to very fine sand. 
In places small islands of Muck, sand, or other soils have been 
included with the Peat. Such areas were too small and unim¬ 
portant to be separated. 
Areas of Peat are distributed through all parts of the county, 
but are most extensive in the northwestern part. The largest 
areas occur in the townships of Black Creek, Bovina, Liberty, 
and Hortonia. 
Practically all the Peat areas are level, or have only a very 
gentle slope. The slope is nowhere sufficient to drain the ma¬ 
terial without the use of open ditches. Most of the areas cf 
Peat are wet the greater part of the year, and theic are often a 
few inches of water over the surface in the spring when heavy 
rains occur. 
Most of the marshes in which Peat occurs have sufficient slope 
to be successfully drained. In a few instances drainage districts 
have been organized, and rather extensive drainage projects arc 
being developed. However, at present very little of the Peat is 
under cultivation, and its agricultural value in its present state 
is low. 
The native trees of the Peat consisted chiefly of tamarack and 
cedar. Some of the marshes do not support any trees or have 
only scattered growths of tamarack, cedar, ash, etc. In most of 
these places the original timber has been destroyed by fire, though 
a few marshes apparently have always been treeless. On some 
of the open marshes there is a coarse grass which is cut for hay, 
but in most cases the vegetation consists of moss, blueberry 
bushes, and other moisture-loving plants. 
