SELECTION OF PEAT LANDS FOR DIFFERENT USES 3
In selecting a peat-land area, two lines of procedure demand care-
[ul attention, and they should be followed as far as possible for the
particular area under consideration. In the preliminary observations
as to the quality of the peat land and its layout a survey is made
which covers the points outlined on the tally sheet in the publication
cited above (11). If the reconnaissance study indicates that the area
is probably suitable for the intended use to be made of it—e. g.,
systematic field experiments and research, settlement, reforestation,
or production of stable litter and peat composts—the final investiga-
tion should be made with great care and more in detail.
If the area shows desirable qualities for the particular purpose—
the manufacture of peat litter, for example—the size of the tract
should be outlined, its levels determined, and a map prepared
showing acreage, boundaries, roads, elevations, outlet and fall of
drainage waters, character of the vegetative cover, topographic fea-
ures of the adjacent land, and the distance to main transportation
facilities.
It is not generally recognized that careful scrutiny should be ex-
tended also to the structure of the entire peat area. In most cases
of failure, the failure has been due to the fact that the importance
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{YRNUM PEAT
F= reeD peat
GLACIAL (iLL
F1G6. 1.—Profile of a peat-land area which developed under changing environmental conditions.
The ground-water level became elevated with the gradual accumulation of plant remains. The
different layers of peat not only reveal the nature of the former vegetation which yielded peat but
also offer a basis for an analysis of the adverse external factors that tended to modify the con-
ditions of plant growth.
of test holes was not understood or taken into account. Profile
soundings indicate the nature of a peat area. For all specific pur-
poses, samples of peat should be collected at each corner of section-
al divisions which range from 100 to 300 feet or more in length.
These samples should be obtained from different depths in order to
ascertain more accurately any marked changes in pulpy, fibrous, or
woody materials. This is important, not only in the comparison of
peat layers but of peat areas. The amount of decomposition of each
ayer may be determined readily by the foodstuff method of analy-
sis (12). This method permits a quantitative distinction between the
different proportions of the undecomposed, resistant, crude-fiber frac-
tion in a peat material and of the altered, nonfibrous fraction of
organic material. These data will assist in drawing the isopachic lines
that connect points at which the thickness of the several peat layers
is measurable (figs. 1 and 2). A chart of this kind will indicate graph-
ically the profile of the entire area: that is, the position, continuity,
