Drainage of Peat and Muck Lands Drainage of Peat and Much Lands

Peat and muck soils have unique biological, physical, and chemical properties, and on them the common drainage and management practices that are used on mineral soils are not suitable. Biologically the organic soils support hosts of micro-organisms, mostly bacteria, which are largely responsible for the formation and alteration of the peat. The action of the anaerobic micro-organisms builds up the organic soils. The aerobic organisms are largely responsible for decomposition. The soils have a dark color, light weight, and an absorptive, spongelike texture. They have high absorptive and radiant properties, a high heat capacity, and low heat conductivity. They burn at relatively low temperatures and have a high cation exchange and a high buffer capacity, which strongly resists changes in acid reaction. Peats tend to be acid, but range from pH 3.5 to 8.0. The peat and muck soils cover an estimated 80 million acres in the United States, mostly in the cool, temperate, humid region of Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, and the Great Lakes States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan have about 75 percent of the total peat and muck lands in this country. Large bog deposits exist in the warmtemperate, humid region within the southeastern coastal plain swamps of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, and along the coastal marsh tidelands of Louisiana and Texas. The subtropical, humid region of Florida, including the Everglades and related localities, make up 14 percent of the total national deposits. Other deposits, 539