PRELIMINARY REPORT ON PEAT.

SMALL TREES OR LARGE SHRUBS
Ilex decidua Viburnum obovatum
Adelia acuminata
SHRUBS AND VINES
Rhus radicans (pV )ison ivy) Sebastiana ligustrina (in drier
Sabal glabra (palmetto) spots)
Phoradendron flavescens (mistletoe)
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 comparison with some of the other kinds.
ESTUARINE SWAMPS.
APALACHICOLA RIVER.
(PLATE 19.2. FIG. 17)
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 practically 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 considerable 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

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