STUDY OF BOG CULTURE IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN TOMSK OBLAST

V. M. ELISEEVA

Western Siberia is the most waterlogged region of the Soviet Union. In Tomsk Oblast alone there are more than 1,000 peat deposits with a total area of 7.5 million hectares; here are located the largest bog massifs, unmatched anywhere on the globe, for example the Vasyugan Bog. These so-called “waste lands” constitute a reserve land fund.

It has long been known that peat soils, rich in nitrogen and moisture, when properly developed are transformed into the most fertile soils, producing high yields of many crops.

On the bogs of Belorussia, yields of 30–50 centners per hectare of grain crops are obtained, 300–350 centners of potatoes, 500–800 centners of root crops and vegetables, and 80–100 or more centners per hectare of high-quality hay [1], [6].

In the prospective plan for the development of Tomsk Oblast, major work is envisaged for the agricultural development of bogs. In the nearest five-year period alone (by 1970), it is proposed to drain 55,000 hectares of bogs.

In connection with this, the following questions arise: what drainage systems is it expedient to construct, what methods of development are more effective under particular conditions, and what assortment of agricultural plants is suitable for cultivation on bogs.

It is not easy to answer these questions. Peat soils, consisting of organic substances, differ from mineral soils in their physical and chemical properties; therefore, the methods of farming on peat soils differ from the usual methods adopted for mineral soils.

The rich experience of Belorussia shows that bog development must be approached in a differentiated way, depending on climatic conditions and the characteristics of the peatlands. Therefore, when transferring experience in bog culture, it is necessary to test it under new conditions. Development of bogs without preliminary testing may lead to failures and to an unproductive expenditure of funds. Such a case occurred in our Tomsk Oblast in 1934, when oats were sown without preliminary preparation of the site on the newly drained Sukhovskoe Bog over an area of 300 hectares. These oats perished completely. It became clear that it was necessary to study the specific features of the culture of bogs of this type, and only then develop them. Thus arose the Bakchar reclamation station, which for more than 10 years studied the characteristics of the peat deposit and questions of bog culture. This study made it possible to establish that the reason for the death of grain crops—oats and others—lay in the deficiency of copper in the peat-

peat soil. This phenomenon is often encountered in bogs where the copper content is below \(1 \div 2 \times 10^{-3}\); it is known as “cultivation disease.” This “disease” is eliminated by applying copper fertilizer [3], [5]. The experiments at the station showed that, with the creation of a proper water regime and the application of phosphorus-potassium and copper fertilizers, high yields of many crops can be obtained on the Sukhovskoe bog and similar bogs: grain crops—20 and more centners per hectare, potatoes—250 centners, perennial-grass hay—50 and more centners [2], [4]. At the same time, these experiments made it possible to outline ways of agricultural development for bogs of the Sukhovskoe type [4]. The Sukhovskii peatland itself was never developed (the war prevented this); on it there grew a forest of the highest site-quality class, which over time will recoup the costs of drainage.

Thus, the many years of experiments by the Bakchar Reclamation Station on the agricultural development of the Sukhovskoe bog were the first experiments in the cultivation of lowland bogs in the taiga zone of Western Siberia, and therefore they are of definite interest.

The Sukhovskoe bog is very distinctive. It is a valley moss (hypnum) bog with a thick peat deposit of hypnum peats, 2.5–5 meters deep; it is distinguished by high ash content, 22–36%, an increased content of iron and carbonates, and also by the presence of an interlayer of vivianite. The abundance of calcium carbonates in the peat leaves its imprint on the entire nutrient regime of plants; therefore the methods of cultivating crops on these carbonate peats differ from the methods usually applied on non-carbonate peats.

The second experiment on the study of methods of bog cultivation was conducted in 1965–1966 on the Turuntaevskoe (Kislovskoe) bog near the village of Turuntaevo in Tomsk District. This bog, like the Sukhovskoe, belongs to the lowland type and has high potential fertility, but differs in the botanical composition and chemistry of the peat.

The application of the same methods here produced different results, a different effect from fertilizers, and different conclusions.

Still more distinct from those described above is the recently drained Shegaro-Iksinskoe bog near the Pobeda collective farm in Krivosheino District, which is the shallow-deposit (0.5–1.5 meters thick) margin of a huge watershed bog. This margin has a complex vegetation cover and a patchy peat deposit of transitional type (cottongrass-sedge) with islands of raised-bog (shrub-sphagnum) peat. And only along the very edge of the bog are lowland (reedgrass-sedge) peats encountered, among which there rise unpeatified areas of gleyed clayey soil.

The indicators of the chemical composition of these peats are also not uniform. The reaction of the soil environment is acidic everywhere, \(pH\) from 3.9 to 5; only at the very margin is it close to neutral.

The principal nutrient elements are distributed unevenly: phosphorus (\(\mathrm{P_2O_5}\), total, from 0.12 to 0.70%; mobile—from 1 to 0.6 mg per 100 g of dry peat) and potassium \(\mathrm{K_2O}\), from 0.031 to 0.410%, mobile forms—from 6 to 30 mg per 100 g of dry peat).

In terms of total nitrogen content, the peatland does not differ very greatly in its various parts—from 2.17 to 2.90%; but nitrates, judging from the sap of plants grown here, are very scarce—100 mg per 1 kg of sap (there should be no less than 500); magnesium is also insufficient in the plants—40 mg per 1 kg of sap (there should be 200).

The experimental sowing of oats in 1966 on this bog gave the same motley picture: against the general background of dwarf plants, clumps or spots of almost entirely normal plants stood out. All these data indicate that this peatland is not ready for producing mass sowings of crops.

In the future, drainage will contribute to increasing the natural fertility of peat, but this requires a preparatory period. The task is to accelerate the process of bringing a peatland under cultivation, to find ways of transforming it into highly productive cultivated meadows.

This task is considerably more difficult for transitional and raised bogs. And experience in developing this type of bog in our country, in the Soviet Union, is not extensive; only in the Baltic republics, Karelia, and Estonia is the problem of developing transitional bogs being solved successfully.

Under the conditions of Tomsk Oblast, where there are many lowland bogs of the highest agricultural value, it is advisable to concentrate attention on the study of precisely these bogs; the development of scientific foundations for the reclamation of transitional bogs can have only secondary significance.

Thus, lowland-type bogs should be drained first of all. Moreover, the preparation of drainage projects for them should be based on the results of detailed geobotanical, soil, agronomic, and hydrological surveys.

Taking into account that peatlands of one and the same type differ in their water-supply regime, in the character of the deposit, and in their position in the relief, drainage must be accompanied by the establishment of field experiments, which are recommended to be conducted according to a unified methodology. In this connection the following questions should be at the center of attention:

1) development of designs for drainage systems with closed drainage and regulating devices, calculated in such a way that, under our Siberian conditions, they provide the water–air regime in accordance with the needs of agricultural plants;

2) search for the most effective methods of clearing and leveling the surface;

3) increasing the fertility of peat soil by regulating the processes of decomposition and accumulation of organic matter, and also by applying various fertilizers;

4) selection of an assortment of agricultural plants for one or another type of peatland, ensuring the production of the maximum number of feed units;

5) creation of high-yielding and stable grass mixtures for the long-term grassing of bogs.

The study of these questions requires the organization in Tomsk Oblast of a special scientific research institution engaged in the study of bog culture.

Thus, the establishment of experiments on a broad scale and the development of individual bog tracts will make it possible to reveal regular relationships between the characteristics of peatlands and the effectiveness of reclamation methods, and to provide a scientific substantiation for methods of farming on peat soil, so as to proceed with greater confidence and effectiveness to the mass reclamation of bogs. The creation of artificial meadows on bogs will not only strengthen the fodder base of animal husbandry, but will also raise the general culture of agriculture.

LITERATURE

1. Agrotechnical Requirements for the Cultivation of Agricultural Crops on Peat-Bog Soils. Publishing House of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the BSSR, Minsk, 1960.

2. V. M. Eliseeva. Experience with cultivation in the taiga zone of Western Siberia. Proceedings of TSU, vol. 141, 1951.

3. V. M. Eliseeva. On the question of the causes of the “tillage disease” of wheat on peat soil. Proceedings of TSU, vol. 141, 1957.

4. V. M. Eliseeva. On Ways of Agricultural Development of Lowland Bogs of the Taiga Zone of Tomsk Oblast. Tomsk, 1963.

5. M. M. Okuntsov, V. M. Eliseeva. Causes of the unproductiveness of certain peat-bog soils of Siberia. Scientific Notes of TSU, No. 10, Tomsk, 1948.

6. S. G. Skoropanov. Reclamation and Use of Peat-Bog Soils. Minsk, 1961.