MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 69 
with brush ‘or wood, these must be cleared off and the refuse burned. 
If it is a hay bottom, the grass should be closely mown and burned 
over. 
All obstructions to an easy and perfect view of the plot being re- 
moved, the cultivator should proceed to lay it out for working. A 
simple process, pursued in the East is as follows: Take a strip of 
board, ten to fifteen feet long, with the edges jointed and made ex- 
actly parallel; prepare a quantity of stakes, sharpened at one end 
and sawed off square at the other; if not owned, borrow a carpen- 
ter’s level; with this preparation, select the spot where the work is 
to commence, and drive the first stake so that it will correspond 
with the proposed surface of the bog when completed. From this 
starting point, run several lines of stakes through and across the 
bog. Usually the point of departure will be the bank of the stream, 
passing through or alongside the bog, and from which a slight but 
even grade may be given, both up stream and toward the upland. 
The turf should be removed or inverted, where the stakes are to be 
driven so they will not have to be disturbed until the leveling and 
grading are completed. This operation is labor-saving. By a little 
calculation the cultivator can make the parts elevated above the 
proposed surface fill those below and thus greatly reduce and sim- 
plify the work of leveling. 
A correct eye is a good thing in this work; that is, an eye which 
can detect inequalities in the surface, without constant resort to in- 
struments. I will give an illustration from experience: Having a 
large gang at work on a plot which I was in a hurry to finish, and 
being unexpectedly called away, I borrowed a foreman from another 
gang to superintend the workmen during my absence. As he had 
the reputation of proficiency in the business, I gave no other instryc- 
tions than simply to tell him we were engaged in leveling, and ty 
careful to make the work tell. What was my surprise on returning, 
to find that he had kept the men at work all the time, wheeling ma- 
terial on to a spot which needed lowering to begin with. The labor 
of the gang was worse than thrown away, for it required an equal 
amount of work to undo what was done wrong. 
While engaged in laying out a bog, it is well to calculate the lo- 
cation and height of the dam required for flowage, and whether seve- 
ral grades and dams may not be required for ready flowage. 
The laying out of ditches may be deferred until after turfing, as it 
is difficult to tell at first how near they will have to be for effectual 
drainage. If the bottom is very wet, it may be expedient to cut 
part of the ditches before turfing, and these through the lowest and 
wettest parts of the bogs, and at such intervals as to give assurance 
of no labor lost in ditching. Turf a strip wide enough to throw the 
material on, wherever a ditch is to be cut. This can be economical- 
ly used in leveling. 
Ditches should be cut, at least thirty inches wide at the top, and 
sloping with an angle of 45 degrees, and usually to the level of the 
stream in depth, 7. e., so the water in the ditches will be on a level 
with the stream. About twelve rods apart will be a safe distance 
for the preliminary ditches. If, however, the surface is sufficiently 
