454 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
CLEARING AND TURFING. 
Brush or wooded lands should be thoroughly and well cleaned, 
having all small roots removed near the surface. Care should be 
observed during the dry seasons that bogs which might burn are 
not set on fire, or their fertility will largely be destroyed. The sur- 
face of the bog, after the trees and underbrush have been disposed 
of, is next cut into segments of about eighteen inches square, by 
means of an instrument called a tufting ax, made especially for 
this purpose. It consists of a thin, steel blade, hatchet-shaped 
and about six inches square. This blade is made fast to a stout 
hickory handle, some two feet and a half long in the same manner 
as a common wood ax. 
In expert hands this ax does wonderful execution upon the tough 
interlacing roots, with which the surface of the bog is generally 
filled. The method of cutting the turf is this: One man cuts across 
the bog from side to side in parallel linesa foot anda half apart and 
cuts across between the lines at like distances. Two men, with three 
or four: pronged iron tooth rakes, catch hold of the turf as the cut- 
ter goes along and pull it over after him. After being cut in these 
squares, itis desirable that the turf should be turned over very regu- 
larly, because the more evenly it is turned over the easier will be the 
work of grading. No overseer who understands his business will 
allow this part of the workto be slighted. The rakes are much the 
same as those used in hauling out muck, and may be found at the 
hardware stores. 
DITCHING AND DRAINING. 
There should be a main ditch, about four feet wide, as near the 
center of the bog as possible. When the bog is excessively wet: 
other ditches should be run ata distance of five rods apart. When 
it is comparatively dry, and there are not many springs, the ditches 
may be from eight to ten rods apart. 
Wherever springs are found, ditches should be made leading from 
them, otherwise they are sure to burst forth and cause more trouble 
afterwards. 
There should be a marginal ditch running completely around the 
bog, about three feet wide at the top, eighteen inches deep and 
eighteen inches wide at the bottom. All the ditches must be dug 
with slanting banks to prevent the sides from caving. From the 
marginal ditch, the other ditches are all made to pitch toward the 
main or central ditch. It will be found necessary to clear the ditches 
often. Sometimes, if the bog is of good, firm material, they will not 
need it for ten years; but if the bog is soft and porous, the ditches 
must be cleaned yearly for several years until the bog becomes firm. 
A bog well ditched and well drained is less expensive to take care 
of than one which is very wet; for less weeds and wild stuff will 
spring up in it. 
GRADING AND LEVELING. 
A bog should be graded and made as smooth as possible, in fact, 
as near a “water level” as it can be made—because if it is of a good, 
even grade, it will take less water to flood it, and if the supply of wa- 
