HARVESTING THE PEAT. 803 



iii. Layiiuj out Roads. 



The turves must either be dried on land adjoining the bog, 

 or on the bog itself, and then removed. In both cases, roads 

 are necessary, which should be made on the driest part of the 

 bog, be as permanent as possible and cross the drains only 

 when this is unavoidable, in order to avoid the expense of 

 bridges. Roads should be made of fascines and sifted gravel 

 whenever they traverse wet ground. If the turves are removed 

 in wheelbarrows from the digging-trench to the drying-ground, 

 only a narrow pathway is required. 



iv. RrHuirul of \Vood. 



On many bogs a certain number of trees are growing 

 (mountain or Scots pine, alder, birch, etc.), and their usually 

 spreading roots often interfere considerably with the digging. 

 These trees should be felled a year before the turves are dug, 

 and their main roots extracted. 



v. Mtinftf/nncfi/ of I.nlxnir. 



Labourers employed in digging turves should be divided 

 into parties, as in the case of forest work. According to the 

 methods employed for digging and drying the turves, three, 

 four or even more workmen form a party. The digging- 

 ground is then sub-divided into as many sections as there are 

 parties of labourers, provided a certain length is not exceeded, 

 in North Germany usualty 2 or 3 yards (meters), and in South 

 Germany 4 or more yards, per man. These measured lengths 

 are staked outnumbered and distributed among the parties. 



(b) Digging the Turves. 



i. /Season. 



It has been stated already that peat is damaged by frost, and 

 this is the case both with uncut peat and turves. One or two 

 degrees below freezing-point is sufficient to do the damage. 

 Frozen turves do not shrink after thawing, but dry the same 



3 F 2 



