810 DIGGING AND PREPARATION OF PEAT. 



shrinkage, so that a volume of 100 cubic feet of wet peat 

 becomes only 25 to 30 cubic feet when dried. Fibrous peat, on 

 the other hand, does not shrink much, but loses much more in 

 weight than good peat, weighing frequently only one-fifth, or 

 even less, of its weight when freshly cut. 



(d) Storage of Turves. The turves cannot always be sold 

 and removed at once, but sometimes must be stored through the 

 winter. This is done either in the open, or in covered stacks. 



The cheapest method is to pile the turves in stacks, either 

 conical or prismatic, and sloping at the top. Turves which 

 are not thoroughly dried, may, however, be spoiled in this 

 way. The stacks should be erected in a dry and somewhat 

 elevated place and piled carefully. 



The turves are protected from damage much better when the 

 stacks are thatched. Straw, reeds, spruce-branches or bracken 

 will serve the purpose ; better still, a light plank roof 

 supported by four posts may be erected with a slope towards 

 the rainy quarter, or the turves may be placed as follows in 

 the centre of a cleared space a strong stake is driven vertically 

 into the ground, and billets placed radiating in a circle from 

 the stake (as in the base of an Alpine charcoal-kiln) and 

 covered with planks ; the turves are then piled on this floor in 

 a truncated cone thatched with straw. From these thatched 

 stacks the turves can be taken during winter according to 

 requirements, this can be done from uncovered stacks only at 

 the risk of spoiling them. 



Whenever the value of turves is sufficiently high, it is best 

 to store them in sheds, which should have their greatest 

 length perpendicular to the direction of the prevalent wind, 

 and be lightly built of planks or laths, so that the wind 

 may blow through them, the rain being kept out by a roof. 



2. Moulded Peat. 



Some peat is not sufficiently compact to be cut into turves, 

 but must be moulded. This is the case with bogs containing 

 much imbedded wood, or so dry that the peat crumbles into 

 dust, or so wet that the peat must be dredged ; also where the 

 peat is only ordinarily moist, but cannot be cut into turves 



