DIKING AND FLOWING. 21 



CHAPTER VI. 

 DIKING AND FLOWING. 



The construction of a dike is a matter of judgment to 

 a great extent. The hight of the dam will depend on 

 the pitch of the bog ; for the dam must be of sufficient 

 hight to raise the water so as to flow the whole surface. 



Preparatory to making a dam, we dig a trench directly 

 through the bog at the spot where the dam is to be 

 placed about four feet in width, and down to the hard- 

 pan, if the muck is not too deep. A location where a 

 solid foundation for the dam can be reached is desirable. 

 The trench should be tilled in with sand or clay ; level 

 with the surface of the surrounding bog, and the sur- 

 face of the bog should be turfed to a distance of four or 

 five feet on each side of the trench, and all stumps and 

 roots taken out, so as to make a good foundation for 

 the dam to rest upon. 



The foundation of the dam should be not less than 

 twelve feet wide from outside to outside, in case the 

 surface to be flowed is of any great extent say fifty 

 acres. The sods or turf, which have been removed from 

 the bog in the manner already described, should be used 

 to make the outside of the dam. They should be laid 

 flat, one upon the other, and after every layer add 

 sand of sufficient depth to fill up all crevices, and to 

 cover over each layer of sods thoroughly and evenly. 

 The joints should be broken in laying the sods, and the 

 whole work should be very carefully done. Two walls of 

 turf are thus built, and the space between them should 

 be filled in with sand or clay, and the dam should be 

 raised to a hight sufficient to flow the bog. It would be 

 well in making the outside of the dam, to lay the sods so 

 that they will take root in the spring, and grow and hold 

 the whole structure firmly together. It is better to make 



