122 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



quality ; that is, rather coarse than fine, and free as possible 

 from loam or other impurities, near at hand and easily access- 

 ible to the bogs you propose to plant. 



These two conditions being assured, you are ready to 

 begin the work by perfecting a system ©f drainage, cutting 

 the large main drains with sufficient incline to insure a quick 

 flow when desired ; into the main drains the cross drains 

 should be cut at short intervals, to carry ofi" the water after 

 rains and to give the full effect of the sun's rays upon the 

 growing fruit to hasten its maturity. Having the drains 

 completed you are ready for work upon the bog, preparing 

 it for its coat of sand. This is frequently done by levelling 

 the inequalities only, and this may be sufficient and best on 

 some Cape bogs. But on a meadow, with a subsoil of rich 

 muck or peat, six, eight, ten or more feet in depth, and 

 with the tenacity for life which some of our meadow grasses 

 have, I think any bog will be more satisfactory in after years 

 if it be smoothly turned over with a flat furrow steel plough, 

 drawn by a steady, strong team, able to cut through any 

 hassocks or roots, without flinching or overwork. The cut- 

 ter of the plow should be drawing, or circular and rotary, of 

 the best steel, and sharp as possible. These directions are 

 for a grass meadow. Any other must be treated as the cir- 

 cumstances demand, so it is levelled ; or better, slightly 

 inclined from the center of each section toward the ditches. 



You are now ready for the sand to be laid on, to the depth 

 of five or six inches, — six the better. It is supposed this 

 is on the border of your meadow, and if so, a portable tram- 

 way should be laid to the extreme part of the bog, that you 

 may work back toward the source of supply. Circum- 

 stances must govern you in the method of hauling the sand 

 to its place. On some meadows the incline is sufficient to 

 require no draft to carry it, — only men or a horse to take 

 back the cars. On the other bogs power must be used both 

 ways. Generally the use of four cars will keep a good 

 working force employed at the bank, by the quick exchange 

 of the two by horse power. This part of the work can be 

 done in the summer, fall, or winter (the sand being dumped 

 in heaps and spread in the spring if frozen) , or in the early 

 spring ; but this season should be, if possible, reserved for 



