HARVESTING THE PEAT. 737 



the turves to the drying ground ; this method is also especially 

 applicable when the bog is wet or insufficiently drained, also 

 when it is superficial and can be cut in one operation. It has, 

 however, the disadvantage that the turves are all from the 

 same level and is not advisable for deep bogs. 



V. Obstacles to Cuttinf/. 



Besides the water, which may prevent the cutting going down 

 to the bed of the bog, various foreign bodies are imbedded in 

 the peat forming so many obstacles to the digging ; among 

 these are stones, beds of sand or marl, roots and stems of trees, 

 &c. Stones are frequently found in morasses and fens, besides 

 interrupting the cutting they injure the implements. Layers 

 of sand and marl often cause temporary flooding and must be 

 cut through to let the water pass. Imbedded roots and stumps 

 of trees are often serious obstacles in high peat-bogs. When 

 these are stumps of resinous conifers, they are usually quite 

 undecomposed* and must be completely removed. Large 

 quantities of peat are sometimes wasted owing to the presence 

 of stumps and long side-roots. Superficial roots of birch, alders, 

 &c., in the upper layers of a bog are not so prejudicial, as they 

 are generally rotten and can be severed with a spade. 



Machines have recently been constructed, to replace manual 

 labour in cutting turves, one invented by Browowsky 1^ is used 

 in North Germany, and cuts turves 3 to 6 yards long and 

 l|x25- feet in section, even from undrained bogs. These large 

 turves are then cut into smaller sizes by manual labour. 



(c) Drying the Turves. 



As much care should be taken in drying as in digging turves, 

 for their value as fuel depends greatly on the thoroughness with 

 which they are dried. The air dries the interior of turves better 

 than solar heat, which quickly hardens their surface but leaves 

 them still wet internally. Turves may be dried either out of 

 doors, or under cover. 



* In the Landstuhl bog, near Kaiserslantern, there are three layers of Scotch 

 pine-stumps separated by peat, which yield annually 28,000 cubic feet of stump- 

 wood. Thej"^ are converted into tar. 



t Hausding, Indust. Torfgcwinnung, p. 25. 



VOL. v. 3 B 



