738 



DRiGING AND PKEPARATION OF PEAT. 



i. Dri/iii;i Turn's out of doors. 



The drving-j,'round is either on the bog itself, or on an adjoin- 

 ing plot when the latter is too wet ; as already stated it should 

 be prepared before digging the peat. The turves are stacked in 

 various ways, according to the space available for drying them, 

 their comparative wetness and rate of drying, and the available 

 labour-force ; in order to dry them properly, however, they should 

 always be turned over several times. 



As soon as they are cut, the turves are usually removed by the 

 workmen, either in wheelbarrows, or by the men forming a chain 



Fio 322. 





and passing them from hand to hand. They are then placed 

 singly and on their edge. Hke bricks, at short intervals, or 

 piled in little stacks of five turves each (fig. 322) ; or as in fig. 

 323 round a stake, up to a height of 3 to 4i feet, a method 

 usual in Swabia and around Lake Constance ; or, as in some 

 parts of Austria, stakes are driven into the ground with 9 or 10 

 pointed transverse sticks attached crosswise to their ends, on 

 which the turves are impaled. After a preliminary drying, the 

 turves are turned over once or several times, the lowest ones 

 being brought to the top of the stack, and vice versji. 



As already explained, when space is limited the turves are 

 first dried on the top of the bank of peat, which is then cut in 

 alternate strii)S. It is evident that the turves when stacked for 

 drying do not dry so quickly or thoroughly as when placed singly 

 on the ground. The lower turves must therefore be further 



