712 DIGGING AND PIIHI'ARATION OF PEAT. 



these are placed on the pround or ou a bench, and the pulp 

 l)oured into them. Its surface is levelled by means of a board 

 which is also pressed down on the pulp in the frame to expel the 

 water. 



Moulds of several compartments are composed of rectangular 

 wooden frames open above and below, and divided into 16, 28, 80 

 or more compartments, each the size of a turf. A mould is then 

 placed on a bench, or on a substratum of straw, reeds, &c. ; the 

 peat-pulp is poured into its compartments by a shovel, pressed 

 down, and the mould is then removed. In order that the turves 

 may not stick to the sides of the compartments, they are lined 

 with tin, or their bases are somewhat wider than their tops. 



Simple moulds resembling those used in brick-making are used 

 by a workman standing before a bench, often made of cast-iron, 

 on which the mould is placed. The mould is of wood, open at 

 top and base, its interior the size of a turf and generally lined 

 with tin. The workman from a heap of peat-pulp on his bench, 

 takes sufficient with both hands to fill the mould, strikes off the 

 superfluous peat with a board, the size of the base of the mould; 

 he then places the board over the mould, turns the latter over, 

 raises it and leaves the turf resting on the board. A second 

 workman takes the board and turf to the drying-ground, and 

 biings back the board. In the meantime the former workman 

 continues to make turves with the mould and other boards. 



Experience shows that a simple mould is at least as 

 expeditious as a multiple one, a man, wdth a boy to remove the 

 turves, preparing 1,000 to 1,500 turves in a day. As moreover 

 the peat-pulp passes again through the workman's hand, and 

 all foreign matter can thus be removed, the turves in that 

 case are more uniform and free from extraneous matter, and as 

 the peat is not poured but pressed into the mould, the turves are 

 denser than in the former method. 



(c) Drying Moulded Turves. — Moulded turves must be more 

 gradually and carefully dried than those which are cut directly 

 from the bog. When peat-pulp is cut, the turves are left to dry 

 for a few days, and then turned on to their narrow sides ; they 

 are then generally piled in superposed rings (as described above, 

 J). 73i)). They must be turned again once or twice, according to 

 the state of the weather and are stacked when completely dried. 



