REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1903 43 



labor is distributed as follows. One man, the clearer, removes 

 with a spade, a layer about 2 inches thick, which has been 

 weathered by atmospheric action. Two men, the cutters, are en- 

 gaged in cutting the peat, of whom one stands on the top and 

 thrusts straight down a long-handled, heavy, iron tool, which cuts 

 sods 17 inches long and 5 Avide, whilst the other, standing under- 

 neath, using a light wooden spade pointed with iron, cuts the peat 

 horizontally of the thickness of 5I/2 inches and conveys it on a 

 board to the margin of the trench; and from time to time these 

 men change places with each other. A fourth man, the barrow- 

 loader, takes the peats where they are left by the cutters, and, with 

 the assistance of the first man, piles them in wheelbarrows. The 

 fifth man, the barroAv-wheeler, with the help of the first, wheels 

 away the peats and by simply upsetting the barrow, arranges 

 them in rows for draining and drying, oA^er the surface of the bog 

 on one side of the trench, previously cleared and prepared for that 

 purpose. The peats, haAdng been left for a certain length of time 

 on the drying ground, are carried aAvay by women and gradually 

 built up by them in high wall-like roAvs, care being taken to let one 

 row become somewhat dry before another is piled upon it. In 

 ordinary weather the peats so arranged are left to dry further for 

 about a month; and, when they appear to be dry, but Avhen in 

 reality they are only about half dry, they are either carted from 

 the bog to be stored up in magazines or piled up in large stacks on 

 the bog itself, and there left to be further air-dried." 



Cutting jjeat ly hand in Ireland.^ In Ireland, the universal 

 practice is to use a " slane " or peat spade. The cutting part is of 

 wrought iron and the handle is about four feet long. " The peat 

 is cut by thrusting the slane vertically doAVUAvards, by pressing 

 the foot upon the lateral projecting piece of the handle. With 

 a slane of this kind, an able-bodied man will cut about 1.5 cubic 

 yards of peat daily. He cuts and flings as many peats as will 

 keep two boys or girls employed in catching. The peats or sods 

 are then put into barrows, and wheeled to the nearest convenient 

 spot where they may be placed to dry." 



'Percy, John. Metallurgy, p. 224. 



