On the Reclamation of Peat-Land in the Netherlands. 443 
mixed together in the machine, it is asserted that the machine- 
made turl commands a price 50 per cent, above that of the hand- 
cut peat, although the latter consists of only the best quality, 
and therefore entails much waste. The turf-machines are set 
on rails, so as to be easily movable from one part of the property 
to another, and the rails themselves are easily taken up and reset. 
A narrow gauge portable railway, with broad waggons in pro- 
portion to the gauge, is also used to transport the turves from 
the field to the barges, which convey them all over the country. 
It should be added that some owners of peat-land state that the 
machine-made turf is chiefly used for household purposes, and 
that brick-makers and other users of peat on a large scale will 
not buy it. By far the largest portion of the peat raised in 
Holland is used in factories, and more especially for brick- 
making. 
Canals and Cultivation. — In this, as in all other instances of 
peat-working with which I am acquainted, the first thing done 
is the excavation of a canal ; and after the peat has been ex- 
tracted, the last thing is to bring the land into cultivation. In 
this particular instance oaks and pines are planted, so that 
nothing need be said on this head, except that the proprietors 
are well satisfied with the result. 
Labourers. — The labourers are said to be very improvident. 
They earn high wages from April to October, but in winter 
there is very little work for them, and they are often nearly 
destitute. The employer frequently finds himself compelled to 
make advances to them in the dead season, and he does not 
always get repaid in the summer. Mr. Rahder told me that 
even at the beginning of each week, their want of provision for 
the future shows itself in their luxurious style of living, while at 
the end of the week they not unfrequently find it difficult to buy- 
even rye-bread sufficient for their wants. 
Peince-Peel, near Mill. 
This estate, the property of Mr. Nering-Bogel, consists of 
about 1500 acres of peat-land, situated near the eastern border 
of the province of North Brabant. Of the whole area more than 
half has been reclaimed, and of the reclaimed portion, nearly 
500 acres have been laid down to grass. This estate is briefly 
described as an example of the reclamation of peat-land without 
excavating the peat for fuel or other purposes, whereas, in the 
case of Nieuvveroord and other reclamations to be afterwards 
described, nearly the whole, or at least a great portion, of the 
peat is taken out and sold as fuel, before the land is brought into- 
cultivation. 
