370 FIRST CROPS ON FOREST LAND. 



tern hath long been followed, and its effects are every where 

 apparent. 



The progress of bush or forest settlement admits of little 

 choice. After a log-house hath been erected, the trees are 

 cut down with an axe, about three feet from the ground, the 

 branches are lopped off and the trunks chopped into lengths of 

 about fifteen feet, piled together, and burnt. The piling, or 

 logging, as it is called, is by far the most arduous part of the 

 process, requiring the aid of several men and oxen. The 

 burning cannot be effected but in dry weather, and I learned 

 considerable importance was attached to a clean or effectual 

 burning. The ground is then fenced by means of rails, split 

 from logs by an axe, and piled above each other the whole 

 country being considered common when not properly fenced. 

 The ground is then sown with wheat, or planted with Indian 

 corn, or some other crop, and the harrow passed over the 

 ground, it being impracticable to use the plough for the 

 stumps and roots of trees. At the expiry of seven years, the 

 stumps are found to be decayed, and the plough may then be 

 employed. From the time of clearing, the land may have been 

 cropped by means of the harrow, or employed in producing 

 grass. There is little room for the display of genius or 

 management, the process beir^g nearly the same in all cases. 



From the ashes of the timber a great deal of potash was at 

 one time made, and sent to Britain ; but a substitute having 

 been found for this commodity, the ashes are generally spread 

 on the ground, and sometimes, when the land is too rich, they 

 are removed for manure to another part of the farm. When 

 soil is viewed as a workshop, laying prostrate the members of 

 the forest must be a cheering employment to the contempla 

 tive landowner. Being of no value in its original state, every 

 sunbeam which darts on the surface, by removal of the trees, 

 is assurance of imparted fertility, and never-ending produc 

 tiveness ; and as the light streams in from heaven, his heart 

 will be filled with gratitude to God, and his arm nerved for 

 new exertion. But the chopping of timber is a most laborious 

 task to one unaccustomed to handle the axe, and the person 

 possessed of a little capital had better pay others for clearing 



