662 SAUK COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 



especially to grass, but needing a short rotation in crops, re- 

 turnin"" frequently to clover in order to keep the soil friable 

 and in good condition for other crops. The rotation practiced, 

 is clover, corn and small grain, re-seeding to clover. Plaster 

 is found to be of great value when applied to the clover. 



Root crops are raised to quite an extent, and two root 

 cellars, one of them under the granary, and connected with the 

 hog pens, holding about fifteen hundred bushels, and another, 

 fourteen feet wide in the clear, and one hundred and two feet 

 long, arched with stone, and covered with four feet of dirt, 

 afford ample storage for these roots, and for the products of the 

 market garden, to which a portion of the farm is devoted. 



CLEARING. 



The work of clearing off timber I generally perform in the 

 Winter. It might be surer death to the stumps if it could be 

 done while the trees are in full leaf, but my Summers are oc- 

 cupied with other work. Choppers can be more easily hired in 

 the Winter, as farm work is mostly laid aside, and then again, 

 we need the snow for removing our logs and other heavy pro- 

 ducts. 



I prepare for my Winter's work as early in the Fall as 

 possible, and in the first place carefully go over the ground, 

 cutting the under brush and piling it into compact heaps, pick- 

 ing up the fallen stuff as far as I conveniently can. A few 

 rotten chunks thrown in with the brush will, when dried out, 

 greatly facilitate the setting of fires. I next cut out all of the 

 small timber which I find suitable for rails. I either remove 

 them or place them in solid piles, so that a tree accidentally 

 falling across will not break them. The stumps of all of 

 this small timber are cut so low that a sled can readily pass 

 over them while doing the heavier work. 



IN CUTTING TIMBER, 



a good woodsman is careful in felling his trees to lay them 

 where they can be readily worked up, without interfering with 

 other trees, either by lodging in their branches or crushing 



