FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 61 



soil be destroyed by proper manures, and it be laid dry by 

 hollow-draining, it then becomes a fine soil for most pro- 

 ductions. 



See MANURES, and HOLLOW-DRAINS. 

 Some nicety is requisite, as to the proper time for 

 ploughing this ground. It it be too dry, it will not crum- 

 ble ; and if too wet, the ploughing will only render it more 

 compact. The hard clods are easiest mellowed by the 

 plough, after they have been merely wet through with a 

 gentle rain. 



See further, EARTHS. 



CLEARING OF LANDS. But little need be said on 

 this subject; as he who has to undertake the clearing new 

 lands will acquire more knowledge, from practice, of the 

 best methods of subduing our heavy forests, than from any 

 essay on the subject. He will find that the essential point 

 is to put his shoulder to the wheel, and persevere undaunt- 

 edly; and in a few years he will find his exertions amply 

 compensated, by the pleasing scenes and profitable im- 

 provements which shall have been made around his dwell- 

 ing. 



When new Settlers first go into the woods, they have to 

 spend much valuable time in hunting up their Oxen and 

 Milchcows, which, for want of an enclosed pasture, have 

 to run in the woods; and to remedy this, as soon as possi- 

 ble, we would propose the following : About the first of 

 June, take a suitable piece of ground, cut out the bushes, 

 and all the small growth ot timber which shall be under a 

 certain size, say a foot over at the but ; pile all the brush 

 round those trees which are left standing. In a dry time, 

 in the month of August, set fire to them, and the fires will 

 kill the trees left standing; then pile and burn what lies on 

 the ground, which is soon done, and in due season harrow 

 in a crop of wheat or rye, and in the following Spring sow 

 the ground over with herdsgrass. The crop of wheat or 

 rye, sown in this way, will be nearly as good as if the tim- 

 ber were all taken off; and the year following the ground 

 will afford the requisite supply of pasture and hay. When 

 the limbs of the standing trees begin to rot and fail off, cut 

 the whole down, and let them lie there; as the pasture 

 will not be injured, but rather eventually benefited, by the 

 trees lying and roting upon it. This method of killing 

 trees by fire is, however, only recommended where they 

 are such as cannot be killed by girdling j such as beach, 

 maple, bassvvood, &c. 



New Settlers, who will take this method of providing a 

 supply of pasture and hay, will always find their account in 

 two ways ; It is turning the grounds to immediate profit, 



