126 THE farmers' handbook. 



have found it takes the soil two years to sweeten after green timber is 

 cleared, whereas the sweetening period is much shorter if the other method 

 is adopted. 



Hand Grubbing. 



Fortunately clearing need not now be the very heavy, tiresome work that 

 it was a generation ago, science having come to the assistance of the farmer 

 with winches, jacks, hauling gear of different kinds, and explosives, and by 

 the use of two or more of these agents in conjunction it is possible now to clear 

 in a few days areas that at one time would have taken almost as many weeks. 

 For convenience, the principles of hand-grubbing may be stated first, and the 

 .application of the various mechanical devices and of explosives afterwards. 



The grubbing of timber, especially green timber, in preparing land for the 

 plough, is one of the most laborious tasks with which the new settler has to 

 contend. If the weather has been dry for some time previous to the 

 beginning of operations, the ground is exceedingly hard and the task doubly 

 difficult, as more labour is necessary to remove the earth from around the 

 tree (that the roots may be cut to allow the tree to fall), and also, the earth 

 requires to be dug to a greater depth, as the lower roots, owing to the dryness 

 of the soil, will not draw out so easily when the tree begins to overbalance, 

 as they would if the ground were soft. The same applies also to the running 

 of those roots which are near enough to the surface to interfere with the 

 ploughing, and which if not taken out at first may cause breakages to the 

 plough and harness, and injuries to the man and horses. 



The advice that clearing should be done when the soil is moist has to be 

 offered with some reservation, however. It almost invariably happens that 

 that is the time when the farmer is least able to give attention to the 

 extension of his cleared area, for the reason that he is then usually fully 

 occupied ploughing or cultivating elsewhere on the farm. What clearing is 

 done has often, therefore, to be carried out during dry spells, when the 

 ground is too hard to cultivate, and so hard as to make clearing very hard 

 work indeed. 



One of the commonest errors of beginners is to think that if they are 

 getting the trees down quickly they are getting along famously, but the 

 experienced hand knows that if the tree falls, breaking off and leaving the 

 tap root unmoved, the hardest part of the work is yet to be done; for when 

 the tree has fallen, there is no leverage to assist in drawing the tap or 

 main roots. 



Another error is to try to save labour by removing as little earth aa 

 possible from around the tree or stump ; it is invariably found that before 

 the job is finished the barrow-loads of earth have run into cartloads ere 

 the mattock and axe can be swung freely and the taproot reached. Until 

 that is achieved, and the root is severed, the end is not in sight. The soil 

 should be opened well back from the trunk, a mattock and long-handled 

 shovel being the most suitable implements. As will be found a few pages 

 further on, one of the great utilities of explosives in clearing is to loosen 

 the earth at the base of the tree, to enable a cavity to be cleared out and 

 the taproot uncovered. 



