I2b UPROOTING TREE STUMPS. 



his ear is not infrequently startled by the ominous sound 

 of one of these falls, whose appalling crash is heard 

 afar, echoing in one vast volume of swelling tumult, 

 amid the deathlike silence which prevails everywhere 

 throughout the depths of these great woods. These 

 " sticks, " as they are then called, are next cut into 

 lengths, and those that are not wanted for converting 

 into scantlings are rolled together into a heap, so that 

 at the appointed time when everything is dry enough 

 fire may at one fell swoop complete the work of de- 

 struction. The stumps remain ; the labour of stubbing 

 up these would of course be enormous ; they are there- 

 fore generally left for a period of years, varying from 

 eight or ten to perhaps twenty or even thirty years, 

 until the natural process of decay renders their removal 

 easy. We have already mentioned that the trunks 

 are generally so cut as to leave a convenient portion 

 of the stems upstanding, and at the proper time ad- 

 vantage is taken of this, to encircle them with a chain 

 and hook, to which a team of strong oxen are attached, 

 when at one motion the last vestige of the former 

 giants of the forest is uprooted from the ground. The 

 number of years that must elapse before this can be 

 accomplished will of course, as we have said, depend 

 very much upon the nature and the size of the trees. 

 The total expenses of clearing forest lands have been 

 variously estimated, concerning which we append a 

 few details extracted from a recent work. It must, 

 however, be obvious that these matters must depend 

 more or less upon local circumstances; but if we turn 

 to a new country of heavy forest lands, such as British Co- 

 lumbia, the following information, gathered from settlers 

 of experience, may be at once both interesting and useful: 



