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to the ground should be chopped 

 off, that they may burn the belter. 

 Fire must be put to them in the 

 driest part of t^he month ot' May ; 

 or if the whole of May prove wet, 

 it may be done to advantage in fne 

 beginning of June. Only the bo 

 dies of the trees will remain after 

 burning, and some of them will be 

 burnt to pieces. Then they are to 

 be cut into pieces nearly of one 

 length, drawn together by oxen, 

 piled in close heaps, and burnt ; 

 only reserving suitable trees, which 

 will be needed for the fencing. — 

 The heating of the soil so destroys 

 the green roots; and the ashes, 

 made by burning, are so beneficial 

 a manure to the land, that it will 

 produce a good crop of Indian 

 corn, or wheat, the same year, 

 without ploughing, hoeing, or ma- 

 nuring. Indian corn is most com- 

 monly the hrst crop ; and it will 

 bear a good crop of winter rye the 

 second year, if the seed be onl\ 

 harked in with hoes in September, 

 before the Indian corn is harvest- 

 ed. After which, if grass seeds be 

 thrown iu with the rye, the land 

 will be tit for pasturage, if not for 

 mowing. The few sprouts wb.ich 

 spring up from the stumps in the 

 first summer, should be pulled off 

 and the ground is quite subdued. 

 But if wheat or rye be the first 

 crop, the ground must be well har- 

 rowed ; once before sowing, and 

 once after. And it often happens 

 that the first and second crops pay 

 the farmer well for all the labour 

 of clearing and fencing. It is cer- 

 tain that sometimes the first crop 

 will do it. 



The invention of this kind of 

 12 



culture has been of essential ad- 

 vantage to the poorer sort of peo- 

 ple : And it has been conducive to 

 bringing forward rapid settlements 

 in our new towns and plantations. 

 A farm may be thus begun in the 

 wilderness with little or no stock. 



But those persons who are able 

 to do it,had better plough and har- 

 row their ground afterburning, be- 

 fore they seed it. The ashes will 

 thus be well mixed with the soil ; 

 and the land has always been found 

 to retain its fertility the longer, 

 when so managed. 



If new land lie in such a situa- 

 tion, that the natural growth may 

 turn to better account, whether for 

 timber or fire wood, fencing or 

 charcoal, it will be an unpardona- 

 ble waste to burn the wood on the 

 ground. But if the trees be taken 

 off, the land must be ploughed af- 

 ter clearing, or it will not produce 

 a crop of any kind. And some 

 warm kind of manure will be need- 

 ful, if Indian corn is planted on it. 

 This is the case at least in the most 

 northerly parts of New-England. 

 But rye will answer extremely 

 well without manure. 



When new lands are destitute 

 of trees, and covered with oak 

 shrubs, the clearing is more ex- 

 pensive, and the first crops not so 

 profitable. But such lands should 

 not remain unsubdued, as, in their 

 present state, they are quite un- 

 profitable, and a nuisance. The 

 bushes should be cut with stub 

 scythes or axes, piled in heaps, and 

 burnt. After which the roots may 

 be subdued by goats ; or ploughed 

 up with a strong team, the plough 

 being proportionably strong. Some 



