On cteari?ig Land, and on Pence $• 113 



has ceased, slumps (from under which the rich loose 

 soil has been burnt,) are seen standing on their roots 

 like spiders, whose bodies are supported by long legs^ 

 and clay or gravel appears where a luxuriant soil 

 lately prevailed. It requires but little reflection to de- 

 termine, that this practice cannot be eligible for those 

 who are determined to continue on the soil, although 

 it exactly accords with the interest and views of the 

 laborious first settler, who makes what are termed ** im* 

 provements," for the express purpose of selling them to 

 those who do not wish to encounter the forests ; for 

 the luxuriant crops which have been obtained by this 

 practice, together with the potash, and advance in the 

 price of the grounds, amply reward the hardy son of 

 enterprize, and with the proceeds, he removes further 

 back, and continues a succession of '' improvements" 

 and sales. 



When the other method is pursued^ the trees are 

 girdled, the grubs removed, and preparatory cultiva- 

 tion takes place ; after which the grounds are either 

 planted or sown. The first crop is seldom luxuriant, 

 except when potatoes are planted, or turnips are sown, 

 which generally grow large, and prove productive in 

 fresh grounds, without the aid of manure. Whether 

 Indian corn would prosper for a first crop does not ap. 

 pear, and opinion is against the practice, but it should 

 be a subject of experiment, for small grain is sown too 

 frequently, a practice that lets in cheat and other weeds, 

 together with brambles, and suckers from the roots of 

 the grubs, which have not been entirely eradicated, as 

 well as those from the seeds of locust, and other plants, 

 which frequently prove very injurious to the crops, un- 



VOL. III. p 



