114 On clearing Land, and on Fences, 



less removed by hand, an operation tedious and expen- 

 sive, and seldom well executed ; and why Indian corn 

 would not prosper as well on fresh grounds as on those 

 which have been longer cultivated, I cannot readily un- 

 derstand, for it has prospered with me formerly, in that 

 way, but my experiment was upon a small scale and 

 not repeated. 



Girdling the timber, though less productive in the 

 commencement of cultivation, appears well calculated 

 to insure the prosperity of the owners of the lands, who 

 wish to continue on them. This operation requires 

 so little labour, that it would be useless to attempt any 

 comparison between it, and that required to cut off and 

 burn all the timber, previously to the commencement of 

 cultivation ; for the quantity of ground on which the 

 timber may be subdued by girdling, without breaking 

 in on the other multiplied attentions of a recent settler, is 

 considerable, and fully adequate to all the purposes, 

 which he can justly calculate on executing with his 

 force and capital ; and it will be some time, before 

 either the falling of the limbs, or the trunks of the trees, 

 Avill claim his attention ; and ihcn the removal, or heap- 

 ing and burning them, will come on in slow progres- 

 sion, and the most leisure seasons may be chosen to 

 accomplish this business. If after falling the timber, it 

 is heaped and burnt on the grounds, the ashes, judi- 

 ciously applied on his fields, will amply remunerate 

 the cultivator for the labour so expended, for few ma- 

 nures will be found more favourable, either to the 

 growth of grass, or grain. The trees too, when they 

 fiiU, act as powerful levers on their stumps, which 

 they bring up with them, and by this means the stumps 



