< YI:AIM\<; lirsn LANDS i.\ KIIITISII ( 'oi.r MI:I.\. 13 



Another important factor in clearing land is never to chop and burn more bush 

 in one year than you can afford to pick and "brand up"* the following fall or 

 winter, or at least before you chop any more. 



The above paragraph on chopping, as well as some of the following ones, would 

 not apply to a great deal of the Lower Fraser Valley, which has already been logged 

 and burned over. If there is any bush coming up at all on these recently logged-over 

 lands, it would b<' mostly very small alder seedlings, berry-bushes, etc. It is not 

 advisable to chop these at all. They should be grubbed up or ploughed out. It is very 

 difficult to kill them by chopping alone if they are less than 1% inches in diameter. 

 This land should be seeded down as soon as possible, even before the grubbing is 

 done, in order to keep down ferns and encourage the pasturing of cattle and sheep. 



GOLDEN RULES. 



These three rules are the foundation upon which cheap clearing is built, and 

 should be carved above the doorway of every settler's cabin in a bush country. To 

 put them briefly: 



1st. Always do that kind of work most suitable to the season of the year. 



2nd. Follow a regular rotation in all clearing operations. 



3rd. Never chop in one year more than you can brand up before the next chop- 

 ping season conies round. 



One great advantage in following these rules is that it gives variety to the 

 work and it never gets monotonous. Given well-chosen land, it is safe to say that 

 by strictly following the above three rules the cost of land-clearing can be reduced 

 to one-third of what it will cost by disregarding them. In fact, a man entirely 

 unused to land-clearing, who uses his head as well as his arms, will clear land 

 cheaper than the man born with an axe in his hand, who only uses the hand and 

 the axe. 



As to tools: All that is wanted the first year is a double-bitted axe if you know 

 how to use one, or a single-bitted one if you are only learning (get a light axe with 

 a blade not too wide and wrap some light fence-wire around the handle close to the 

 head this saves many a broken handle). If there is no clearing on your place to 

 start with, buy a small-sized wall-tent and about 150 superficial feet of 1- x 12-inch 

 boards for your camp. Set up your tent on the south or east of your land (as 

 that is the side you should start to chop first), and on the roadside not too far from 

 water. Always start to clear, if possible, on the south side of your land first. This 

 d.n-s not make very much difference the first year, but it makes a big difference 

 very year afterwards, because after you have got a clearing once made your 

 subsequent clearings dry out quicker if they are open to the south. 



The first thing to be considered is what should be chopped first; to chop down 

 the whole bush, big and little, is a heavy task, a slow one, and nearly always spoils 

 the clearing. The object should be to burn as little timber as possible, as the larger 

 trees are valuable, or will be in the near future, at least to the extent of paying 

 to take them away; therefore, leave all the first-growth fir and cedar (the standing 

 tree takes up no more room than the stump will occupy after the tree is chopped 

 down, and in a very short time timber of this character will not only pay to 

 remove, but give a profit sntlicient to pay for (akin- out the stump). Another reas.m 

 for leaving these big trees is that they are coniferous trees (that is, fir, cedar, and 

 hemlock). :l nd if yon burn them on the ground the fire is so hot that you burn the 

 vegetable luimus out of the soil and get none of the fertilizing ashes left by deciduous 

 trees to take its place. Still another advantage of leaving the very hi- trees is that 

 when all the other timber is burnt off they are more exposed to the wind, and often 

 during the winter they will blow over and bring up the stump, thus saving the 



!' stumping later on. 



* " Hraml \ip." to gather together into heaps the charred or partly burned sticks, small 

 , liraiichrs. etc., left after 



