CLEAIM.NI; ISrsn LANDS IN HKITISII COLT.MHIA. 17 



If a fire is going to spread, it will do so from one of two causes, either through 

 long flames from the piles of brush catching the tops of the coniferous trees on the 

 uncleared land, although there is very little danger from this source unless there is 

 wind, which is the reason why the clearing fire should never under any circumstances 

 be started if there is any wind to amount to anything, or through what are known 

 as ground fires, where the dead leaves, sticks, etc., in the unchopped portion of the 

 bush catch fire and the fire gradually works into the timber. This can be checked 

 easily if taken in time. Every man who is burning should always carry a shovel 

 with him. The ground fire can be put out by smothering it with sand or soil more 

 quickly than with water. If water is to be used, the best way to apply it is by 

 iiH'jms of u wet gunny-sack. Throwing a bucket of water on to a burning piece of 

 ground is simply throwing it away. If the weather looks at all cloudy it is best to 

 start the fire either just before or just after a slight rain. The fire seems to clean 

 up the ground better then, and there is less danger of its spreading. I cannot too 

 strongly emphasize the greatest care to prevent fire spreading.. Nevertheless, there 

 is no reason why it should spread if ordinary care and common-sense are used. A 

 fire should never ~be left until it is completely out. 



ADVANTAGES OF HEAVY TIMBER. 



It should be borne in mind that up to a certain point heavy timber is, apart 

 from the stumping, often the cheapest to clear, as anything over 10 inches in diameter 

 would not be chopped, and as a rule the lighter the bush the thicker it is, and it is 

 the thickness more than the size that increases the cost; this, however, is often 

 compensated for by the soil being better. Where there is heavier timber it means 

 more merchantable timber, which costs practically nothing to clear, as wages are 

 made while cutting it. This does not mean, however, that the heavier timbered 

 land is the cheaper to clear or the most desirable. As a rule, the contrary is the 

 case. The wages which are made in taking off the logs or the stunipage for which 

 the merchantable timber can be sold does not go very far when it comes to taking 

 out the stumps, and it must always be remembered that the bigger the timber the 

 bigger the stumps; and the stumping is by all odds the most expensive, and the 

 most tiresome, and, to most people, the most disagreeable work of clearing, although 

 it is, perhaps, the most satisfactory, as a stump once taken out can never come 

 back. 



If the burning is done about the middle of August there is usually from four 

 to six weeks of dry, hot weather before the rain comes ; it is a good plan to take 

 a mattock and go over the burnt ground, roughly splitting up any large decayed fir 

 logs lying in the clearing. These logs are sometimes too rotten to make cordwood, 

 and being water-soaked will not burn until dried out. The first fire, as a rule, only 

 burns off the moss and the projecting ends and loose pieces, but two weeks of hot 

 sun after they have been roughly split up makes a great change. Two or three 

 days' pulling about with a mattock is usually all that will be needed. As soon as 

 they are dry enough put a spoonful of coal-oil here and there, and thus hundreds of 

 little fires can b< started in a day in these old logs, which will smoulder away, often 

 for weeks, and when the rain finally comes it is surprising what a difference this 

 will have made in the clearing. They will not be all burnt up, but a good many of 

 them will be, and they will all be much reduced in size. This rotten wood will 

 smoulder like peat and dry up as it goes along. 



SEEDING THE CLEARED LAND. 



Seeding down the clearing conies next, :ind this is one of the most important 

 things in all the clearing operations, as on it depends very largely the profits for the 

 next thi-pc yc.-irs. The new crop of grass-seeds is not yet in the hands of the dealers, 

 and their stocks at this time of the year (August) are often low; so if buying the 

 seed is put off until the land is ready there may be difficulty in getting it, and seed- 

 ing must be done almost inmied lately the ashes of the first fire are cool, and in any 



