CLKAKIM; ISrsii I, ANUS i.\ IJumsn COM-.MIJIA. 19 



mattock, should be sawn into 12-foot lengths; this is more conveniently done now 

 than later on, and sawn into these lengths they can easily be handled by a team or 

 cant-hooks when they are finally logged up, or if sound enough they are the right 

 length to resaw for cordwood. Some people also saw up the cedar logs at the same 

 time, but in practice it is better to leave them until it is decided what they are to be 

 used for rails, posts, drain-boards, buildings, shingle-bolts, shakes, etc. 



UTILITY OF CEDAR. 



During recent years most of the cedar suitable for shingle-bolts in the settled 

 areas has been taken off, but there is generally enough left for all ordinary pur]. 

 This is particularly the case in the Lower Fraser Valley, where these odds and ends 

 of cedar are a very valuable asset. 



DESTROYING BRACKEN FERN. 



The bracken fern grows very plentifully on all partially cleared lands in the 

 Lower Fraser Valley, the Coast, and many other parts of the Province. If neglected 

 in partially cleared land it will often grow 10 or 12 feet high, and so densely that it 

 is difficult to get through it. The heavy growth of these big ferns is generally 

 considered proof of good soil. As a rule they do not grow in the thick bush ; and 

 that is an additional reason why ground should be immediately seeded down after 

 it has been burned over, otherwise fern is sure to make its appearance in a year or 

 two ; whereas, if a good sod is kept on the ground until it is to be stumped and 

 ploughed, these ferns will never become a serious pest, but if they are once allowed 

 to get into the ground, the only way is continual cultivation. It used to be thought 

 that continual cutting would get rid of them. It is probable that it would if it were 

 actually continuous. In practice, however, this is found to be almost impossible. 

 However, where there is a heavy growth of ferns to start with, as will be quite 

 frequently the case in partially cleared or logged-over lands, cutting two or three 

 times a year for a year or two will very greatly reduce them in size, although it 

 does not reduce them very much in numbers. In berry-gardens or in root-crops, 

 where continuous cultivation is the rule, they can soon be got rid of, but where the 

 ground is being ploughed for grain or to seed down the only proper course to take 

 is to go over it several times with spring-tooth harrows at intervals of a day or so. 

 This drags the roots to the surface and two or three hours' exposure to the hot sun 

 kills them. Land ploughed in the fall, spring-toothed and reploughed in the spring, 

 and again spring-toothed will show a very marked difference as regards the fern- 

 crop. It has been a common statement that it costs as much to get rid of the fern- 

 roots as the fir-roots, and this is quite correct with some people ; but if it is gone at 

 in a systematic and proper manner there should not be- much difficulty, and there 

 never would be any difficulty with new land if it were 'seeded down immediately 

 after its being burned, and stumped within, say, not more than seven years the 

 sooner, of course, the better. These ferns when dead and ploughed in are a good 

 thing for the soil, as they are rich in potash. 



SECOND YEAR'S OPERATIONS. 



It' the new settler does not intend to work out. but can afford to devote his 

 whole time to clearing up his land, he will find that after the odds and ends from 

 the burning are branded up there will probably be some months of spare time before 

 it is advisable to begin chopping for the second year's burn. This period can be 

 profitably used in getting out posts, sills, plates, rafters, and other timbers for build- 

 ings, and in sawing up and splitting the cedar logs for fence-posts, rails, drain and 

 fence boards, etc. By doing this work now it will not interfere with other work later 

 on during the following summer, and which has to be done at a particular time. It 

 would be no use giving sizes of timbers for building purposes, as these would depend 



