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one horse, and never more than two, by tlie following simple 

 contrivance; which certainly nothing but the most extraor- 

 dinary want of reflection could have prevented from being 

 seen in the beginning. This suflficiently proves, if any 

 proof were wanting, how strikingly men will often pursue a 

 more circuitous route to their object, when a nearer and more 

 direct one lies open before their eyes. 



With the view, thpn, of effecting the two purposes in 

 question, namely, the pulling down of the tree, and the 

 getting it out of the pit, a strong but soft rope, of perhaps 

 four inches in girth, is fixed as near to the top of the tree as 

 a man can safely climb, so as to furnish the longest possible 

 lever to bear upon the roots ; taking care, at the same time, 

 to interpose two or three folds of mat, m order to prevent 

 the chafing of the bark. Eight or nine workmen (the 

 greatest number I usually employ in the department in ques- 

 tion,) are then set to draw the tree down on one side. Or it 

 is a good way, if you have an old and steady pulhng horse, 

 to employ him in this business : for it is plain, that one stout 

 horse, acting forcibly on the rope, will do more than twenty 

 men, even if so great a number could get about it ; and 

 moreover, he will save some manual labour in excavating, 

 by giving an effectual pull, at a much earlier period of the 

 work. The tree being drawn down, it is next forcibly held 

 in that position, until earth be raised to the height of a foot 

 or more, on the opposite side of the pit, so that, as soon as it 

 is Uberated, it springs up, and stops against the bank thus 

 formed. On this, the workmen proceed to lighten the mass 

 of earth with the picker, laying bare the roots as httle as 

 possible, but still necessarily reducing the mass to manage- 

 able dimensions. The tree is then pulled down on the 

 opposite side, and a foot of earth forced up, in a similar 

 manner ; and the same thing being repeated once or twice, 

 it is gradually raised to even a higher level than that of the 

 adjoining surface. In this manner, by a method extremely 



