Clearing and Preparing the Land 169 



have stout gearing suitable for being worked 

 by teams of oxen or the like. Their judi- 

 cious use will be found of very great help 

 where a specially clean job is aimed at 

 from the beginning ; and this is always the 

 best policy. For hand work especially, the 

 Australian "monkey-jack" can do "a power 

 of work " in comparison to its cost. One will 

 get the utmost out of these where expert 

 European supervision and direction are avail- 

 able, and in more troublesome cases dynamite 

 can be used with great effect and benefit, as 

 it shatters large and unwieldy logs and 

 stumps and so materially facilitates their 

 subsequent removal, whilst the smaller roots 

 are blown clean out of the ground. 1 It is 

 highly prejudicial to leave any trees whatso- 

 ever standing. For it is a well-known fact 

 that the giants of dense primeval forests 

 are not capable of much resistance when left 

 standing isolated, but are liable to fall with the 

 first strong wind or through decay. In this 

 condition they would consequently be a con- 

 stant menace to the growing cultivations in 

 their vicinity, and in falling, caused by some 

 high wind, are certain to damage and destroy 

 many pounds' worth of coco-nut trees. 



After the first great burn, for which a dry 

 day with a high wind should be chosen, it 

 will be found that a considerable number of 



1 The advantages of the use of explosives in agricul- 

 ture are fully discussed at the end of the book. 



