31 



burning. Light sandy soil covered with banksia and other woods 

 that burn readily, may be cleared at any time of the year. The 

 new settler may think that anyone who has sufficient strength can 

 do grubbing and clearing as well as the next one. This is a great 

 mistake. One cannot exalt clearing into an art or a science, but 

 there is a knack in doing the work that, simple as it looks, requires 

 a good deal of practice before one can become master of it. So 

 much is this the case that if the inexperienced settler has the money 

 at his command, my advice to him is to get this most laborious 

 work done by contract. 



If he has not, and is compelled to do the work himself, the 

 hints conveyed in the following notes may be of use to him. If I 

 now give, in skeleton form, the outline of a specification for clearing, 

 it will, I think, with a little explanation, convey to the mind of the 

 new settler the chief features of the work that has to be done, and 

 the proper way in which it should be performed : 



1. All trees to be grubbed completely round and out to 



a depth of not less than 18 inches, and all roots to be 

 run to the same depth, or until they can be broken by 

 the hand. 



2. All underground blackboys to be grubbed out below 



the crown. 



3. All zamia palms to be grubbed and completely removed 



from the ground. 



4. All scrub large enough to impede the progress of the 



plough, or that cannot be completely turned in in 

 ploughing, to be grubbed out. 



5. The timber and scrub, after having been grubbed, to be 



burnt, and the ashes spread as far as they can be cast. 



6. All wood not absolutely required for burning the butts 



and stumps of trees, to be left on the ground. 



7. No holes to be filled in until they have been examined by 



or his agent ; when passed, to be filled in three 

 inches above the level of the surrounding ground. 



8. The whole of the ground to be left ready for the plough, 



and the contract to be completed in a workmanlike 

 manner on or before 



9. If the contract is not completed on or before the date 



abovementioned a penalty of shillings per day 



for every day over the specified time, to be paid by the 

 contractors, and deducted from any money that may be 

 due to them. 



Such is the rough framework of a specification for a grubbing 

 and clearing contract. The first clause is self-explanatory. The 

 second and third clauses refer only to that part of the country 

 where zamia palms and underground blackboys are to be found. 

 The latter, if not grubbed well below the crown, that is, where the 

 leaves shoot from the bole, will continue to spring up perennially. 



