TIMBER 13 
trees, the trees which are bearing heavily, that call out 
for more moisture than Nature gives them. 
TimBeR.—When inspecting fruit land with the idea of 
buying, it is also prudent to study the timber on it, and, 
if you can do so, obtain a reliable estimate of what it 
will cost to clear the land for the plough. It is not so 
much the number of the trees to the acre as their size and 
the kind of tree that make the expense of clearing mount 
up rapidly. It costs proportionally much more to get out 
a tamarack 2 feet or more in diameter than it does to 
lift a black poplar or a fir 6 inches through. The former 
might cost up to 2 dollars, or even more, to remove, 
whereas the latter could be pulled over by a horse in 
two minutes at, comparatively speaking, no cost at all. 
In many cases the timber can be cut and sold, either 
for railway ties (7.e., sleepers) or for cordwood (for burn- 
ing in domestic and other stoves) ; or if it consists of cedar, 
it can be used for building barns, stables, or even a log 
house. In any case, it becomes of value, and to that 
extent the money which it brings in is so much deducted 
from the cost of the land. In some districts—e.g., the 
Arrow Lakes—the local Fruit-Growers’ Union collects 
and sells the timber after the rancher has cut it and 
hauled it down to the water’s edge. 
