Having thus presented the picture in perspective, we will now work
out some of the details which help to rob it of its difficulty and
add to its attractiveness. If the lands have not been burned off,
and in many instances where this has been done, the rancher will
find a lot of cedar logs, perhaps partially burned, and possibly
long black stubs that it will be wise to save. Cut into proper
lengths and put into piles for preservation, they will make his raw
material for fencing, barns, etc. The cedar is straight-grained,
splits easy, and true, and to the rancher is very valuable, taking
the place of sawed lumber for a great many farm purposes. Having
carefully saved the cedar, the rancher will fire his clearing, thus
getting rid of a large share of the logger's waste with practically
no labor. To the task of disposing of the remaining logs and stumps
he will bring modern tools and methods into action. The axe and
shovel and hand lever have given place to gunpowder, the donkey
engine, derrick and winch. Stump powder puts all the big stumps
into pieces easily. The modern stump-puller lifts out the smaller
stumps with ease. The donkey engine and derrick pull together and
pile the stumps and logs into great heaps, and once more the friendly
fire helps out; and while the dusky woodlands are lighted up with
passing glory the rancher sleeps to wake up and find his fields
almost ready for his plow, nor has the task had half the hard labor
nor consumed half the time that years ago would have been expended
in clearing the same amount of oak and maple and hickory land in
the valley
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of the Mississippi. It should be said, however, that what is gained
in time and saved in labor costs money. The expense of clearing the
logged-off land by these modern methods and tools will run from
$40 to $150 per acre, dependent upon various conditions, number
and size of stumps, etc.
There are in western Washington thousands of acres which are being
pastured and tilled, from which the large stumps have not been
removed. In these instances the same methods can be used, handling
all the small logs and stumps and litter, and after the first burning,
carefully repiling and burning the refuse and then seeding to grass.
In the ashes and loose soil, grass seed readily starts, and a single
season will suffice to provide fairly good pasturage, which will
annually grow better.